Thursday, November 22, 2001
No. 5 Missouri nips Iowa; Xavier next
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Clarence Gilbert made a foul shot with eight-tenths of a second left, capping his 27-point night and rallying No. 5 Missouri over No. 9 Iowa 78-77 Wednesday in the championship game of the Guardians Classic.
Missouri plays Xavier Saturday at Indianapolis in the Wooden Tradition.
Gilbert, the tournament MVP, went into the corner to rebound a missed shot by Iowa's Glen Worley. Gilbert drove downcourt and was fouled by Worley as he shot from just inside the 3-point line.
After two timeouts by Iowa (4-1), Gilbert missed his first free throw. After another timeout, he completed a rally that saw Missouri (4-0) come back from a 73-62 deficit in the final 2:12.
“I thought our kids showed unbelievable character,” Missouri coach Quin Snyder said. “When they were protecting their lead, we could be more aggressive defensively.”
Iowa coach Steve Alford couldn't believe the turn the game took in the last two minutes, either.
“I've been in this business for 11 years, and I've never seen what happened in the last two minutes,” he said. “Luke Recker was tackled at the end line ... Luke Recker was tackled on the baseline, and it resulted in a jump ball that they won.”
Missouri won despite being outrebounded 37-27.
Reggie Evans, who led Iowa with 21 points and 11 rebounds, scored eight points in an 11-2 run that gave the Hawkeyes a 61-49 lead with just over seven minutes left.
Wesley Stokes scored seven of his 17 points and Gilbert had four in an 11-4 surge that cut Iowa's lead to 73-70 with just over a minute remaining.
Two free throws by Ryan Hogan put Iowa up 77-71 with 41 seconds left, but Missouri tied it on 3-pointers by Kareem Rush — who started despite breaking his nose in Tuesday night's 75-68 semifinal win over No. 22 Alabama — and Rickey Paulding, whose game-tying shot came with 24 seconds left.
Rush's forehead was still swollen on Wednesday, but he did not wear any protective gear. Despite being held scoreless for much of the second half, he finished with 11 points and led the Tigers with six rebounds.
Recker finished with 17 points for Iowa and joined Gilbert and Adams on the all-tournament team, along with Memphis' Dajuan Wagner and Alabama's Rod Grizzard.
Iowa outrebounded the Tigers 21-10 in the first half and led 34-20 at the break.
Gilbert hit two quick 3-pointers as Missouri took a 10-2 lead, but Evans hit two baskets in a 12-5 run that put the Hawkeyes up 32-25 with 3:40 left in the half.
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No. 5 Missouri nips Iowa; Xavier next