IOWA CITY, Iowa – They scratched. They clawed. They caused turnovers. They hit three-point shot after three-point shot. And they trailed by just five points with 3:22 to go.
But in the end, size and talent won out over intensity, and the Stags fell to No. 14 Iowa 75-59 in the semi-finals of the Hawkeye Challenge.
Michael Van Schaick ’07 had a career-high 17 points on 4-7 three-point shooting to lead the Stags, who fell to 0-4 on the season, but who played competitively against a nationally prominent team for the second straight game.
“You look at what Iowa has done defensively to teams, and we’re no exception,” Stags coach Tim O’Toole said. “We shot 26[.9] percent. It’s hard to do well when you’re doing that, and that’s a credit to them.”
The Hawkeyes (6-1) have won their tournament 22 times in 23 years, and will look to make it 23 out of 24 tonight when they take on Valparaiso (3-0) in the championship game. The Crusaders beat Tulane (1-3) 79-72 in the other semi-final game.
The Stags will play the Green Wave in the consolation game at 5:45 local time.
Just as was the case in the Stags’ 81-78 loss to Providence Monday night, they could not overcome an overwhelming lack of height.
All-Big Ten candidate Greg Brunner did not miss a field goal attempt all night, and abused the Stags in the low post for a game-high 23 points.
But the Hawkeyes, whose only loss this year came at the hands of No.2 Texas, got more than they likely expected from the Stags, including a tenacious full-court press that forced 20 Iowa turnovers.
“I definitely think the press was working,” said Stags point guard Jonathan Han ’09. “It’s definitely something we need to stick to.”
The full-court pressure, along with pin-point accuracy from behind the three-point arc, kept the Stags in the game in the first half.
They shot 43.8 percent from behind the arc in the first half, but no shot was more spectacular than the one Van Schacik hit as time expired.
With the Stags down 32-26 and just two seconds to play in the half, Han threw the in-bounding pass all the way into the back-court, where it was picked up by Danny Oglesby ’06. He passed to Van Schaick, who threw up a prayer from the half-court line that found the bottom of the net, silencing the crowd of 10,002 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and bringing the Stags to within three (32-29) at the break.
In the second half, the Stags kept it close enough that when Han hit the Stags’ 12th three-pointer of the night with 3:32 to go, they trailed by just five, at 63-58.
But the Hawkeyes went on a 12-1 run to end the game, and came away with a 16-point win – a stat that doesn’t come close to demonstrating how close the game was throughout.
“We know we could have taken that team,” Han said. “We played real hard, we definitely should have won the game.”
Of course, the Stags did not win, and as Han pointed out, the Stags don’t believe in moral victories, even if the opponent is one of the best team’s in the country.
But Terrance Todd ’06 (six points on 3-15 shooting)said the Stags can build on what they accomplished.
“We did a lot of good things and a lot of bad things, but we just want to keep that intensity and carry it over to tomorrow,” he said.
Leave a Reply