IOWA CITY, Iowa- The North
Carolina A&T men's basketball team lost 95-79 to the Iowa Hawkeyes on
Monday night at Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, but matched the
Hawkeyes point for point in the second half, keeping up the pressure on the Big
10 school. Senior guard Marc Hill led
the team with 20 points, his 19th career game with double-digit
scoring.
The meeting, which was part of the Dale Howard Classic, saw
the Aggies (0-2) and the Hawkeyes (2-0), fight a close one, with the Aggies
keeping Iowa in check by limiting their offensive rebounding and second-chance
scoring abilities, which had been the key to Iowa's success in the first half.
"From Friday's game to today, we really progressed," said Aggies
head coach Jerry Eaves. "We still had three people out, three of my major
players, but our team played hard and with a lot more confidence. I liked the way [Iowa] played, they ran up
and down the court. It allowed my kids
to relax and play. The bottom line is
they still had 90-something points that they scored. My hat's off to them."
At the half, the
Hawkeyes had a 16-point lead, but the Aggies were making them work for every
point, pressuring them with an up-tempo pace.
N.C. A&T forced Iowa into making 22 turnovers in the game, which
allowed the Aggies to match the Hawkeyes point for point in the second half.
"At halftime, we talked about trying to win the second
half," Eaves said. And the Aggies nearly
did win the second half. Eaves noted
that several players, such as senior guard Nic Simpson and junior guard Jean Louisme, started to hit shots. The Aggies improved their shooting in the
second half, and got to the free throw line 16 times.
"Spreading out the game and pressing, we allowed our team
the opportunity to play the way I thought we could," Eaves said.
The Aggies limited Iowa to just six offensive rebounds in
the second half. Iowa's ability to get
second chance shots helped them to collect 23 second-chance points, and to
maintain their double-digit throughout the second half. But the Aggies held the Hawkeyes to just four
second-chance points in half No. 2.
Simpson scored 11
second-half points and finished with 12 points, while Adrian Powell led N.C.
A&T with seven boards.
Guard Matt Gatens put up 27 points for the Hawkeyes, while
Eric May had 20 and Melsahn Basabe had 15 and 10 rebounds to lead Iowa to
victory. Iowa shot 49.3 percent in the game, while A&T shot 37.7 percent.
Both clubs had 28 points in the paint, but the real
difference was Iowa's early chances to score off offensive rebounds in the
first half.
"Once we get our entire team on the floor, we'll be a team,"
Eaves said. "We'll be unscoutable. We'll
have multiple scorers, and multiple attacks.
You won't know who will give you 20 points."
The Aggies will stay on the road for their third game,
visiting Campbell University on Thursday for a 7 p.m., game. N.C. A&T will host their home opener at
Corbett Sports Center on Saturday against Chicago State at 7 p.m., following the
Aggie football team's regular-season finale against archrival N.C. Central at
1:30 p.m. at Aggie Stadium.
