GCU beaten by Iowa, Isaia Howard’s 19 points off the bench in Acrisure Classic championship game

PALM DESERT, Calif. (AP) — Isaia Howard scored 19 points off the bench, Bennett Stirtz added 13, and Iowa defeated GCU 59-46 in the Acrisure Classic championship game on Wednesday night.

The Hawkeyes (7-0) remained undefeated under first-year coach Ben McCollum, who coached Drake last season and brought Howard and Stirtz with him to Iowa City.

The Hawkeyes led 30-23 at halftime then allowed one point in the first eight minutes of the second half while extending their lead to 37-24. Each team had more made free throws than made shots in the first 14.5 minutes after halftime.

A 3-pointer by Howard gave the Hawkeyes a 51-37 lead with about 4 minutes remaining. He buried two more 3-pointers down the stretch and finished with his season high in scoring.

Freshman Cooper Koch scored 11 points for Iowa. He and Howard each had six rebounds and Stirtz added five assists.

Jaden Henley scored 16 points for GCU (4-3).

Henley scored eight points in the early going as GCU jumped out to a 10-4 lead 3.5 minutes into the game. The ‘Lopes scored only five points in the next 11 minutes while the Hawkeyes went ahead 21-15.

The Acrisure Classic is one of four four-team events of the Acrisure Series held at Acrisure Arena this week. GCU beat Utah on Tuesday to reach the championship.

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