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Luka
71
Western Ill. WIU 10-4,1-1 Summit League
92
Winner Iowa Iowa 10-3,0-2 Big Ten
Western Ill. WIU
10-4,1-1 Summit League
71
Final
92
Iowa Iowa
10-3,0-2 Big Ten
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Western Ill. WIU 33 38 71
Iowa Iowa 53 39 92

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | WIU Athletic Communications

Men’s Basketball Drops Road Contest at Iowa

The defense forced 12 turnovers while Trenton Massner’s hot streak continued with another 20-point performance.

IOWA CITY, IOWA – The Western Illinois University Fighting Leatherneck men's basketball team played on Wednesday (Dec. 29), falling 71-92 to the Iowa Hawkeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. The Leathernecks are now 10-4 on the season and have officially concluded non-league play.
 
"It's been a little bit of a carryover from previous games," head coach Rob Jeter said. "We missed shots against Omaha, we missed some shots against Denver, but that can't be our calling card – we can't live off that; we have to do the other things. That's the challenge for this group: can we get enough stops and can we play inside, and we showed signs of that in the second half."
 
The game was back-and-forth off the opening tip-off, with the Hawkeyes taking a quick eight-point lead. However, Colton Sandage would make back-to-back shots from deep, promptly cutting the Iowa lead down to two with 15:19 remaining in the period. The Hawkeye offense persisted, and they built a double-digit lead heading into halftime. Western opened the second period of play on a 6-2 run, with Trenton Massner, Luka Barisic and Tamell Pearson combining to cut into the Hawkeye advantage. Iowa would continue to maintain their steady lead, but the Leathernecks kicked it into gear mid-way through the period.
 
Fueled by a defense that didn't allow an Iowa field goal for over three minutes, Trenton Massner took control of the game. At one point, he had scored 12 points on 6-6 shooting in the second-half alone, cutting a 20-point halftime deficit down to 13 with just over eight minutes remaining in the period and prompting a timeout from Iowa coach Fran McCaffery. However, the Hawkeyes came out of the timeout firing and would finish the game by making 5-6 from the field on the way to a 71-92 Leatherneck loss.
 
Massner led the Leathernecks in scoring with 20 points, making 9-17 from the field and scoring 14 in the second period alone while finishing the game with two steals. Will Carius grabbed a team-high nine rebounds to go with his 12 points, and Luka Barisic scored 12 as well. Colton Sandage scored 15 points and grabbed four rebounds, while George Dixon had six points and seven rebounds in 22 minutes of action off the bench.
 
"I think we just have to look at the negatives and get better," Massner said. "We can't dwell on a loss - it's a long season. These guys are a good team… so we'll be ready for league play."
 
As a team the Leathernecks grabbed 12 offensive rebounds and made all of their shots from the line, while scoring 42 points in the paint and winning the second-chance scoring matchup 13-12. The team scored 14 points off 12 Iowa turnovers, while the Leatherneck offense committed just nine.
 
"We've got to get our confidence back and that starts by grinding out a victory defensively, and I think that's our key. If we can grind one out defensively that will help us," Jeter said. "I thought that set the tone for us early when we ground one out against Nebraska. They scored 74 but we got some stops and we eliminated the three, it set the tone early. We started having success and teams have continued to get better… we've got to ramp it up."
 
The Leathernecks' next game is on Saturday (Jan. 1), traveling to St. Paul, Minn., to face St. Thomas. Tip-off against the Tommies is scheduled for 2 p.m.
 
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