In a tangle of two teams that can't win the close ones, it was apparent that the victors of the men's basketball game against Iowa would need to establish themselves quickly.

So the Lions did just that, using a 13-0 run early in the second half to break the game wide open. They then proceeded to defeat the Hawkeyes, 74-64, Saturday at Rec Hall.

At 13 minutes, 17 seconds remaining the second half, senior Lion center John Amaechi threw down a two-handed dunk to boost the lead to 47-43, then blocked his fifth shot of the game.

A Donovan Williams steal and dish to a trailing Rahsaan Carlton -- who jammed a running one-hander --opened the lead to six. Dan Earl drilled a three-pointer to stretch it to nine before the Hawkeyes called a timeout.

After Williams hit a layup and Amaechi another dunk, the Lions led 56-43. Junior forward Glenn Sekunda capped the 13-0 run at 9:26 with an eight-foot jumper.

Despite the damage inside, the Lions (13-5, 5-4 Big Ten) scored 24 of their 38 first-half points from the perimeter, including five three-pointers. Freshman guard Pete Lisicky hit back-to-back treys to break a tie at 25 and spurt a 9-0 Lion run late in the first half.

For the game, the Lions shot 58.3 percent from the floor, their best ever in three years of Big Ten play.

"It was a matter of mostly hitting the shots we got," Lion Coach Bruce Parkhill said. "The same shots, but in a different rhythm."

It was also a different outcome for the two teams, which each have 13 victories but have lost the down-to-the-wire games by close margins.

Iowa (13-8, 3-6), which was nationally ranked in December, has lost four conference games by one point. Despite a 20-point blowout at No. 9 Michigan State last Thursday, the Lions have lost their other four games by a total of 13 points.

"There's no question we're balanced. The question is, how good are we?" Iowa Coach Tom Davis asked. "From the games we've had against other top-25 teams, we can hold our own. We're not necessarily better, but we're right in the mix when we're healthy.

"Right now, we're not. Right now, we're a shadow of what we were a month ago."

Sophomore forward Jess Settles -- Iowa's leading scorer -- saw limited action, playing only 10 minutes due to a back injury which has caused him to miss seven games this season.

The Hawkeyes suffered another blow when junior forward Kenyon Murray was injured after running blindly into an Amaechi pick at 9:37 in the second half.

"He took a tremendous blow to the neck, so serious that the doctor and trainer did not want him to go back in," Davis said. "I hate to lose him because he's our best defensive player and he's really a key guy in terms of trying to shut some people down."

Said Amaechi: "I was there for a good five or six seconds, and I was expecting (Murray) to move. Whoever was guarding me needs to be beaten severely, because he didn't call anything."

While Amaechi finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks, he did most of his damage in the second half. Earl hit a trio of three-pointers for 16 points while, Carlton had 15 points on 7-of-13 shooting and Sekunda added 14 on 7-of-10 from the field.

Hawkeye guard Andre Woolridge led all scorers with 20 points after nailing Iowa's final nine points -- all on three-pointers -- to close an 18-point gap to 10 in the last 1:35.