SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Tom Davis is perfect in NCAA tournament first-round games. Thursday night, his Iowa Hawkeyes weren’t too bad themselves.
Iowa got 19 points from Guy Rucker and 17 from team leader Andrew Woolridge to beat Virginia 73-60 in the opening round of the NCAA West Regional.
Iowa never trailed and led by as many as 22 points in the second half before a late scoring spurt by Virginia’s Harold Deane cut the final margin.
It was the 10th first-round win for Davis in as many NCAA tournaments and put the Hawkeyes in a Saturday game against defending national champion Kentucky.
The game matched two teams seeded almost even by the NCAA, with Iowa (22-9) eighth and Virginia (18-13) ninth. But from the opening tipoff it was clear that, on this night at least, the Hawkeyes were the superior team.
Iowa dominated on the boards, especially on the offensive end, where the Hawkeyes got second and third chances at baskets on nearly every miss. Virginia compounded its problems by shooting poorly, and had only three offensive rebounds by the time the game was out of reach.
Iowa led by as many as 11 points in the first half before taking a 37-28 halftime lead. The Hawkeyes scored the first nine points of the second half, holding Virginia scoreless for more than four minutes, to open the game up.
Iowa built the lead up to as many as 22 points with about eight minutes left in the game. Woolridge, who led Iowa in both scoring and assists during the regular season, was the spark, driving the lane against a porous Virginia defense.
Deane, limping noticeably on a sore ankle, scored 24 for Virginia. Deane had 18 of those points in the second half, during which the rest of the team scored only 14 points.
Ryan Bowen added 15 for Iowa.
Rucker had 14 of his points in the first half as Iowa scored the first points of the game and never trailed.
Tied 6-6, Iowa went on an 18-8 run, capped by a Rucker basket inside on a pass from Woolridge, to take a 24-14 lead midway through the half.
Iowa was up by as many as 11, the last time on a jumper by Bowen with 12 seconds left. Norman Nolan came back down court and drove the lane to cut the margin to single digits at halftime on a layup at the buzzer.