DES MOINES, Iowa – The University of Iowa men's basketball team staved off a late rally to defeat the Drake Bulldogs, 70-64, in the first game of Saturday's Hy-Vee Big Four Classic at Wells Fargo Arena.
Drake (4-7) sophomore guard Reed Timmer (New Berlin, Wis.) scored 25 points with five assists in the loss while Kale Abrahamson (West Des Moines, Iowa) added 14 points on a 3-of-6 day from the three-point arc. Timmer has now scored 20 or more points in five games this season.
"I'm very proud of our team, we talked about taking the fight to Iowa," said Drake head coach Ray Giacoletti. "Tonight we tried to sustain that in four minute segments. They hit some back-to-back threes in transition in the final four minutes that were back-breakers, but we did some good things that will help up down the road."
Iowa (8-3) was paced by four players in double-figures with Mike Gesell's 17 points and four assists leading the way. Nicholas Baer scored 13 points with seven rebounds and six blocks. As a team, the Hawkeyes blocked a school-record 14 shots.
"They definitely had length, but we knew that coming in," Abrahamson said. "They did a good job, but we knew they were coming and should have pump-faked or kicked out. That's on us."
Abrahamson and Timmer accounted for 13 of Drake's 39 rebounds as the Bulldogs held an 8-rebound advantage on the glass with 15 offensive rebounds.
"We've been getting out rebounded as of late and out rebounded them tonight," Giacoletti said. "That's another step in the right direction."
Drake opened the second half by making four of its first six shots to take a 42-38 lead on a Graham Woodward (Edina, Minn.) three-pointer. However, the Hawkeyes answered the charge with a 20-5 run to build up an 11-point, 58-47, lead with less than nine minutes to play.
The Bulldogs continued to fight through the run and a 7-0 run later pulled Drake within a possession before back-to-back three-pointers from Baer and Dom Uhl gave the Hawkeyes a 66-56 lead with 3:58 left.
Undeterred, Drake assembled an 8-0 run capped by a three-pointer from Ore Arogundade (Chicago, Ill.) to pull within two points, 66-64, with 1:37. Back-to-back buckets and three-straight misses from Drake left the Bulldogs six points short at the final whistle. Arogundade finished with a season-high nine points in his first start of the season.
Drake opened the game with back-to-back three-pointers from Arogundade and Abrahamson to begin with a 9-6 lead that later expanded to 14-8 on an Arogundade drive and free throw.
Drake was unable to keep that lead for long as a 14-0 Iowa run left Drake scoreless for more than six minutes and without a field goal for more than eight minutes to give Iowa a 22-14 lead.
However, the Bulldogs' offense woke back up, outscoring Iowa, 16-8, to close the half and tie the game at halftime, 30-30. Timmer scored seven of his 10 first-half points during that span with Billy Wampler (Eau Claire, Wis.) scoring all five of his points in that spurt.
The Bulldogs return to action on Tuesday, Dec. 22, against Abilene Christian for their final non-conference game of the season. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on Mediacom MC22 and The Valley on ESPN3.
