Iowa beats Florida State 78-75 in OT

Published Dec. 2, 2015 11:49 p.m. ET

foxsports

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) Iowa kept trying to give the game away.

Florida State did too, allowing Peter Jok just enough time to bury the Seminoles.

Jok scored 24 points, including a 3 with 25 seconds left in overtime, and Iowa rallied to beat Florida State 78-75 on Wednesday night to seal the Big Ten/ACC Challenge for its league.

Jarrod Uthoff added 15 with eight rebounds for the Hawkeyes (5-2), which won its third straight at home.

Florida State tied it at 71-all on a Boris Bojanovsky tip-in with 2:02 left. But Jok got free in the corner and drilled a 3 that gave Iowa a 74-72 lead.

Malik Beasley scored 20 points for Florida State (4-2), which lost despite grabbing 19 offensive rebounds.

The finale of the nation's top inter-conference series fittingly went down to the wire.

Down 63-61 with 49 seconds left in the second half and the ball, Florida State forced a contested 3. But Montay Brandon got a rebound and drew a foul, converting two free throws to tie it at 63.

Iowa's Mike Gesell then tried to score off the dribble and found himself under the basket without help. His desperation pass went off the back of the backboard, forcing overtime.

Uthoff's free throws put Iowa up 76-72 with 10 seconds left in OT. Xavier Rathan-Mayes hit an acrobatic 3 with 3 seconds left to make it 76-75, but two more Uthoff free throws and a missed heave sealed it for the Hawkeyes.

Adam Woodbury had 11 points with 10 rebounds for Iowa.

Even though it's still early, this was an important game for both programs. More so for the Seminoles, a young team playing their first road game.

Florida State looked like what it is right now; an extremely talented but untested group.

Iowa looked like a veteran team still trying to find itself.

The Seminoles jumped ahead by nine early and looked ready to run Iowa out of its own gym. They then squandered the lead by letting the Hawkeyes score 11 straight in less than three minutes.

The game went back and forth in the second half, with both teams struggling mightily from 3-point range. But Jok hit the 3 that mattered, helping Iowa escape with the win.

Rathan-Maye had 15 points and Bojanovsky had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

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TIP-INS

Florida State: The Seminoles had 10 offensive rebounds in the first half...Florida State dominated the paint scoring 46-30...Devon Bookert's half-court shot to end regulation bounced off the back of the rim.

Iowa: Junior college transfer Dale Jones sat out the game with a knee injury that isn't believed to be serious...The Hawkeyes blew out then-No. 20 Wichita State 84-61 their last time out, though the Shockers have been hit hard by injuries... Gesell became just the sixth Iowa player with 400 assists.

UP NEXT

Florida State plays VCU in Atlanta.

Iowa hosts Missouri-Kansas City on Saturday.

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