IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa men’s basketball junior forward Cordell Pemsl underwent season-ending surgery Tuesday afternoon. The announcement came Tuesday by head coach Fran McCaffery.

“Cordell’s procedure removed hardware near his knee from a previous surgery when he was in high school,” said McCaffery.

Pemsl (6-foot-8, 230 pounds) has seen action in only two games this season, playing 13 minutes against UMKC (Nov. 8) and 18 minutes versus Iowa State (Dec. 6).

“I tried to give playing this season another shot in the Iowa State game, but after a week of rest and recovery, the chronic irritation caused by the hardware has remained resulting in my inability to play in Saturday’s game versus UNI. After further discussions with the medical staff, we determined that the best course of action is to correct the problem at this time.”

The native of Dubuque, Iowa, has played in 68 career games, averaging 7.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa opened its final nonconference homestand by slogging its way to victory over a team that didn’t play like it came in with nine losses.

Tyler Cook scored 18 points, Luka Garza added 15 and No. 23 Iowa beat Western Carolina 78-60 on Tuesday for its third consecutive win.

Freshman Joe Wieskamp scored 10 points for the Hawkeyes (9-2), who forced 26 turnovers and led by as many as 27 points.

“I thought we fought,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “We had to fight.”

Iowa knew that Western Carolina could give it a game after the Catamounts took Furman — the team a spot below the Hawkeyes in this week’s AP Top 25 — to double overtime.

Iowa mostly dashed Western Carolina’s hopes early, using a 28-10 first-half run to go ahead 48-29 — even though the Catamounts shot 65 percent from the field. The Hawkeyes slowly pulled further ahead in the second half, as Maishe Dailey’s layup helped push the lead to 65-38. But the undersized Catamounts kept fighting to make the final score look closer than the game really was.

“They didn’t have enough size to guard all of us,” Cook said.

Marc Gosselin had 17 points for the Catamounts (3-10), the first team in the Southern conference to hit the 10-loss mark.

UP NEXT

Western Carolina plays at Bowling Green on Friday.

Iowa hosts Savannah State on Saturday.

Atlantic/CAM, Logan-Magnolia, Woodbine at OA-BCIG

Atlantic/CAM 39, Logan-Magnolia 36
Atlantic/CAM 69, OA-BCIG 9
Atlantic/CAM 78, Woodbine 6
Logan-Magnolia 54, OA-BCIG 30
Logan-Magnolia 78, Woodbine 6
OABCIG 48, Woodbine 36

Atlantic/CAM 3x winners: Garrett McLaren (106), Joe Weaver (120/126), Chase McLaren (138), Kadin Stutzman (145), Connor Pellett (160/170), Mitchell Williamson (182/195), Cale Roller (220/285).

Kuemper Catholic, Audubon, Coon Rapids-Bayard at Carroll

Carroll 72, Audubon 12
Carroll 72, Coon Rapids-Bayard 6
Carroll 63, Kuemper Catholic 14
Kuemper Catholic 48, Audubon 24
Kuemper Catholic 42, Coon Rapids-Bayard 30
Coon Rapids-Bayard 42, Audubon 24

Southwest Iowa, AHSTW, Abraham Lincoln at Tri-Center

AHSTW 60, Southwest Iowa 16
AHSTW 54, Tri-Center 30
AHSTW 42, Abraham Lincoln 40
Southwest Iowa 41, Abraham Lincoln 36
Abraham Lincoln 48, Tri-Center 36
Tri-Center 42, Southwest Iowa 36

Shenandoah, Bellevue West at Thomas Jefferson

Bellevue West 57 Shenandoah 15
Thomas Jefferson 63 Shenandoah 12
Thomas Jefferson 40 Bellevue West 36

Creston/O-M, South Tama at North Polk

Creston/O-M 63, North Polk 17
Creston/O-M 42, South Tama 28