March 29, 2024

Jok’s 42 not enough, Iowa men lose to Memphis

NICEVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Iowa’s Peter Jok won a personal scoring duel with a career high 42 points while Memphis’ Dedric Lawson put up 35, but Lawson’s Tigers carried the day in a back-and-forth contest for third place in the Emerald Coast Classic.

Jeremiah Martin pitched in with 14 points and hit a pair of 3-pointers that brought Memphis from behind and put the Tigers ahead to stay Saturday for a 100-92 win in the consolation game.

The game featured three ties and 15 lead changes before Martin’s two long-distance shots put the Tigers (5-1) up for good after trailing Iowa (3-3) by a point early in the second half.

K.J. Lawson had 17 points, Markel Crawford scored 16 and Craig Randall II added 15 points for Memphis.

“Shout out to Iowa and Peter Jok,” Dedric Lawson said. “He was a phenomenal player for them tonight. I just wanted to get the win at the end of the day because we lost yesterday. I wanted to go home 1-1.”

Jok, the Big 10 Conference’s scoring leader, rebounded after No. 7 Virginia, which boasts the nation’s top scoring defense, held him to only 13 points in Friday’s 74-41 semifinal loss. Jok was averaging 24.3 points per game going into Saturday’s contest. Tyler Cook was the only other Hawkeye scoring in double figures with 17.

“It’s a shame when you have a guy play that well that you can’t ride that to victory,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. “Obviously a better effort than yesterday, but (giving up) 54 points in the paint is not a recipe for success.”

Each team had a big run in the first half. Memphis opened a 12-point lead, the largest advantage for either team, with a 14-2 run that began with Crawford’s 3-pointer to break a 7-all tie. Iowa immediately responded with a 16-4 run to tie the game at 25-all.

Dedric Lawson’s jumper put Memphis back in the lead. Iowa never could get closer than one point behind before the half ended with Memphis up 54-51.