The biggest factor in Iowa’s favor as well as the largest deterrent is the young, raw talent of the Hawkeyes. The best player on the team is no doubt a dynamic sophomore, Tyler Cook. At 6-9, the forward out of Saint Louis flashed looks of high potential consistently throughout his freshman year. Tyler Cook’s effect on the game cannot always be shown in his stat lines; however, Cook’s impacts every possession, regardless of his possession of the ball.

Jordan Bohannon, Isaiah Moss, and Brady Ellingson will be dominating the guard spots as sophomores and juniors. Bohannon and Moss can both score off the dribble and distribute to make plays at will, even as mere sophomores. Ellingson, however, will be more of a pure point guard. With the powerhouse Tyler Cook at forward, clear leaders at guard slots, and depth at both forward and guard positions, Iowa Basketball will be successful if McCaffery can find a large player to play in tandem with Cook.

This large X-factor for Iowa will be the freshman center for the Hawks, Luka Garza. The 4-star recruit out of Washington DC will play the role which could put Iowa over the top. The 6-11 has already grabbed 18 boards through two games with 27 points in addition. In recent memory, Iowa loses the rebounding affair on a strikingly consistent basis. In addition to the young Garza and Cook, the returning Big Ten Conference 6th man of the year award winner, Nicholas Bear, will jump start the young Hawkeyes whenever needed. With a deep set of young big men behind Garza, Baer, and Cook, the rebounding deficit will improve moving forward.

Another reason for the jump into March Madness will be the schedule for the young Iowa team. With the only notable non-conference opponents coming on the road against both Virginia Tech and the rivaling Cyclones, wins will be racked up quickly prior to conference play. Iowa also draws one of the weakest schedules in the Big Ten Conference. The Hawkeyes will not travel to ranked opponents in #2 Michigan State, #20 Purdue, and #19 Northwestern.

Iowa will also not travel to rival Wisconsin and will only play Michigan State, Maryland and Indiana once. The Hawkeyes will reach 20 wins before the final stretch of the season. Three of the final five games will

play on the road with the last two facing ranked opponents. With an easier schedule than most, even if the young players do not improve in the expected ways, Iowa will rack up at least 22 wins before the Big Ten Tournament in the Madison Square Garden.

The graduation of Peter Jok will also allow the Hawkeye basketball squad to acquire a bid to the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Jok made up the core of last year’s team, leading the Big Ten in scoring. However, Jok also lead the team in shots taken. Despite leading in points, Jok shot a 7^th team best shooting percentage to return for it, behind the likes of Tyler Cook, Nicholas Baer, Ahmad Wagner, and others.

Contrary to popular belief from mainstream sports analysts, Iowa will benefit from the absence of Peter Jok for multiple reasons. Iowa will not be reliant on a one-man effort with multiple people getting involved. A team is much easier to stop with one man scoring instead of a team. The spacing of the floor will also be nicer for shooters with the best player in Cook playing in the post instead of Jok playing around the 3-point arc. All in all, Peter Jok is an absolutely great player; however, Jok’s presence hurt the team more at times than not.

Due to the young raw talent of the Hawkeyes in addition to lucky breaks in scheduling and an ability to involve more players than in years past, the 2017 Iowa Hawkeye basketball team will not only return to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in five years, but will chance running at Sweet Sixteen for the first time since the 1998-99 season. The next game for the 2-0 Hawkeyes will come against Grambling State on Wednesday, November 16^th at 7:05 pm CST at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The post Spoilers: Hawkeyes Dance in March appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Those mid-2000s teams brought joy to Hawkeye faithful carrying on the tradition set before them from the dominating Lute Olsen and Tom Davis eras. There was that “it” factor about Iowa Basketball that gave fans something to look forward to.

As the Steve Alford era went along that excitement began to diminish. One year removed from a NCAA tournament bid as a 3-seed, Iowa found themselves as a team that failed to make a postseason tournament in 2007 and a coach that was on his way out. In hopes to quickly revitalize a program before disaster struck, Hawks brought in Butler University head coach Todd Lickliter. Fresh off his National Coach of the Year honor and building of a mid-major powerhouse, many thought Lickliter could do the same at Iowa. To put it lightly, he did not. To say his three years as Iowa’s head man was miserable would be an understatement. His combined 38-57 record left the Iowa program in shambles and an institution that in no way was appealing to recruits. A once energetic young Hawk fan, excitement for Iowa basketball was now nothing more than a distant memory.

A program that hit rock bottom, the reigns were now handed over to Siena Head Coach Fran McCaffery to try and spark life back into Iowa basketball for the 2010-2011 campaign. His first season was as expected a struggle with only eleven wins, but the next year as Fran was able to bring in his own recruits, the team looked promising. With additions of a 6’9 lengthy forward from Strongsville, Ohio that had a knack for the ball, an up and coming 6’11 freak athlete from England, and a sharp shooter from Cedar Rapids, things started to look up. In these players first year in the program the team managed a winning season and a trip to a postseason tournament for the first time in five years.

Fast forward three years later, and this squad never looked back. From an NIT berth, to an NIT title appearance, to an NCAA tournament appearance and then a win in the tournament in their final year, this senior class improved every year under Fran and has solidified life back into a program that so badly needed it. Amassing eighty-five wins, four postseason tournament appearances for the first time in nearly a decade, and many gritty performances later, Aaron White, Gabriel Olaseni, Josh Oglesby, and Kyle Denning helped build a program from the ground up and should be commemorated for their feat. On behalf of Hawkeye nation, I thank you seniors for giving us fans something to look forward to, something to talk about without rolling our eyes, and most definitely something to be proud about. Aaron, Gabe, Josh, and Kyle thank you for being Hawkeyes and bringing out that little kid excitement in us once again. Who knows, maybe I’ll find myself out in my driveway acting like I’m Aaron White hitting a game winner just like old times.

The post My Tribute to the Hawkeye Seniors appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The last time the Iowa Hawkeyes won a men’s NCAA tournament game George W. Bush had been president for less than 6 months, we had not yet experienced September 11th, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick had just won their first Super Bowl, and the universe was unaware of what a “Hunger Games” was.

The last time the Iowa Hawkeyes won an Men’s NCAA tournament game Aaron White was 8 years old and Fran McCaffery was the head coach at UNC-Greensboro where he lead his Spartans to a Southern Conference Championship and first round loss in the NCAA tournament to the Stanford Cardinal.

The last time the Iowa Hawkeyes won a Men’s NCAA tournament was in 2001 when they defeated the Creighton Blue Jays 69-56 before being pounded in the 2nd round by second seeded Kentucky 92-79. That Iowa team featured the likes of Luke Recker and NBA veteran Reggie Evans. After that one win the rest of the Steve Alford era was at best mildly disappointing, posting 3 trips to the NIT and two disappointing first round losses to Cincinnati and 14th seeded Northwestern State in 2005 and 2006 NCAA Tournaments, respectively. Star senior Adam Haluska graduated and Alford never recovered.

Once the Alford Era ended with his resignation after the 2006-2007 season, Hawkeye nation searched for solace in young head coach Todd Lickliter. Lickliter had just completed building the foundation of what would end up being a perennially excellent program at Butler. He did not have such success at Iowa; 3 years, 3 losing records, 0 NCAA tournament appearances.

That massive failure that was the Lickliter era led us to where we are today. Firing Lickliter allowed AD Gary Barta to hire then Siena head coach Fran McCaffery, who had just led the Saints to three straight NCAA tournament appearances.

Despite losing his first game as the Hawkeyes’ head coach to South Dakota State and going 11-20 in his first season on the job in 2011, McCaffery has put the Hawkeyes on an upward trajectory ever since. The Hawks returned to post season play for the first time since 2006 under McCaffery with a trip to the NIT in 2012. They almost won the NIT 2013. Then finally in 2014 “Our man Fran” got the Hawks back to the tournament where they where they lost a play-in “1st round” game to Tennessee.

The Hawkeyes were supposed to peak in 2014. They had a star player, Roy Devyn Marble. The son of the program’s All-time leading scorer, Roy Marble, he was Hawkeye royalty. Marble led the Hawkeyes in scoring as a junior and senior while also finishing 2nd as a sophomore. Marble, combined with the deep roster McCaffery had assembled around him were supposed to be the ones who brought the Hawkeyes back to March prominence.

Unfortunately, that did not happen. After a promising start the Hawkeyes struggled down the stretch. They lost 7 of their last 8, fading in the 2nd half of close games. They cost themselves what seemed like a sure fire tournament bid and played themselves into a play-in game. Everyone who watched that team felt like it left something on the table. I know I did, Marble was our first NBA player since Jared Reiner drafted by the Bulls since 2005 and all we got was a loss in the round of 68. Many Hawkeye fans felt that Iowa basketball under Fran McCaffery had peaked, and it peaked with a play-in game loss.

The disappointing ending to 2014 set up 2015 as a pivot year, Iowa basketball was at a fork in the road. This era was either going to take the path the Alford era took after Haluska left or pave a new direction for Hawkeye hoops. They choose the latter.

Despite the abrupt ending to their season, a 87-68 loss to a 2nd seeded Gonzaga team, the 2014-2015 season could go down as a turning point for Iowa Hawkeye Men’s Basketball. This team didn’t have a star like Marble who could get his own shot whenever he wanted and score 20 the easy way. They had Aaron White, a junk-yard dog who through hell and high water would find a way to get 20 if that’s what his team needed. White scrapped his way to being the program’s second all-time leading scorer. He also became the 1st Hawkeye ever to score 20 points in 6 consecutive games along the way.

The rest of the 2014-2015 squad followed White and noted Philly tough-guy McCaffery’s leadership and took the road less traveled to March. They weren’t a team with a traditional star. White will be an all-time beloved Hawkeye but he wasn’t a star in the way Devyn Marble was a star. He couldn’t dribble past you, but he could run as hard as he could towards the rim and scream for the ball then will-in a lay-up. The fact the Hawkeyes made it two rounds farther behind White than they did with Marble says something about the direction of the program. Anyone could watch Marble and see how he could help a team; a good program finds Aaron White and sees what he can bring a team.

Though frustrating at times, we need to appreciate what we had with this team. These weren’t supposed to be the guys that did this. Before this season Iowa basketball was low-to-mid tier Big Ten program with a habit of folding down the stretch. Preseason expectations slated them as such and they were considered a fringe tournament contender. They weren’t supposed to be the team that beat North Carolina in Chapel Hill, they weren’t supposed to be the team who smacked 14th ranked Maryland across the face at Carver, they weren’t supposed to be the team that won a Round of 64 game by 31 points; but they were that team.

They were a team that won Big Ten road games down the stretch. They were a team that finished by winning 8 of their last 9 instead of losing 6 of 7. They were the team that made adjustments late in games instead of staring at their best player when things got rough. This was a team that picked up the slack for a teammate that had a bad game. Probably most memorable of all, this was the team that in the second half of an NCAA tournament game had Aaron White screaming at Anthony Clemmons: “Give me the ball, he can’t guard me” and then proceeded to destroy the poor 6’4 Davidson player who was guarding him. That was the 2014-2015 Hawkeyes. Sure they got beat by a better team in the next round, so what? This was a step in the right direction for a program that has waited 14 years to take that step. In 2015, Iowa basketball was fun again.

So what now? Iowa made the tournament and pulled off the largest NCAA tournament win in program history Friday night against Davidson. This year seems like it could be the foundation of something.

Making the tournament and winning again next year is no guarantee. Mike Gesell, Jared Uthoff, and Peter Jok will be expected to take on bigger roles as scorers and as leaders with White gone. Adam Woodbury will have to continue to improve as the team’s lone experienced big man after Gabe Olesani’s graduation. Younger guys like Dom Uhl will be expected to take on bigger roles. These are necessary challenges for the program to have success long-term.

There is good news when considering these challenges. The Hawkeye men’s team faced similar challenges this year. Someone needed to step up and take over for Devyn Marble’s production; Aaron White and Jared Uthoff did that. They needed better guard play; Mike Gesell and Anthony Clemmons took it up a notch. The bench needed to be reloaded after the graduations of Zach McCabe and Melsahn Basabe; guys like Clemmons and Josh Ogelsby took on more minutes.

We have seen this program answer these challenges in recent memory and the hope is that this will continue to be the case going forward. Aaron White might be graduating, but Iowa basketball is still in the capable hands of Fran McCaffery. If McCaffery continues to impose a culture of toughness, teamwork, and next man up mentality; as well as continuing the strides he’s made for the program’s recruiting; it is hard not imagine this school contending for tournament bids on yearly basis.

It’s hard to predict what will happen in 14 years. I’m not sure what life will be like when I am 33 years old in 2029 but I doubt I will be saying things like: “The last time the Iowa Hawkeyes’ Men’s Basketball team won an NCAA Tournament game the greatest baseball player of all-time Kris Bryant had not played a major league baseball game yet, the first African American president of the United States was finishing off his final term, we still struggled to get good Wifi at times, and no one knew what was.

At the rate we’re going, Fran will have this team winning another tournament game very soon.

The post Hawkeye Basketball 2015: The Turning Point appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Wherever there are fanatic sports fans, there is major criticism of the coaching. Although the criticism tends to be fair at times and certainly unfair at others, it is always present. The University of Iowa is no exception. The absence of professional sports teams and presence of a major Big Ten school brings intense and loyal fans. Whether these fans are current students, former students, future students or just residents of the state, they want Iowa sports to succeed just like most fans do. Often sports audiences are left feeling unsatisfied after games or seasons, and this is when the inevitable blame game kicks off. A prime example of this is Kirk Ferentz, the longtime football coach, has been under major fire in the last recent years. His conservative style often disgruntles the passionate crowd. Through this season, the men’s basketball team has certainly gone through its ups and downs. The blame for inconsistency often rests on the coach. However, knocking the basketball coaching is where some people have gone wrong.

Fran McCaffery took over a struggling program in 2010 and hasn’t really looked back since. Before McCaffery was hired, the Hawkeyes hadn’t made the postseason since the 2005-06 season. They have not gone past the first round of the NCAA tournament since 2000-01. The culture of winning wasn’t really there for Iowa like it was for many of its Big Ten rivals. Since 2010, McCaffery’s squad has improved in Big Ten wins every single year, and has climbed from 10^th place in his first year to 5^th in 2015 with a 12-6 record in the highly competitive Big Ten conference. In addition to the consistent improvement of the conference wins, the Hawkeyes’ postseason results have improved from year to year under McCaffery. In his first year, the Hawkeyes were not fortunate enough to reach any sort of postseason. In his second, they reached the second round of the less prestigious NIT, and lost in the Championship in the same tournament the next year. Last year, the team lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament as they stumbled late down the stretch of their season. In contrast, they have finished this year with six straight wins after two tough losses to lesser opponents in Minnesota and Northwestern. This late streak has them sitting at a 7 seed in Joe Lunardi’s recent mock bracket, as opposed to last year, where the team was forced to play Tennessee in a first round play-in game for the rights to the 11 seed.

Often, smaller-name coaches yet to cement their legacy get blamed for the struggles a team may experience, but rarely will they receive immense credit when the team turns it around. The players usually get that. Take Aaron White, for example. The senior is without question the most important player on the team, but he wasn’t always a star. The first team all Big Ten player once was a skinny kid coming out of high school with no offers from the bigger time basketball programs around the nation. Northwestern and Boston College were the only other two power five conference offers for the Ohio native. McCaffery, as well as his staff, can be credited with seeing something in the beloved superstar that at one time, not many others saw.

While it will be interesting to see how the sometimes hot-headed coach fares in this year’s tournament, there is no question McCaffery has brought Iowa Basketball back. Although the strange inconsistencies of the team may frustrate fans, we must be patient. Whatever our coach is doing is works, and the statistics and year-by-year improvement  are evidence of that.

The post Giving Fran Credit appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Saturday was also the last time in Carver for a group of seniors that has won more home games than any class in the history of Iowa basketball.  I consider myself lucky to have been there for most of those games from the first time Aaron White, Gabe Olaseni, Josh Oglesby, and Kyle Denning laced them up in Carver against Chicago State four years ago, to Saturday’s beat down of Northwestern.

More importantly, this group of seniors has symbolized the reincarnation of Iowa basketball.

I was a huge Iowa football fan when I decided to come here.  That’s probably most of the reason I chose to come here for school.  Buying student football tickets was a no-brainer.  Buying student basketball tickets was more like, “I might as well because there’s nothing better to do.”

Iowa basketball was more or less a joke at the beginning of my freshman year.  Carver was a ghost town, they gave free tickets to students for games on ESPN, and Iowa lost to the Campbell Fighting Camels at home.

I decided to give it a chance though, and the first college basketball game I ever attended on any level was this year’s group of seniors’ first college game.

Iowa beat Chicago State 96-53, and some random freshman kid I had never heard of named Aaron White went two for three from downtown and perfect from the free throw line en route to a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double.  I knew very little about Iowa basketball players outside of Melsahn Basabe and Matt Gatens, so I chalked it up as a fluke.

Boy, was I wrong.

Since then, this class has been to the postseason all four years (assuming the selection committee doesn’t lose Iowa’s team sheet) after a five-year hiatus.  They have had a winning season each year after the soul-crushing Lickliter era, and most importantly, they have made Iowa fans care about basketball again.

If Iowa lost at the beginning of my freshman year, I was disappointed but shrugged it off as the norm for Iowa basketball.  By the end of that year, I was checking kenpom.com every day and looking up NIT bracketology.

Now, if Iowa loses a game, I’m an emotional wreck eating ice cream and watching soap operas in my pajamas (not a metaphor).

I am glad those NIT bracketology days are over, and I am excited to say that I get to watch Iowa play on the first weekend of the NCAA tournament for the first time in my life over spring break (I was probably in seventh grade English the last time Iowa was playing in the first round, and Miss Williams was not one to distract our class with basketball on TV).

In conclusion, I just want to say thank you to Aaron White, Gabe Olaseni, Josh Oglesby, and Kyle Denning.  You all have turned me, a former wrestler, into a rabid college basketball fan, and you have given me something to look forward to and care about when I am not being let down by the Cubs or taken on an emotional roller coaster by Iowa football.

I am sure I am not alone in those regards.  I am sure I am not the only one who will get goosebumps when that CBS basketball jingle plays before each NCAA tournament game.

Notice I said “each” because I am not ready for this group of seniors to be done.  Let’s go on one last run.

Go Hawks.

The post Thank You, Seniors appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The Iowa Hawkeyes (21-10, 12-6) took care of business in front of a capacity crowd with a 69-52 final tally over visiting Northwestern to extend its Big Ten win streak to six.

The Wildcats (15-16, 6-12) were overwhelmed by a flurry of high-energy plays by the Hawkeyes. Aaron White finished with 25 points, including five alley-oop jams, and eight boards, in his final game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena that went just as scripted.

White, alongside fellow seniors Gabriel Olaseni, Josh Oglesby and Kyle Denning hugged at center court after a Fran McCaffery timeout with just under 30 seconds remaining. They were then greeted individually by each underclassman, before embracing their energetic head coach, all before 15,400 fans on their feet in approval.

“It was emotional walking off for the last time, hugging coach – who has meant so much to me,” White said. “It got to me. It was special, amazing. It was truly amazing.”

White scored the first eight points for the Hawkeyes, and has been playing the best basketball of his career at the most ideal time, averaging 24 points, nine rebounds and shooting 55 percent from long range over the past four games. According to McCaffery, despite skyrocketing numbers, nothing has changed about his demeanor.

“Let me say this,” McCaffery stated after denying a shift in White’s mindset. “Maybe the worst game of his career was when we played Northwestern last time. I think that determination, ‘I’m not going to play like that again.’”

Iowa led from opening tip to final horn, starting the game on a 17-7 run. Beyond Northwestern cutting the deficit to just two momentarily deep into the first half, the pressure never seemed to be on. Iowa doubled a six-point halftime lead within three minutes following the break.

Jarrod Uthoff and Adam Woodbury were the other two double-digit scorers for Iowa, finishing with 16 and 13 respectively. Uthoff filled the stat sheet by adding eight rebounds to complement three steals and a pair of blocks, but Iowa’s offensive rebounding as a team stole the show.

The Hawkeyes outrebounded Northwestern 14-1 on the offensive glass, and forced 15 turnovers compared to just six, impressing Northwestern head coach Chris Collins.

“They’re playing as good as anybody in our conference right now, and that’s a credit to the leadership of their coaching staff and also their older players, and the way they’ve led that team,” Collins said, “You can tell they’ve turned it up a notch and they’re ready to make a run.”

The late stretch run by Iowa is the polar opposite of a year ago. The Hawkeyes carry a six game winning streak into the Big Ten Tournament, and still have an opportunity to earn the coveted double bye with a loss by either Purdue or Wisconsin.

Iowa lost seven of its final eight games in 2013-14, including an upset by Northwestern in the Big Ten Tournament, and a play-in game exit in the NCAA Tournament. Following consecutive conference losses to Minnesota and Northwestern this season, the Hawks wanted to ensure that didn’t happen again.

“We don’t want what happened last year to happen again,” junior Mike Gesell said. “We really got together and talked to make sure it doesn’t.”

Seniors Oglesby and Olaseni struggled offensively, but it still made for a meaningful night.

“It was a nice touch.” Olaseni said in reference to getting his first career start on senior night. “Coach didn’t have to do that.”

Olaseni’s family, from Britain, were in attendance to see him play his final home game as a Hawkeye, but weren’t there to see his reaction when McCaffery initially gave him the news.

“When I told the guys in practice that I was going to do this,” McCaffery said. “The first thing Gave did was go give Woody a hug. That’s something special about our team.”

The Hawkeyes await the conclusion of the Big Ten regular season to decide their conference postseason fate, but can do no worse than a five seed. When the senior class first arrived, Iowa was far from such fortune. In the three seasons prior to this class playing its first game, the Hawkeyes had won a total of 13 conference games – just one more than this season alone.

“[Oglesby] wanted to be a part of the resurgence. Whitey just wanted a chance to play. He believed in himself. Josh believed in himself,” McCaffery said. “Doesn’t matter what happened before I got here. We’re going to change that. We’re going to have the confidence and belief in ourselves. Gabe is the same way. Now you have guys that say ‘together we can get this thing done.’ I think that’s the greatest feeling as a coach.”

The Hawkeyes, in their final curtain call, certainly have changed the feeling in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Game notes: Iowa honored all four seniors before the game with a framed jersey and standing ovations. Roy Marble Sr., Iowa’s leading scorer who is suffering from stage four cancer, was honored at halftime. His jersey was not retired. With a Purdue or Ohio State loss, Iowa will be the four seed and receive a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament. The six game Big Ten win streak is the first for Iowa since the 1986-87 season. Fran McCaffery picked up his first technical foul of the season after a foul was called on Mike Gesell.

The post Hawkeyes Victorious in Emotional Season Finalé appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The snowy conditions in the state of Iowa may have created some tough driving conditions for the Hawkeye fans in attendance, but the drive was well worth it as they saw senior Iowa forward Aaron White put up a career-high 29 points. “He played like a senior is supposed to play this time of year,” Illinois Head Coach John Groce said. “When they needed him, he came up with big buckets, rebounds and played with inspiring effort.”

This is White’s second to last home game as a Hawkeye and he wanted make an impact. He did just that by scoring 20 second-half points, and scoring 14 straight for his Hawkeyes. “It was a big part of the game, I wanted to put my footprint on this game,” White said. “ I wanted to make sure we won this. I wasn’t going to sit back and let them (Illinois) dictate it.”

White was held to only nine first-half points on 3-of-7 shooting. However, Illinois couldn’t keep the contain up in the second-half. “I think they executed him really well,” Groce said. “He also went 10-12 on free throws, and you usually get those by being aggressive and he has been that way throughout his career.”

Groce is right, we did see an aggressive Aaron White tonight. In weeks past, when White is open for a three at the top of the key, he pump fakes and drives to the hoop. Tonight, he squared up and went three of four from behind the three-point line. “It’s way easier to play when my shots are falling,” White said. “I wasn’t lying when I said I could shoot.”

White also played a team high 36 minutes tonight, and although scoring 29 points is impressive to his Head Coach, Fran McCaffery said his energy level was just as good. “Normally midway though the second-half I’m tyring to figure out how to get him out and rest him,” McCaffery said. “(Tonight) he didn’t want to come out.”

As for why he didn’t want to come out? Tonight was more than just a game. “Iowa doesn’t like Illinois and Illinois doesn’t like Iowa,” White said. “It was a very intense game out there. Both teams wanted it so bad.”

Iowa carries their three game win streak to Penn State on Saturday as they take on the Nittany Lions.

The post Hawkeyes Defeat Illini; White Scores Career High appeared first on KRUI Radio.

They were not about to drop a third straight tonight.

The Hawkeyes did not trail at any point of the contest and won, by a whopping 34 points, 81-47. The Hawkeyes go two dunks from center Adam Woodbury, an alley  oop dunk from Aaron White, and a pair of three pointers from Peter Jok and Jarrod Uthoff all before the first media timeout. These high energy plays set the tone for the rest of the game.

Jarrod Uthoff led the way for the Hawkeyes with 14 points in only 25 minutes. He also added a team high four steals while knocking down two three pointers and throwing down a thunderous dunk driving the baseline.

When asked if winning this game was especially important after Iowa’s two game losing streak, Uthoff had this to say “Yeah it is, it gets us back on the right track, hopefully we can win the next six in a row.”

One of the biggest positive storylines for the Hawkeyes tonight was Aaron White’s bounce back performance. After a 1-12 shooting night last Sunday in the loss against Northwestern, he had thirteen points in 28 minutes and led the team with 8 rebounds in the win. What stood out about White’s performance wasn’t the amount that he scored as much as it was about how he scored them. He was aggressive in the paint earning three trips to the foul line where he made five of six of his free throw attempts.

He also was on the receiving end of two alley oops, one from Peter Jok in the opening minutes and another from Josh Oglesby on the Hawkeyes last first half possession. His most impressive play however was in the second half with the Hawkeyes making a run that would put away the game for good, when he grabbed a defensive rebound and took it coast to coast and finished it off with a dunk.

Other noteworthy contributions from the Hawkeyes came from senior Gabe Olaseni who scored 12 points and grabbed 6 rebounds and had 1 block off the Bench. Peter Jok continued his strong play with 11 points, knocking down 3 of his 5 three pointers. Freshman Dom Uhl also showed some confidence on the court by scoring 9 points and grabbing 6 rebounds in only 16 minutes.

The Hawkeyes next game is Sunday on the road against Nebraska.

Casinos, Gambling, and Basketball: The Connection

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In addition to hosting games and events, casinos and casino resorts also often sponsor basketball teams and players. This can be a mutually beneficial partnership, as casinos can benefit from the exposure and branding opportunities, while teams and players can receive financial support and other benefits. They also have negotiations with the online casino, which you can visit at vedonlyöntiilmanrekisteröitymistä.com to watch the game live, and they can pay and play betting without registration.

Overall, it’s clear that there is a connection between basketball, gambling, and the casino industry. Whether it’s through sports betting, events and games, or sponsorships, these three worlds often intersect and influence each other in various ways.

The post Iowa Trounces Rutgers For Season Saving Win appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The first half was rather uneventful for the Hawks, Jok had a nice breakaway layup and the Hawks were up four at one point but they had an 8-minute stretch without a basket. Aaron White put an end to that with a 2-handed jam with one minute left in the half that gave Iowa a little momentum heading into halftime.

The Gophers went into halftime with a 23-19 lead.

The halftime show was one of the best ones this season. The AcroDunks are a bunch of high flying dunk artists which brought life back into the Hawkeye crowd.

The second half was better than the first half by a far margin. The Hawks regained the lead with 13-minutes left at 31-30. The teams traded baskets until Andre Hollins drained a 3 to put the Gophers up 39-37.

The Gophers had a 10 point lead with two minutes left and Uthoff nailed a 3 to cut the deficit to 7. Then the Hawks applied the all-out full-court press swapping Jok and Clemons for offense/defense.  Pulling within 5 with a minute left.

Jarrod Uthoff had a great leaping steal off an in-bounds play near mid-court and dished it to White for the dunk to make the score 59-56 with 56 seconds left. After fouling Minnesota and Hollins making both free throws to put them up 61-56 with 27 seconds left.

Iowa came back down the floor with a screen for Uthoff to pop a 3. Minnesota committed the cardinal sin of basketball fouling on a three-point shot. Uthoff drained all 3 free-throws to make it 61-59 with 20 seconds left.

Minnesota was fouled immediately and made one of two free-throws keeping it a one possession game at 62-59.

Mike Gesell drove to the hoop with 11 seconds left and ran right into Chris Walker with no foul called, Walker gained possession and iced it for Minnesota 64-59.

At times the Hawks looked gassed and that lead to some costly turnovers (16 total). Another issue was being gun shy shooting the ball. They became focused on execution and movement, Fran said “We were not a master of shooting when open tonight.”

Neither team shot well from beyond the arc tonight, which may have played a factor in Iowa being gun-shy from downtown.

Stat notes

Minnesota

Andre Hollins led all scorers with 20 and Nate Mason added 12 from the bench.

Iowa

Woodbury had 4 points, 3 rebounds along with 2 assists before fouling out.

Off the bench Gabe Olaseni contributed 2 points, 4 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. Dominque Uhl chipped in with 2 points and 3 rebounds. Anthony Clemons added 5 points, he was also poked in the eye but after review it was unintentional.

Iowa falls to (15-9) overall and (6-5) in the Big Ten. Iowa’s next game is Sunday Feb. 15th, at 2 P.M. @ Northwestern on Big Ten Network It is the first match-up this season between them.

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The Iowa Hawkeyes (15-8, 6-4) dominated from the tip-off as they shot 64 percent from the floor. The Hawkeyes scored 20 points off of 19 Maryland turnovers.

“[Maryland] never really got comfortable,” Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said. “They didn’t get comfortable shooting the three until the second half … it was terrific defense.”

Adam Woodbury provided a offensive spark for the Hawkeyes. The 7 foot 1 inch junior scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds in the win.

Maryland was led by freshman point guard Melo Trimble’s 20 point effort. Trimble experienced a scary moment early in the first half as he attacked the rim offensively, but ended up in the lap of a cameraman. Trimble was able to walk off under his own power and later returned to the game.

Road games have not been kind to Maryland this season. The Terrapins (19-5, 7-4) are now 3-4 when traveling away from their home floor.

The Hawkeyes are off to a hot start in February following a dismal end to January. Iowa’s two Big Ten Conference wins to start the month have propelled them to 6-4 in the conference tying them with Ohio State and Michigan State.

Iowa will return to action on February 12 against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Hawkeyes needed a last second shot from Jarrod Uthoff to get the win last time against Minnesota. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 PM inside Carver Hawkeye Arena.

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