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Purdue holds off No. 25 Iowa

Jan 24, 2015 - 9:48 PM West Lafayette, IN (SportsNetwork.com) - Rapheal Davis scored a career-high 24 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer in the final minute, and Purdue got a boost from seldom-used wing Basil Smotherman to knock off No. 25 Iowa on Saturday, 67-63.

With Kendall Stephens' left hand heavily wrapped because of a broken finger, Smotherman saw extended minutes and took advantage, providing 13 points on 5- of-6 shooting and pulling down the game's two biggest defensive rebounds.

Purdue held a two-point lead following Davis' 3 with 45 seconds remaining, and Smotherman flew in to grab Mike Gesell's missed jumper at the other end. After he split a pair from the foul line, Peter Jok launched a triple and again Smotherman went up high to haul it in. He made 1-of-2 from the stripe once more, producing the final tally.

Purdue's center tandem of A.J. Hammons and Isaac Haas added 23 points between them on 9-of-11 from the field.

The win snaps a 13-game losing streak against ranked teams for Purdue (12-8, 4-3 Big Ten).

Iowa nearly overcame the loss of star forward Aaron White thanks to late heroics by Gesell and a dominant effort on the glass, but ultimately fell short. White, Iowa's leading scorer and rebounder, left the game in the first half with a right shoulder stinger.

Gesell scored 12 of his 18 points in the game's final six minutes, and Gabriel Olaseni pulled down a career-best 16 rebounds, including 11 on the offensive end.

Iowa (13-7, 4-3) had 24 offensive rebounds as a team.

White scored four points during a 10-2 start for Iowa, but Purdue answered with the next nine. White got injured during the run, and Purdue was the better team for the rest of the half.

Smotherman's reverse layup at 6:08 and transition dunk three minutes later during a 10-1 run were his first two field goals in conference play. He also hit his second 3-pointer of the season early in the second half and followed it up with another reverse layup.

The Hawkeyes trailed by 10 at halftime but wouldn't go away despite playing the entire second half without White. Josh Oglesby hit from deep at 13:17 to cut the deficit to four, and an Anthony Clemmons free throw near the 11:00 mark of the period had it within three.

Gesell then came alive, scoring eight straight Iowa points, relentlessly attacking the basket over a two-plus minute period that led into the game's final media timeout and had the Hawkeyes within two at 61-59.

After Jon Octeus split a pair from the line, Gesell went right at Hammons with a high-arcing layup to get Iowa within one. He then hit a pull-up jumper on the next trip, making it 63-62 in favor of the Hawkeyes.

Davis answered the his 3-ball, and the Boilermakers survived.

Game Notes

Smotherman was 0-for-5 shooting in conference play before this game ... Purdue has won seven straight home games in the series ... Iowa held a 46-31 advantage on the glass.