Look Back at Iowa Basketball Wins Against AP No. 8

Hawkeyes Capture Rare Win in Rupp Arena

Dick Schultz

A sellout crowd of 11,500 packed Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Ky., on the night of December 4, 1972.

That included the winningest coach in college basketball history at the time. Adolph Rupp, who coached Kentucky for 42 years until he was forced by state law to retire at 70 years of age, came to see the eighth-ranked Wildcats play Iowa.

Rupp, dressed in his usual brown suit, wasn’t in the greatest of moods.

“I’ve autographed every piece of paper in this arena, and that’s a fact,” said Rupp, notorious for refusing to sign anything during his coaching career.

Rupp, who coached Kentucky to an 876-190 record with four NCAA titles, watched the Hawkeyes become just the second road team to win at Memorial Coliseum in 11 seasons. It was also Coach Joe B. Hall’s first loss as Kentucky coach.

Iowa Coach Dick Schultz was ecstatic after the victory.

“We clearly dominated the game the last 15 minutes, and did a good job of controlling the backboards,” Schultz said.

Hall had a different take.

“They were awfully quiet before the game, and I told them they weren’t serious enough about this Iowa club,” Hall said. “Well, they found out. We all did, didn’t we?”

Iowa came out firing offensively, shooting 61 percent in the first half. Kentucky shot just 41.8 percent, but the game was deadlocked at 40-40. Then Schultz out-coached Hall in the second half.

Iowa outscored the Wildcats, 39-26, over the final 20 minutes. Candy LaPrince scored eight of his 12 points in the first 8 minutes as his team took a 52-44 lead. The Hawkeyes never trailed after that, even though Kentucky mounted several runs.

Schultz went to a zone press in the second half, and Kentucky had no answer for it. 

“We went into our zone press to get Kentucky out if its offense,” Schultz said. “We got Kentucky to shoot a little quicker and a little further out than they normally do.”

Hall countered with a 1-3-1 half court zone, but Iowa tore it apart. The main culprit was Neil Fegebank, who scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half. Fegebank found the soft spot in the zone, and made a killing with jumpers around the free-throw line.

“I’ll see that fellow the rest of the night going up for that short jumper from the circle,” Hall said. “We had planned for our quicker, smaller forwards to keep the ball from their taller forwards, but we couldn’t do it.”

Fegebank was instrumental in a 10-0 Iowa run that put the Wildcats away. He finished it off with three straight baskets against that zone to give Iowa a 75-60 lead.

Guard Jimmy Conner labeled Kentucky’s defense “horrible.” He added, “We’re not discouraged. We deserved to lose. We just weren’t mentally ready to play.”

Iowa shot 59.6 percent from the field for the game, to the Wildcats’ 41.4 percent. “We just wore them down,” Schultz said. “You can see that in the shooting percentages the second half. Our shot selection was very good.”

Kevin Kunnert, Iowa’s senior center, finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds. It was one of a school-record 48 double-doubles for the 7-footer from Dubuque. Joining Kunnert and Fegebank as double-figure scorers were Rick Williams (15), Jim Collins (13) and LaPrince (12). 

“Iowa is just too tall and too good,” Hall said. “I could tell we weren’t up for this one, but the full-court press befuddled us.”

Rupp, who once served as the wrestling coach at Marshalltown High School, didn’t have much to say about the game afterwards.

“Mistakes by the dozens,” he said after witnessing a combined 29 turnovers. But he did his best to keep Kentucky fans encouraged about the future.

“This is going to be a solid ballclub,” he said. “Don’t you worry about that.” 

Kentucky would finish the season 14-4 in the Southeastern Conference and 20-8 overall after a 72-65 loss to Indiana and second-year coach Bob Knight in the NCAA Midwest Regional final. Iowa rode momentum from the Kentucky victory to win at Kansas in its next game, 69-56, but struggled in Big Ten play with a 6-8 record (tie for sixth) and was 13-11 overall. That was the only winning season in four under Schultz, who succeeded Ralph Miller in 1970-71. He was replaced by Lute Olson in 1974-75.

All-time record vs. No. 8: 7-9

Other victories vs. No. 8

Iowa 86, Marquette 81 (March 12, 1955, Evanston, Ill.) - The Hawkeyes advanced to the Final Four on the strength of center Bill Logan and the bench. Iowa’s double-digit lead shrunk as foul trouble and injuries sent four players to the bench. Logan fouled out with 6:52 to play. He had 31 points (11 of 20 from the field) and 15 rebounds. Sharm Scheuerman injured a leg just :11 after Logan’s departure and was helped to the bench. Reserve Bill Schoof fouled out at the 3:08 mark and Bill Seaberg picked up his fifth foul with :27 remaining.

But Roy Johnson, Bob George and Babe Hawthorne came off the bench to take the Hawkeyes home. Marquette had closed to 78-76 with 4:30 left when Johnson made one of two free throws, then added a 25-footer on Iowa’s next possession.

The lead was down to a single point, 81-80, when Iowa went into a stall at the 2:08 mark. George slipped free inside and scored to make it a 83-80 lead and Coach Bucky O’Connor’s team was headed to Kansas City and the Final Four.

“See what I mean about a team victory?” O’Connor said. “Everybody in the game played his part well.”

Iowa 81, Ohio State 74 (Jan. 19, 1963, Iowa City) - Iowa rallied from a 15-point second-half deficit for its first victory over the Buckeyes since 1959. The Hawkeyes scored 54 second-half points, and won the game at the free-throw line. Both teams made 26 field goals. But Iowa was 29-of-36 at the line, while Ohio State was 22-of-25. Andy Hankins led the Hawkeyes with 22 points, Joe Reddington added 21 and Dave Roach 19.

Iowa 58, Illinois 52 (Jan. 25, 1979, Iowa City) - The Hawkeyes got a lead, then took the air out of the ball by going to a four corners delay game with 10 minutes to play. Asked if he thought the college game needed a shot clock, Iowa Coach Lute Olson responded, “I thought most of the 13,335 present (in Iowa Fieldhouse) really enjoyed what happened.”

The Hawkeyes had four starters score in double figures, led by Ronnie Lester’s 17. Eddie Johnson, who had been averaging 14 points for the Illini, was limited to six. And Mark Smith, averaging 16 points, could only manage a free throw against the tenacious Dick Peth.

“The opposing players in the league may celebrate Dick Peth’s graduation,” Olson said. “He’s a pest. He dogs you.”

Iowa 91, Illinois 88 (overtime) (Jan. 14, 1987, Champaign) - The Assembly Hall crowd of 16,666 was in a frenzy. Their Illini led No. 2 Iowa in this Top 10 duel, 61-39, with 16 minutes 39 seconds to play.

“We just didn’t want to lose by 20,” Iowa Coach Tom Davis said.

His team went on a 10-0 run to cut into that 22-point hole, but still trailed by 25 at the 9:45 mark. Then the rally commenced. A Jeff Moe triple at the 1:34 mark tied the game at 81, and neither team could score again in regulation. The late momentum Iowa had generated carried over to overtime and resulted in an unlikely victory.

“I was literally speechless in the locker room,” Davis said. “I’ve never seen anything quite like that.”

Brad Lohaus scored a career-best 23 points and added 12 rebounds for the Hawkeyes. B.J. Armstrong added 14 points and Roy Marble 13.

Iowa 67, Indiana 52 (Dec. 31, 1998, Iowa City) - Iowa celebrated New Year’s Eve in front of a sellout crowd with a fifth straight victory over the Hoosiers.

“I’m sure there was a time when we beat Iowa five times in a row, too,” Indiana Coach Bob Knight said.

Iowa put the game away with runs of 9-0 and 13-0 the second half. Kent McCausland led the Hawkeyes with 15 points, making five threes in nine attempts.

Iowa 68, Illinois 61 (Jan. 15, 2003, Iowa City) - Freshman point guard Jeff Horner stuffed the boxscore, and guided Iowa to an upset victory. Horner scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, both career highs at the time.

“He was the best player on the floor,” Illinois Coach Bill Self said.

Horner added a career-best five steals, matching the entire Illinois team in that category, and also had five assists to two turnovers.

“He is big time,” Iowa Coach Steve Alford said.