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Thursday's college basketball: Iowa routs No. 12 Michigan women 89-67 after 5-hour delay

Associated Press

Iowa City, Iowa — Caitlin Clark hit seven 3-pointers and scored 27 points, plus nine assists and Iowa rolled past No. 12 Michigan 89-67 on Thursday night in a game delayed five hours.

The game, featuring the Big Ten’s top two scorers in Michigan forward Naz Hillmon (25.9 points per game) and Clark (27.3), was originally scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. CT. It ended at almost 10:18 p.m. Hillmon scored 24 points.

Michigan forward Naz Hillmon

A statement stated “Both institutions have decided to delay the game in conjunction with COVID-19 protocols and will play later today if possible. The decision to pause was made jointly by the Michigan and Iowa Department of Athletics and the athletic medicine staffs in consultation with the Big Ten Conference.”

Kate Martin and Monika Czinano scored 15 points apiece for Iowa (13-7, 9-7 Big Ten Conference). Martin had eight assists as the Hawkeyes had 26 on 32 baskets.

Leigha Brown went 10 for 10 from the foul line and scored 16 points for Michigan (13-3, 8-3).

Clark hit three triples and scored 11 points in the first quarter while Michigan was 4 of 17. The Hawkeyes increased that 25-10 lead to 49-30 at the half, hitting 10 of 16 from 3-point range and shooting 65.5%.

The lead reached as much as 34 points early in the fourth quarter. The Wolverines shot 35.6% while Iowa was going 16 of 27 from 3-point range (59.3%).

Michigan is scheduled to finish the regular season at Minnesota on Sunday. Iowa has two games left, playing at Wisconsin on Sunday and at No. 11 Indiana on March 3.

State men

►(At) Ohio 86, Eastern Michigan 67: Ben Vander Plas registered 13 points, seven rebounds and eight assists as Ohio beat Eastern Michigan.

Ben Roderick had 17 points for Ohio (13-6, 9-4 Mid-American Conference), which won its sixth straight game. Lunden McDay added 14 points.

Ohio posted a season-high 30 assists.

Ty Groce had 18 points for the Eagles (4-11, 1-10), whose losing streak reached seven games. Bryce McBride added 17 points.

►(At) Buffalo 85, Central Michigan 73: LaQuill Hardnett had a career-high 20 points plus 10 rebounds as Buffalo beat Central Michigan 85-73 on Thursday.

Jeenathan Williams had 17 points for Buffalo (11-7, 9-5 Mid-American Conference). Jayvon Graves added 15 points and Ronaldo Segu had 14 points and 11 assists.

Caleb Huffman had 24 points for the Chippewas (6-14, 2-11), who have now lost seven games in a row. Ralph Bissainthe added 15 points and Matt Beachler had 12 points and seven rebounds.

►(At) Miami (Ohio) 74, Western Michigan 66: Mekhi Lairy and Dalonte Brown scored 20 points apiece as Miami (Ohio) defeated Western Michigan.

Elijah McNamara had 10 points for Miami (11-9, 8-7 Mid-American Conference). Precious Ayah added 10 rebounds and Brown had nine rebounds. Dae Dae Grant was held scoreless despite leading the RedHawks in scoring heading into the contest with 15 points per game.

B. Artis White tied a career high with 20 points and had seven rebounds for the Broncos (4-14, 3-10). Greg Lee added 18 points. Titus Wright had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The RedHawks improve to 2-0 against the Broncos on the season. Miami defeated Western Michigan 65-56 on Jan. 30.

Big Ten

►(At) No. 5 Illinois 86, Nebraska 70: Kofi Cockburn scored 24 points, freshman Adam Miller added 18 and No. 5 Illinois beat Nebraska.

Illinois (17-6, 13-4 Big Ten) played without star Ayo Dosunmu, who broke his nose Tuesday against Michigan State and is expected to miss at least two more games.

Freshman guard Andre Curbelo narrowly missed a triple-double with 10 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.

It was the most points for Miller since he scored 14 against Ohio State on Jan. 16.

Trey McGowens led Nebraska (5-17, 1-14) with 18 points. Kobe Webster and Shamiel Steveson added 12 each for the Cornhuskers.

Illinois was 30 for 62 from the field (48%) while Nebraska shot 27 for 61 (44%). The Fighting Illini outrebounded Nebraska 43-29.

It was a physical game from the opening tip. Back-to-back technical fouls were called on both teams late in the first half, and there were several minor scuffles. Miller hit two 3-pointers and made several circus layups to pull Illinois ahead.

Miller had 16 points at halftime and Illinois led 36-28.

►Northwestern 67, (at) Minnesota 59: Boo Buie scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half, sparking Northwestern to rally past Minnesota, bringing an end to a 13-game losing streak that stretches back to Dec. 29.

Buie opened the second half with a pair of 3-pointers to spark a 12-0 run as Northwestern (7-14, 4-13 Big Ten Conference) surged into its first of the game and turned what had been a Minnesota cruise into a battle. He drained another huge 3 with 1:37 remaining to push the Wildcats lead to 58-51.

Northwestern made six straight free throws in the last 37 seconds to clinch it. The win was the Wildcats’ first in “The Barn” in more than three years (Jan. 23, 2018), which was also a second-half comeback.

Miller Kopp added 15 points, 10 after halftime, for Northwestern.

Marcus Carr led the Golden Gophers (13-11, 6-11) with 21 points and seven assists. Jamal Mashburn added 13 points, Brandon Johnson added 10.

Northwestern made 22 of 27 free throws — 15 of 18 in the second half — to keep control. Buie was a perfect 12 of 12 at the line.

Minnesota never trailed the entire first half, but after Buie’s spark, the teams swapped the lead five times in the second half until Northwestern took a 51-49 lead on a Kopp 3-pointer and held it the rest of the way.

Minnesota, which led by as many as 14 in the first half and was up 31-25 at the break, was playing without center Liam Robbins, held out with a sprained left ankle. It was the first game this season that Robbins, the team’s second-leading scorer (11.7 ppg), missed.

Starting guard Gabe Kalscheur, missed his third straight game with a broken finger on his shooting hand.

Northwestern’s Chase Audige, with three steals, matched former Wildcat Scottie Lindsey (2016-17) with nine multiple-steal games through the first 20 in a season.

Northwestern plays host to Maryland Wednesday, March 3. The Golden Gophers travel to Nebraska on Saturday.

Top 25

►(At) No. 1 Gonzaga 89, Santa Clara 75: Corey Kispert scored 25 points, Drew Timme had 16 of his 18 points in the second half and No. 1 Gonzaga won its 50th straight at home, beating Santa Clara.

The Bulldogs won their 27th straight overall dating to last season, but struggled to shake the Broncos for most of the night. 

Timme was a big reason why Gonzaga (23-0, 14-0 West Coast Conference) was finally able to pull away in the second half. Limited to just eight minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, Gonzaga’s primary interior scorer made 7 of 9 shots as the Bulldogs pulled away from a 40-38 halftime lead. 

Jalen Suggs nearly had a triple-double finishing with 13 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, and Joel Ayayi added 11 points for Gonzaga. 

Gonzaga’s 50-game home win streak matches the longest in school history. The Bulldogs have also won 20 straight games by double-digits, matching the longest streak ever by a team ranked No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25. UCLA also won 20 straight by double-digits during the 1971-72 season. 

Guglielmo Caruso led Santa Clara (10-7, 4-5) with 19 points, and Giordan Williams added 18. The Broncos led by 10 early in the first half and held the advantage for most of the first 20 minutes before Gonzaga pulled ahead just before the break. 

Santa Clara hung around for most of the second half and trailed just 73-66 after Josip Vrankic’s layup with 6:44 left, but could get no closer. 

►(At) No. 12 Houston 81, Western Kentucky 57: Quentin Grimes scored a career-high 33 points and had six rebounds to help Houston beat Western Kentucky.

Grimes scored 21 points in the first half, including 18 straight at one point. The junior guard finished 11 of 21 from the field, making 8 of 16 on 3-pointers.

Marcus Sasser and Tramon Mark each had 12 points, and DeJon Jarreau had nine points for Houston (19-3). The Cougars shot 46%, including 13 of 31 on 3-pointers. 

Houston forced the Hilltoppers (15-5) into 20 turnovers, which they turned into 27 points.

►(At) Colorado 80, No. 19 Southern California 62: Jeriah Horne hit a career-best six 3-pointers on his way to 24 points, McKinley Wright IV had a career-high 14 assists and Colorado routed Southern California.

Wright added 15 points for the Buffaloes (18-7, 12-6 Pac-12), who have won six straight against the Trojans (19-5, 13-4). 

Already the school’s career leader in assists, Wright and his speed gave the Trojans fits all evening. His 14 assists tied for the second-most in program history. The record is 15 by Jose Winston against Coppin State on Jan. 2, 2001.

The loss was a blow to USC, which fell a half-game behind rival UCLA (17-5, 13-3) for first place in the Pac-12 race.

►(At) No. 22 San Diego State 78, Boise State 66, OT: Matt Mitchell scored 24 points, including four in overtime, and San Diego State overcame 29 points by Derrick Alston Jr. to beat Boise State for its ninth straight win.

Trey Pulliam matched his career-high with 18 for SDSU, which blew a 17-point second-half lead before recovering in overtime to take the inside track to repeat as Mountain West Conference regular-season champion.

SDSU (18-4, 12-3) took a half-game lead over BSU (18-5, 14-4), which had its four-game win streak snapped. On Tuesday, the Mountain West awarded San Diego State a pair of forfeit victories over New Mexico. Those games do not count in SDSU’s overall or formal conference record, but will count for seeding and conference championship implications.