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Bucknell men’s basketball team falls 94-39 to ranked Iowa

DES MOINES, Iowa – Alvaro Folgueiras scored 17 points to lead No. 25 Iowa to a 94-39 win over a shorthanded Bucknell team on Saturday evening at Casey’s Center. Ruot Bijiek, playing only a few miles from his hometown of Waukee, scored nine points to lead the Bison, who finished up a very difficult non-league schedule at 3-10.

Playing without five injured players, the Bison got out to a terrific start, leading 10-2 after Grgur Brcic’s alley-oop finish off Jayden Williams’ lob. Bijiek, performing in front of dozens of friends and family members, thrilled the local crowd by hitting threes on his first two attempts of the night.

Iowa quickly regrouped, however, and took control with a 17-0 run. Tavion Banks and Folgueiras hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to ignite the run, and Folgueiras finished it off with seven straight points to give the Hawkeyes a 19-10 lead.

Bijiek and Jacob Meachem added threes later in the half, but Iowa outscored the Bison 13-2 over the final 4:54 to take a 43-21 lead to the locker room. Iowa then held Bucknell to one bucket in the first six minutes of the second half to stretch the margin over 30.

The Hawkeyes came in ranked eighth nationally in scoring defense, and they made life difficult for the Bison after the initial hot start. Bucknell was held to 36.6 percent shooting, including a 5-for-23 mark from the 3-point arc. The Bison also committed a season-high 25 turnovers, which led to 40 Iowa points.

Iowa entered the night ranked in the top-15 nationally in field-goal percentage (.521) and 3-point accuracy (.399), and the Hawkeyes shot 60.3% overall in this one. They went 8-for-21 from the arc and 10-for-12 from the foul line.

Banks added 16 points and nine rebounds, Kael Combs scored 13 points, and leading scorer Bennett Stirtz had eight points and six assists. Iowa improved to 10-2 on the season, with the only two losses coming on the road to top-10 teams in Michigan State and Iowa State.

Williams and Achile Spadone both finished with six points and three assists for the Bison, who had 11 assists on 15 made field goals.

The Bison will take a holiday break before opening up Patriot League play at Holy Cross on Dec. 31.

No. 25 Iowa 94, Bucknell 39

BUCKNELL (3-10, 0-0 PL)

Ruot Bijiek 3-10 0-0 9, Achile Spadone 3-11 0-0 6, Jayden Williams 3-5 0-0 6, Grgur Brcic 2-3 1-2 5, Amon Dorries 1-3 0-0 2, Aleksander Pachucki 2-6 0-0 5, Jacob Meacham 1-2 2-2 5, Kellen Welch 0-0 1-2 1, Patrick O’Brien 0-1 0-0 0, Matt Lange 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-41 4-6 39.

IOWA (10-2, 1-1 BIG TEN)

Tavion Banks 4-8 7-8 16, Kael Combs 6-7 0-0 13, Bennett Stirtz 4-8 0-0 8, Cam Manyawu 3-5 2-3 8, Cooper Koch 0-2 0-0 0, Alvaro Folguerias 7-10 0-0 17, Brendan Hausen 3-6 1-1 9, Tate Sage 3-4 0-0 7, Isala Howard 3-4 0-0 6, Trevin Jirak 2-5 0-0 4, Joey Matteoni 2-2 0-0 4, Jacob Koch 1-2 0-0 2.

Halftime: Iowa 43-21. 3-point goals: Bucknell 5-23 (Bijiek 3-9, Meacham 1-2, Pachucki 1-4, O’Brien 0-1, Dorries 0-2, Spadone 0-5), Iowa 8-21 (Folguerias 3-5, Hausen 2-5, Sage 1-1, Combs 1-1, Banks 1-2, Stirtz 0-3, Jirak 0-3, Koch 0-1). Fouled out: Bucknell-none; Iowa-none. Rebounds: Bucknell 16 (Brcic 4), Iowa 36 (Banks 9). Assists: Bucknell 11 (Spadone 3, Williams 3), Iowa 18 (Stirtz 6). Technical fouls: Bucknell-Williams; Iowa-Folguerias. Total fouls: Bucknell 16, Iowa

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