Louisiana-Monroe 72, Iowa 67

Nov 30, 2007, 11:59 pm

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) -- Tony Hooper scored 26 points and Louisiana-Monroe rallied from 16 down to beat Iowa 72-67 in overtime in the Hawkeye Challenge on Friday night.

Lance Brasher added 14 for Louisiana-Monroe (3-4), which hit five 3-pointers in overtime and became just the second team in 51 tries to beat the Hawkeyes in Iowa's annual tournament.

The Warhawks will face Rice in Saturday's tournament championship. The Owls beat Eastern Illinois 55-49 earlier on Friday.

Justin Johnson, who led Iowa with a career-high 26 points, brought the Hawkeyes within 68-66 on a 3-pointer late in OT. The Warhawks went up by three with a free throw but fouled Johnson beyond the arc with 18.2 seconds left. Johnson missed his final two from the line.

Iowa got the ball back with a chance to tie, but Johnson was stripped trying to force a 3 and Hooper sealed the win with a layup.

Iowa (4-4) has lost four in a row and two straight at home. The Hawkeyes went 31-2 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena during the last two seasons.

Iowa's Kurt Looby missed two free throws with 2.6 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, and the Warhawks started the extra frame on fire.

Hooper nailed back-to-back 3s to give Louisiana-Monroe a 64-60 lead, and Jonas Brown followed with a 3 to make it 67-62 with 2:01 left.

Louisiana-Monroe erased a 16-point Iowa lead in the second half, tying the game at 53 on a Hooper layup with 46 seconds left in regulation. Looby cut through the lane for a dunk with 34.3 seconds left in regulation to put the Hawkeyes back on top.

Hooper hit two free throws to tie the game at 55. Iowa's Jake Kelly then missed a layup, but Looby grabbed the rebound and was fouled going up for the shot. Looby -- just a .500 free-throw shooter entering play -- missed both to sending the game into OT.

Iowa hadn't lost in the Hawkeye Challenge since 1985, when they fell to Arkansas State. The Hawkeyes face Eastern Illinois on Saturday.