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Cal Poly on Downside of Sunday Afternoon Matchup at Iowa
11/24/2019 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Sophomore forward Tuukka Jaakkola (above) led three Mustangs in double-digit scoring figures with a career best 18 points but, during the Cal Poly men's basketball program's first all-time meeting with Iowa, the Mustangs fell inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Sunday afternoon, 85-59.
Jaakkola finished 9-for-10 from the floor for Cal Poly (1-5), which trailed Iowa (4-1) wire-to-wire during just the program's third all-time game in the Hawkeye State. Cal Poly was held to a 13.6 (3-for-22) percent three-point mark while Iowa – keyed by five three-pointers from guard CJ Frederick – shot 43.8 (7-for-16) percent from beyond the arc.
Guards Junior Ballard and Malek Harwell finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively, for Cal Poly, which also made its program debut on the Big Ten Network during Sunday's matchup.
Freshman forward Alimamy Koroma added a career high seven rebounds for the Mustangs.
Cal Poly now shifts Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational action to The Strip with the Mustangs opening their portion of the bracket inside the Orleans Arena against Tennessee State on Thursday, Nov. 28 at 11 a.m. The winner will meet either North Florida or Long Island in Friday's 1:30 p.m. championship; the loser plays in Friday's third-place game at 11 a.m.
During Sunday's matchup, Frederick knocked down his opening two three-point attempts as Iowa leapt out to an 11-2 lead after just four minutes. Backboned by three early layups from Jaakkola though, the Mustangs clawed back to a 19-14 deficit nine minutes before the break.
Still facing a 25-16 Iowa lead at the five-minute mark, the Mustangs received a Jaakkola dunk before Koroma completed a three-point play to cut the gap to 25-21. The Hawkeyes, however, kept Cal Poly without a basket for the next three-and-half minutes and twice stretched their lead to 12 points late in the half.
Courtesy of a dunk from junior wing Mark Crowe at the buzzer, however, the Mustangs took a 35-25 deficit into the break.
Cal Poly twice shortened Iowa's lead to eight points early during the second half but, with the Mustangs facing a 45-37 deficit, the Hawkeyes ripped off a 15-5 run to go up 60-42 with 11-and-a-half minutes to play and place the outcome out of reach.
