Ragin' Cajuns win 80-71 in Cayman Islands; Iowa's 1st loss

Nov 20, 2017, 03:43 pm

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands -- Bryce Washington scored 15 points and pulled down 10 rebounds and Louisiana-Lafayette defeated Iowa 80-71 in the opening game of the inaugural Cayman Islands Classic on Monday.

Frank Bartley IV led the Ragin' Cajuns (3-1) with 17 points. JaKeenan Gant added 16 points and four blocks, and Justin Miller scored 14 points to go with seven rebounds. Louisiana was only 5 of 21 from 3-point range but shot 49 percent overall.

The Hawkeyes (3-1), who opened their season with three home games, were led by Isaiah Moss, who made all 10 of his free throws, with a career-high 24 points. Jordan Bohannon added four 3-pointers and 21 points. Iowa shot just 37 percent overall and 32 percent from the arc, where they had been shooting at a 44 percent clip, tops in the Big Ten.

The teams were tied at 10 when the Ragin' Cajuns went on a 21-1 run capped by a Washington bucket with 2:22 left in the half, which ended with Louisiana ahead 37-17.

Iowa committed 10 first-half turnovers.

"There were a lot of shots that went in-and-out of the basket," Bohannon said. "That was frustrating because we were getting open looks and those are shots that we are normally hitting. The ball was halfway in the basketball and popped out and we were missing layups."

The lead reached 24 points early on after the break but Moss led an Iowa rally in the second half in which he scored 20 points. His 3-pointer with just under two minutes left got the Hawkeyes within nine, 70-61, and he added seven more points but Gant hit a pair of free throws with 49 seconds left and his dunk with a half-minute to go made it a 13-point game.

"We fought, played, and executed better in the second half," Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. "There was a lot of good stuff in the second half, but not much good in the first half. You have to give them credit."

The eight-team tournament runs through Wednesday.