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NCAA Tournament Recap (UAB-Iowa)
Posted: Thur March 11, 1999 at 6:45 p.m. EST DENVER (Ticker) -- The final run for Tom Davis at Iowa featured yet another first-round victory in the NCAA Tournament. With the help of 12 3-pointers, including 10 in the first half, fifth-seeded Iowa won its ninth straight first-round game under Davis, defeating 12th-seeded Alabama-Birmingham, 77-64, in the West Region. The 60-year-old Davis, who is being forced out at Iowa after this season, is 11-0 overall in first-round NCAA Tournament games. "Coach wants us to win for ourselves, and we want to win for him," said sixth-year senior Jess Settles. Settles led Iowa with 17 points, including three 3-pointers, and Dean Oliver fought off the flu and added 15. Oliver did not start and played just 19 minutes, but came through with two crucial three-point plays down the stretch to seal the win. "It felt a lot better when I was on the court," said Oliver, who spent the last two days hooked up to an IV machine. "You get the adrenaline pumping and you forget about the sickness. Coach limited my minutes and did a good job of getting me in and out. "It's been my dream to play in this tournament since I was 5 or 6 years old. I was just going to give it my best." Iowa (19-9), one of seven Big Ten teams in the tournament, will play the winner of the game between fourth-seeded Arkansas and 13th-seeded Siena in the second round Saturday. Fred Williams led UAB (20-12) with 26 points and 14 rebounds. DeWayne Brown added 16 points, but the rest of the Blazers combined to hit just 7-of-28 shots (25 percent). "We are obviously disappointed with the loss," said Blazers coach Murry Bartow. "Iowa is a good basketball team. Our guys fought hard but we couldn't get over the hump. Iowa made some big shots and plays in the second half." Despite hitting an astounding 10-of-13 3-pointers, the Hawkeyes led by just five, 37-32, at the half. A basket by Settles and a three-point play by J.R. Koch increased Iowa's lead to 42-32 less than two minutes into the second half. But Brown scored seven straight points to pull the Blazers within 42-39 with 16:26 remaining. Iowa responded with a 7-0 run of its own. Freshman Joey Range converted a layup and added a pair of free throws before Jason Bauer completed a 3-point play to open a 49-39 lead for the Hawkeyes with under 12 minutes left. Damon Cobb, UAB's second-leading scorer, was shut out until he hit back-to-back 3-pointers to pull the Blazers within 54-53 with 7:44 remaining. But two baskets by Koch, a 3-pointer by Kent McCausland and a rainbow jumper by Settles fueled an 11-4 run, which gave Iowa a 65-57 lead with 5:11 remaining. McCausland had 13 points and Koch finished with 12. Willie Mitchell converted a 3-pointer and a free throw to cut the deficit to 65-61 with 4:13 left, but the Blazers scored three points the rest of the way. "At those critical times, when we cut it to one on two or three occasions, we made a mental error. We'd turn the ball over or miss a shot," said Cobb. Settles hit a 3-pointer and Oliver turned a steal into a three-point play with 3:43 left for Iowa. Following a free throw by Brown, Oliver sliced through the defense and hit a layup high off the backboard while being fouled and completed the three-point play to give Iowa 74-62 lead with 2:24 remaining.© 2000 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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