The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Iowa
No. 2 Men's Basketball tops No. 18 Iowa for Guardians title
11.22.2005 | Men's Basketball
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- LaMarcus Aldridge posted 18 points and 12 rebounds to pace the Longhorns to a come-from-behind win in the Guardians Classic championship game in Kansas City. Aldridge hit 8-of-14 field goals and added three blocked shots while earning tournament MVP honors.
The UT defense proved to be the difference, holding the Hawkeyes to just 33.8% FG shooting, including a 5-of-25 (.200) mark from three-point range.
After a Brad Buckman dunk opened the scoring, Iowa used a 9-0 spurt to take a seven-point lead at the 16:48 mark. The Horns fought back and took a 17-16 lead on a jumper by Mike Williams with 9:09 left.
Iowa regained the lead and outscored the Horns by a 10-5 margin in the final seven minutes to take a 31-24 lead at the break. Adam Haluska had 15 of his game-high 23 points in the opening 20 minutes to pace the Hawkeyes.
The Horns used a 5-0 spurt to cut the gap to 32-31 following an Aldridge dunk with 17:04 remaining. Iowa responded with another surge, extending its lead to 47-39 on a Carlton Reed jumper at the 12:09 mark.
Trailing 51-46 with 8:07 left, Texas used a Daniel Gibson three-pointer, a Buckman three and a Kenton Paulino driving layup to take a 54-51 advantage with 6:16 to play. Iowa again answered and took a 55-54 lead on a pair of Jeff Horner free throws at the 5:29 mark.
Aldridge gave the Horns the lead for good with another dunk with 4:50 remaining. Buckman then grabbed an offensive rebound and converted a huge three-point play, providing UT a 59-55 cushion at the 3:43 mark. The Longhorns converted 7-of-8 free throws in the final 1:07 to seal the win.
Gibson (16 points) and Buckman (14, including 12 in the second half) joined Aldridge in double-digit scoring for the Horns. Doug Thomas (12 points) was the only Iowa player besides Haluska to reach double figures in scoring.
