Jan. 8, 2003
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EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) - Glen Worley had 16 points and Brody Boyd made two free throws with two seconds left as Iowa beat Northwestern 68-63 on Wednesday night and snapped a 12-game road losing streak in the Big Ten.
The Hawkeyes (9-3, 1-0 Big Ten) hadn't won a conference road game since Jan. 24, 2001 at Minnesota. Iowa has now won six of its last eight games.
The Hawkeyes led by 16 midway through the second half, but the Wildcats (8-4, 0-1) staged a furious rally to pull within 65-63 with 1:17 to play. Senior forward Winston Blake missed a long three-point attempt that would have put NU in the lead with 38 seconds to go, and Northwestern was forced to foul. Sent to the line twice -- once after Aaron Jennings missed another trey attempt -- Iowa freshman Greg Brunner made just one of four attempts, and Northwestern got the ball back with 19 seconds to play.
With less than five seconds left and the game still hanging in the balance, senior Jason Burke went up for a three-point attempt but found his path to the basket blocked by an Iowa defender. He dropped the ball, then picked it back up after he landed and was called for traveling. Boyd, a 50-percent free throw shooter, got the ball on the inbounds and was immediately fouled. He made both, sealing the victory.
Jennings led the Wildcats with 16 points, including 10 during Northwestern's late rally. T.J. Parker finished with 14, his 11th straight game in double figures.
Boyd finished with 12 points, one of four Iowa players in double figures. Chauncey Leslie and Jeff Horner added 10 each, and Jared Reinder had 16 rebounds.
Northwestern scored nine straight at the end of the first and start of the second halves, taking a 39-38 lead. But then Worley took charge. Fouled by Jennings, he made a pair of free throws and followed up quickly with a dunk and a layup to spark a 23-6 Iowa run that gave them a 61-45 lead with 9:09 to play. Northwestern didn't help itself, going scoreless for five minutes.
But Parker revived the Wildcats with a three-pointer, his first bucket of the second half. Led by Jennings after that, NU went on a 13-2 run that cut Iowa's lead to 63-58 with 4:16 to play.
Jennings scored seven points during the spurt, and he wasn't finished. After Leslie made a layup, Jennings drew a foul with 2:19 to play. He made the first, but missed the second and then grabbed the rebound.
Twenty seconds later, he scored on a turnaround jumper. Worley was called for double-dribble on Iowa's next possession, and after working the ball around for most of the shot clock, Blake scored on a backdoor layup to pull Northwestern within 65-63.
But that was as close as the Wildcats would get.
Northwestern is back in action Saturday, traveling to Purdue to take on the Boilermakers. The game is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. EST (11:15 in Chicago) and it will be televised on the ESPN Plus package (WCIU in Chicago).