IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team trailed by just six at halftime, but Iowa held the Huskies to just 29 percent (9-of-31) shooting in the second half as the Hawkeyes unended NIU, 103-74, on Friday evening (Dec. 29) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. David Coit (Columbus, N.J./Atlantic Cape CC) led three Huskies in double figures with 23 points, including 6-of-7 from three-point range. 

Zarique Nutter (Newark, N.J./Clarendon College) had 16 points and Philmon Gebrewhit (Boston, Mass./DePaul) added 11 points. 

Iowa (8-5) shot 50 percent (42-of-84) from the field in the in the contest and committed just seven turnovers. 

"When you look at the numbers, we shot 47 percent (from the field) and 61 (from three) but we didn't defend," said NIU head coach Rashon Burno. "That has been our Achilles hell all year. (Iowa) is one of the best scoring teams in the country, they average 97 (points per game) at home, but we have to be better than what we showed tonight."

Two teams that average more than 80 points a game made an extremely quick start as Iowa led 20-15 six minutes into the contest. NIU (6-6) made three of its first four triples, including a pair from Gebrewhit, as NIU was in front 15-14, before six-straight points swung the early advantage back to the Hawkeyes. 

Iowa extended its run to 13-0 as the Hawkeyes led 27-15 with just under 12 minutes to play in the opening stanza. 

Coit ended the Iowa run with five-straight to bring the Huskies within seven. NIU closed the Hawkeye advantage to just five, 30-25, on a triple from the top of the key by Xavier Amos (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) just past the midway point of the half. NIU opened the game 5-of-7 from three-point range. 

The Huskies made their next three triples tries, including a pair by Coit, as NIU cut the Iowa lead to just one, 43-42. The Hawkeyes responded with the next seven however as Iowa led, 50-42, with just over three minutes to play in the opening half. 

A reverse layup from Zion Russell (Upper Marlboro, Md./National Christian Academy) ignited a 6-0 Huskie burst as NIU pulled within a pair, 50-48. Iowa scored the final four points of the half as the Hawkeyes took a 54-48 lead into the intermission. 

Coit led NIU with 14 first half points, Gebrewhit added 11 as NIU shot 66.7 percent (18-of-27) from the field, including 72.7 percent (8-of-11) from three-point range. Ben Krikke led all scorers with 16 points for Iowa in the opening 20 minutes as the Hawkeyes shot 52.2 percent (24-of-46) from the field and 44.4 percent (4-of-9) from three. 

Iowa opened the second half on an 11-3 run as the Hawkeyes took a 65-51 lead three minutes into the half. 

With the home team in front 74-56, the Hawkeyes used an 11-2 run to push their lead to 85-58 with 11:40 left to play and never looked back.

Krikke finished with 20 points to lead six players in double figures for Iowa. Payton Sandford scored 16 points, Dasonte Bowen added 15 points. Pryce Sandfort and Owen Freeman each had 12 points, with Freeman also grabbing a game-high nine rebounds, while Tony Perkins finished with 10 points and eight assists. 

The Huskies will return to action when they open Mid-American Conference play at home against Akron on Tuesday, Jan. 2. Tickets for Tuesday's contest, and all remaining Huskie basketball games, including the All MACtion pass, are available now at NIUHuskies.com/tickets.