EVANSTON-Northwestern has had several games this season where it played one strong half and then faltered in the other. On this night against Iowa, the Wildcats put together 40 strong minutes and ran Iowa out of Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Northwestern dominated in all phases and led this one from buzzer-to-buzzer, posting an 89-54 win over the Hawkeyes that was about as lopsided as the score indicated.

Scottie Lindsey scored 22 points to lead Northwestern, while Bryant McIntosh added 20, to go along with a game-high 10 assists.

Iowa was led by Tyler Cook and Ryan Kreiner, who tallied 14 points apiece.

Here are our three pointers on the beatdown that raised Northwestern’s record to 15-4 (4-2 Big Ten):

This one was over when…: Lindsey threw down a vicious one-handed jam to give the Wildcats a 76-50 lead with 7:34 left. Well, it was probably over well before that, but Lindsey’s dunk was the final two points of a 20-3 Northwestern run that put the game out of reach for good and sapped the Hawkeyes' will. Iowa had drawn to within 9 points, 56-47, at the 13:09 mark when the Wildcats went on a scoring rampage. Dererk Pardon threw down a dunk, which was followed by 3-pointers from Sanjay Lumpkin, Scottie Lindsey, McIntosh, Vic Law and Lindsey again. After Lindsey picked Jordan Bohannon’s pocket and hammered it home, Welsh-Ryan was up for grabs and the Hawkeyes were finished.

B-Mac came up big: McIntosh struggled offensively in several outings recently, but Northwestern’s star guard put on a show against the Hawkeyes. He hit a 3-pointer on his first shot of the game and never really cooled off, shooting 9 for 11 for the game and 2 for 3 from long distance. He was 6 for 7 from the field, and 1 for 2 from beyond the arc, for 13 points in the first half but did more damage with his passing in the second, handing out 7 assists. McIntosh was in charge throughout the game, driving into the lane off the dribble, leading and finishing fast breaks, dumping the ball off to Pardon for easy dunks, and hitting jumpers from inside and out. McIntosh’s performance stood in stark contrast to Iowa’s best player, Peter Jok, who came in averaging a Big Ten-best 22.9 points per game but scored just 4.

The numbers told the story: Thirty-five point wins for Northwestern are usually reserved for double-directional schools in non-conference play, but this one was no fluke. Northwestern shot 60 percent for the game and 46 percent from beyond the arc. The Wildcats led in rebounding 39-24, on points in the paint 42-18, on points off turnovers 16-6, and on fast break points 18-9. The Wildcats also had 29 assists on their 37 baskets – the sign of team playing efficiently. If the stat sheet recorded a number, it was in Northwestern's favor. It's difficult to imagine how things could have gone any better for the Wildcats.