OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Northern Iowa kept Creighton star Doug McDermott under control, and the Panthers started the game making 3-pointers in rapid succession. Then came an 11½-minute stretch in which they couldn’t score a field goal, and they ended up with a 63-60 loss to the 23rd-ranked Bluejays on Tuesday night. After scoring 31 points the first 13 minutes, the Panthers managed only 29 in the final 27. The Panthers held McDermott, the nation’s second-leading scorer at 25.2 points a game, to 14. But all the attention they gave to McDermott allowed Antoine Young to score a season-high 21 points for the Bluejays. Young, shooting 39 percent for the season, made 9 of 14 shots, with his only 3-pointer giving the Bluejays a five-point lead with 2 minutes left. The Bluejays (14-2, 4-1 Missouri Valley Conference) could never build a safe lead despite shutting down the Panthers (12-5, 2-3) for such a long stretch over the first and second halves. Marc Sonnen scored a season-high 15 points for Northern Iowa — all in the first half — and Anthony James added 10. The Panthers went 8 of 12 from 3-point range in the first half to build a double-digit lead and finished with a season-high 12 3s.

Hawkeye 10:

• Atlantic 55, Creston 52
• Nebraska City, Neb. 59, Shenandoah 19

Western Iowa:

• Audubon 62, A-H-S-T 50
• Tri-Center 64, Missouri Valley 50
• Riverside 65, Griswold 38

Rolling Hills

• CAM 55, Orient-Macksburg 48
• Exira-EHK 74, Glidden-Ralston 43
• Walnut 69, Adair-Casey 58

Others:

• Clarinda Academy 69, Fremont-Mills 66
• Corning 69, East Union 53
• Des Moines Christian 66, Coon Rapids-Bayard 35
• Boyer Valley 67, Charter Oak-Ute 42
• East Mills 56, Villisca 48
• Nodaway Valley 75, Bedford 33
• Guthrie Center 51, Earlham 37
• IKM-Manning 78, West Harrison 26
• Mount Ayr 81, Lenox 46
• Nishnabotna 57, Stanton 49
• Panorama 52, Van Meter 47
• Sidney 44, Essex 30
• Sioux City East 82, Abraham Lincoln 34
• Sioux City North 69, Thomas Jefferson 43

Iowa has granted running back Marcus Coker his release from the program after the sophomore withdrew his application to enroll in spring semester classes.

Coker, the Big Ten’s second-leading rusher in 2011 with 1,384 yards, was suspended for the Insight Bowl for an unspecified violation of university policies and Iowa’s student-athlete code of conduct.

Coach Kirk Ferentz never elaborated on Coker’s suspension, but said he hoped Coker would rejoin the team at some point.

The team on Tuesday said Coker asked for a release from his scholarship, which was granted.

Coker is the latest promising Iowa running back to leave the team. The Hawkeyes announced last week that freshman Mika’il McCall would leave the program.

Adam Robinson, who led the team in rushing last season before being suspended for a bowl game, didn’t return for the 2011 campaign. Jewel Hampton and Brandon Wegher also have departed the Iowa program.

Coker filled in for Robinson at the 2010 Insight Bowl and had 219 rush yards and two touchdowns. He led Iowa with 281 carries and scored 15 rush touchdowns this past season.

The move leaves Iowa thin at running back for 2012. Freshman Jordan Canzeri, who led the team with 58 yards rushing in a 31-14 loss to Oklahoma in the bowl game, would appear to be in line for the starting job.