Purdue basketball wary of Iowa’s Gesell

Iowa guard Mike Gesell had a monster game against Michigan State, scoring a career-high 25 points on 7-of-10 shooting, and he told reporters: “It’s a stepping stone”.

ABOUT IOWA (10-3, 1-0 Big Ten): The Hawkeyes pulled off the Michigan State upset, despite leading scorer (17.6) and rebounder (6.2) Jarrod Uthoff being held to 10 points and saddled with foul trouble. The Boilermakers’ non-starters outscored the Hawkeyes’ bench 26-0 before intermission.NOTES: Iowa entered the game ranked second in the Big Ten in scoring at 82.6 points and third in 3-point field goal shooting at 40.0 percent…. “They really took their game to another level”.

Purdue (13-1, 1-0 Big Ten) has a ideal 9-0 record at home this season.

On Saturday, it was more than a little bit.

It didn’t start well for the Hawkeyes at Mackey Arena and they trailed 37-20 at halftime. The shooters went cold, the turnovers piled up and the Hawkeyes warmed up on offense after being a dismal 7 of 30 from the field in the first half.

Purdue point guard P.J. Thompson said Iowa’s defense got the Boilermakers out of sorts in the final 20 minutes. Walk-on Nicholas Baer buried the game’s biggest shot, a three with 6:30 to play to give Iowa a 51-48 lead that it maintained the rest of the game.

Uthoff finished with 25 points, including 10 from the free-throw line. Purdue honored school scoring leader Rick Mount (1967-70) during halftime ceremonies. Mount scored 2,323 points in three seasons with the Boilermakers, averaging 35.4 points as a senior. He was a two-time consensus first team All-American and two-time Chicago Tribune Big Ten MVP.

Mark Donnal added 16 points and eight rebounds for the Wolverines, and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman scored 14 points.

No. 14 Purdue, on the other hand, is as physical, bruising and ominously-sized as any team the Hawkeyes have faced or will face this season. In the second half, Iowa was 7 of 9 on 3s and forced 10 turnovers….

It may take that green light and some bruises for Iowa on Saturday, but after knocking off No. 1, the Hawkeyes have no doubt they can head into West Lafayette, Ind., and leave with a win.

They matter so much now because while the physical toughness Iowa showed against Michigan State was important, that game was more about the mental side than physical – in part because Denzel Valentine was out. The Boilermakers had won 15 straight at hole. In contrast, the Iowa defense is giving up 68.1 points a game.

While Iowa’s football team ended its season on Friday night with a Rose Bowl dud against Stanford, it has been quite a memorable week for the basketball team. The Boilermakers play host to MI on Thursday.