Chad Leistikow

cleistik@dmreg.com

By the end of the Big Four Classic, Northern Iowa was facing questions about whether it could beat Iowa State.

And Iowa was facing questions about its latest second-half meltdown.

The Panthers held Iowa without a basket for nearly 8 minutes on their way to a suffocating 56-44 victory in the nightcap of the third annual event featuring the state's Division I programs at Wells Fargo Arena.

Because of the way the Big Four Classic is set up, 10-1 UNI and 9-1 Iowa State won't get to face each other in the regular season. Which brings up a fair question: How would UNI do against Iowa State?

"Ask the Mayor," Panthers coach Ben Jacobson joked about popular Cyclones coach Fred Hoiberg. "From what I understand, the Mayor's never been wrong."

That answer generated a chorus of laughs from media members.

A few minutes later, when Iowa coach Fran McCaffery and a few players were escorted into the interview room, the mood turned more serious.

What happened? Iowa was held to its lowest point total in the five-year McCaffery era after shooting 27.5 percent.

"Clearly, they're feeling pressure. They're putting pressure on themselves," McCaffery said of his Hawkeyes, who fell to 8-4 with one nonconference game remaining (Monday against North Florida) before Big Ten play begins. "Really good shooters are missing wide-open shots.

The crowd of 15,124 in downtown Des Moines saw UNI take advantage of what has been a Hawkeye epidemic in a series of meltdown losses this season: Abysmal second-half starts.

It happened against Texas (Iowa led by six at halftime and lost by 14). It happened against Iowa State (a five-point deficit quickly turned into 25). And it happened again Saturday, with the Panthers starting the second half with a 16-3 run.

When all was said and done, Iowa missed 10 consecutive shots in a span of 7:51 to fritter away its 29-23 halftime lead.

"Our guys found another level of defense in the second half," Jacobson said.

The second-half numbers for Iowa were almost hard to believe: 3-for-24 shooting, no assists, 10 turnovers. This was a team that beat North Carolina in Chapel Hill a few weeks ago.

"We didn't make shots. That was apparent," said Iowa's Aaron White, held to a season-low nine points. "When the going got tough, we went to one-on-one action. You've got to be diligent to move the ball."

The second half was a complete turnaround for both teams.

Iowa punctuated the first half with White's 3-pointer with 1:06 to go to take a six-point lead. The Hawkeyes' next basket didn't come until Peter Jok's step-back jumper with 13:15 left in the second half.

The few times Iowa was able to score buckets, UNI had an answer. Matt Bohannon swished a baseline 3-pointer with 2:02 to go that all but wrapped up the victory — and the Iowa State questions ensued.

So, what about facing Iowa State?

"Uh, that's a tough question," said UNI senior Seth Tuttle, who scored nine points.

"You're supposed to save those for me," Jacobson interjected, "That's a good question."

Tuttle offered his best politically-correct answer.

"Yeah, we'd love to play them," Tuttle said. "That's a great team, a great opportunity to play a good team. But we just play the teams that are on our schedule, and this year is Iowa. And we're just happy to get the win."