Iowa holds off Central Michigan, 73-61

Devyn Marble scored 18 points and Mike Gesell added 15 as Iowa beat Central Michigan 73-61 on Monday night. Aaron White had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Hawkeyes (2-0), who couldn’t pull away against the inexperienced Chippewas until a 14-3 run midway through the second half. Gesell powered the key stretch for the Hawkeyes, hitting two 3-pointers and assisting on another.

Kyle Randall scored 17 points for Central Michigan (0-1). The Chippewas cut the lead to seven points with 4 1/2 minutes left, but got no closer.

First-year Central Michigan coach Keno Davis, the son of former Hawkeye coach Tom Davis, was an undergraduate assistant for his father at Iowa from 1991-95.

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Aaron White putback dunk:

Mike Gesell hits 3-pointer:

Mike Gesell finds Aaron White:

Aaron White slam dunk:

Melsahn Basabe big-time swat:

Melsahn Basabe slams it home:

FINAL: Roy Devyn Marble scored 18 points to lead Iowa to a 73-61 win over Central Michigan on Monday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

Iowa (2-0) seized command early in the second half. The game was tied 34-34 before the Hawkeyes went on a 20-6 run to take a 14-point lead in the middle of the second half.

Mike Gesell was 6-of-11 from the floor and chipped in 15 points for Iowa. The Hawkeyes were hot from long range, hitting 7-of-18 threes for a 39 percent night from beyond the arc. Iowa also got a double-digit effort from Aaron White, who scored 14.

Kyle Randall scored 17 points and made 5-of-8 shots from the floor for Central Michigan (0-1) in the loss. Derrick Richardson Jr. had a quality shooting game, nailing 4-of-6 shots from the field and scoring 14 points. The Chippewas were on fire from beyond the arc during the game, shooting 39 percent (7-of-18).

The Hawkeyes were more on target with their field goal shooting, maintaining a 45 percent (26-of-58) field goal percentage to Central Michigan’s 40 percent (19-of-48).

HALFTIME: Roy Devyn Marble has eight points to lead Iowa to a 29-26 lead over Central Michigan at the end of the first half. Neither team has been able to take control of the game as the lead changed hands six times.

The Chippewas led 5-2 when the Hawkeyes went on a 10-0 run to take a seven-point lead.

Eight Iowa players have scored, including Melsahn Basabe, Mike Gesell and Aaron White, who all have four points apiece.

Kyle Randall led the way for Central Michigan in the first half, with seven points.