IOWA CITY, Iowa — For the second time this week against a high-profile program, the Bowling Green men’s
basketball team came up short.
The Falcons fell to Iowa, 68-46, in an non-conference game Friday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Both teams are now 1-2 overall.
The Falcons lost at Xavier, 101-57, on Tuesday.
“Our first three games kind of reveal where we are and where we have to go,” BG coach Louis Orr said.
“We’re a work in progress,” Orr added. “You use words like courage, toughness … all the things that
come from the inside. It’s something we have to learn.”
BG struggled offensively for the second straight game, managing only 20 points in the first half when it
shot 37.5 percent (9-of-24) from the floor and trailed 33-20 at the break.
“I give Iowa credit. They came out and they worked and they competed. They played like a team that was
destined to win. We’re a team that is not at that point in our development,” Orr said.
The Falcons did jump out to a 7-3 lead less than four minutes into the game after a Joe Jakubowski layup.
But Iowa responded by closing out the first half on a 30-13 run. The Hawkeyes then out-scored BG, 35-26,
in the second half.
Marc Larson was the lone BG player to score more than eight points, finishing with a team-high 12. Larson
was 6-of-11 from the floor.
Dee Brown had eight points and Jakubowski finished with five points, five assists, four rebounds, and
three steals.
Otis Polk had five points and five rebounds while Scott Thomas had five points and a team-high six
rebounds.
Like Xavier, Iowa had a torrid shooting night against BG. The Hawkeyes shot 47 percent from the field
(24-of-51) and 48 percent from beyond the 3-point line (12-of-25).
Iowa entered the game shooting 33 percent from the field and 28 percent from beyond the arc.
“We knew they would shot the three. We must have been just what the doctor ordered,” Orr said. “They
space you out and do a good job. We allowed too much penetration.
“We tried different defenses. Defense has been an Achilles heel for us this year.”
Iowa head coach Todd Lickliter credited a “lack of anxiety” for his club’s improved shooting. He thought
his players relaxed, forgot about the first two games and concentrated on playing well against Bowling
Green.
“If you want to play well, just concentrate on the task at hand, and most of the time things will work
out,” he said. “It’s frustrating when you’re a great shooter and it doesn’t go in. You have to have good
toughness to shoot it. And you have to have good toughness when you don’t shoot it well.”
The Hawkeyes were also 8-of-12 from the free throw line while BG shot a total of two free throws in the
game.
The announced attendance was 9,010.
BG returns home in its next game Nov. 28 against Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
