Oblivious to the fact that he had not attempted a foul shot in five games, the Hawkeyes senior sank four straight free throws in the final seconds of a 67-62 victory at Northwestern.
“You live for chances like that, to have the ball in your hand with a chance to put the game out of reach,” said Gorney, whose only points of the game allowed Iowa to pull away from a 63-62 lead.
Gorney found himself with that opportunity after he was fouled by Kevin Coble during a scramble for a rebound under the Hawkeyes basket.
“The first one felt like it had been awhile. Then I got in my groove,’’ Gorney said.
Coble missed a 3-pointer that would have tied the game on the ensuing possession and Gorney was fouled again with 6 seconds to play after he grabbed the rebound.
He sank two more free throws to end Iowa’s string of three-straight buzzer-beating losses to the Wildcats at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
“That showed some guts to step up and do that,” Iowa’s Tony Freeman said. “We did just enough good things to win the game.”
The Hawkeyes overcame scoring droughts of nearly 7 minutes in the first half and 5 minutes in the second half to halt a three-game losing streak.
“It seems like when we get a lead, the spacing and ball movement we had to build it isn’t there,” said Jake Kelly, who led four Hawkeyes in double figures with 18 points.
Iowa equaled a season-high with 12 3-point field goals, splitting them evenly between the first and second halves.
None were bigger than ones hit by Freeman and Kelly after the Wildcats cut the remnants of a Hawkeyes lead that reached 17 points to 1 point during the final minutes.
Both came on open looks from the left wing, where Freeman extended a 57-56 lead with 2:17 remaining and Kelly added to a 60-59 margin after Craig Moore had answered Freeman’s 3-pointer.
Moore followed with another 3-pointer with 1:12 remaining, the final points scored before Gorney stepped to the line to secure the win in a game Iowa (13-18, 6-12 Big Ten) led from start to finish.
“Northwestern outplayed us in the second half and probably did enough things right to earn a win, but we had a couple of guys step up and make plays when we needed them,” Hawkeyes coach Todd Lickliter said.
Iowa scored the game’s first 10 points, but found itself clinging to a 33-27 lead at the break after Northwestern (8-20, 1-16) scored 13 unanswered points late in the half.
The Hawkeyes helped themselves by hitting 11 of the first 17 shots they attempted. That included five 3-pointers, allowing Iowa to open a 28-11 lead when Justin Johnson hit the second of his five 3-point baskets with 7:46 remaining.
Johnson scored the only other points the Hawkeyes managed in the half, hitting from behind the arc with 58 seconds left after the Wildcats had pulled within a 28-24 score.
“We started both halves slow and while we did a decent job getting ourselves back into it, it seemed like Johnson, Kelly and Freeman were knocking down big shots all night,” Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said. “That did us in.”
Iowa items
- Six Big Ten wins are the fewest for the Hawkeyes since 2002, when Iowa went finished 5-11 in league play.
- The Hawkeyes’ 12 3-point baskets equaled a season high set last week at Penn State.
- For the second time in three games and third time this season, Iowa finished with five scorers in double figures.
- The Hawkeyes open play at the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday, March 13. Iowa could be anywhere from a seventh to 10th seed based on results elsewhere this week.
Steve Batterson can be contacted at (563) 383-2290 or sbatterson@qctimes.com.
