IOWA CITY, Iowa – You’d be hard pressed to find one individual, one aspect, or one play that changed the course of Tuesday night’s game.

Both Iowa and Minnesota have been reeling this season. One of these teams needed to come away with a win. The injury-laden Gophers hoped they were in line for a dire victory.

Instead, it was a collective effort from the Hawkeyes that led to a 94-80 Iowa win.

Collective and cohesive. Two words to best describe Iowa on this night. How’d the Hawkeyes manage to play what is quite possibly their cleanest game of the season?

To start, there are the individuals.

Jordan Bohannon dazzled yet again with a double-double of 20 points and 10 assists. The Iowa point guard played 48 minutes and only committed one foul and two turnovers. He also went 4-of-4 from the free throw line, putting his consecutive makes streak up to 30, just four behind Chris Street’s Iowa record.

Opposing teams throw everything they can at Bohannon, and it doesn’t seem to faze him. Bohannon is often the guy to stop the bleeding with a big, timely shot. No moment seems too large.

“He has supreme confidence in his ability to make that shot,” Fran McCaffery said. “The situation is sort of irrelevant to him, and that’s what you want.”

There’s also Tyler Cook, also with a double-double. Cook’s 17 points and 10 rebounds were huge factors that led to Jordan Murphy getting into foul trouble, trying to body up Iowa’s big man.

Okay, but what about Isaiah Moss? The streaky shooting guard was confident on Tuesday, shooting 5-of-10 from the floor and 4-of-6 from three, notching 16 points.

Yeah, it’s great to get Moss going, but there’s also Luka Garza, Nicholas Baer, and Cordell Pemsl. Each of them had 10 points as well.

Jack Nunge also brought some energy. He had six points, three rebounds, and even two big blocks.

Who sparked this Iowa win? Tough to say when the entire team is on their respective games.

Clearly, the offense was solid, but so too was the defensive aspect of the game. Iowa has played some of the worst defense in Division I this season, but managed to get enough stops Tuesday night.

“We were better defensively, but I think we need to be even better than we were tonight,” McCaffery said. “There are still some areas that need improvement so that we can be better connected. But we were better than we’ve been.”

Iowa still gave up 80 points while Minnesota was without one of their top scorers in Amir Coffey, but the effort on defense was clear and present. There have been moments this season in which that wasn’t the case.

Finally, the big plays. While Moss’s steal and breakaway dunk with 1:34 was the ultimate dagger, it wasn’t what led to the win. 94-80 sounds like Iowa controlled the game, but the two sides were pretty evenly matched.

The Hawkeyes had to weather multiple storms from the Golden Gophers, who had three separate scoring runs of seven, eight, and nine points throughout the game. Iowa stayed composed and didn’t let those turn into 15-0 runs that have plagued them multiple times this season.

Iowa also turned the ball over just eight times and made 12 three-pointers, the teams most in a Big Ten game this season.

Controlling the big moments helped Iowa earn its third conference victory.

The win was Fran McCaffery’s 400^th win as a head coach, but he didn’t put much stock in himself after the game.

“All it does for me in remind me of the great players I’ve coached, the great athletic directors I’ve had,” McCaffery said. “You don’t get to 400 wins being a great coach. You get 400 wins when you have great players who are committed to one another.”

McCaffery wasn’t concerned with the distant future either. The Hawkeyes are still trying to play their way out of the bottom four of the conference to avoid having to play a Wednesday game at the Big Ten Tournament, but McCaffery is merely evaluating this team one game at a time.

“We were better tonight than we were on Saturday. That means we had some maturity,” McCaffery said. “Now we have to play a team that beat us already… let’s see if we can do that on the road. That would be a big step for us to play better than we’ve been playing before on the road.”

Iowa (12-12, 3-8 Big Ten) travels to University Park, Pennsylvania on Saturday for a rematch with the Penn State Nittany Lions (15-8, 5-5 Big Ten). Tipoff is set for 5:00pm CST on Big Ten Network. Penn State beat Iowa 77-73 in Iowa City on December 2 to open Big Ten play.

Penn State plays at No. 5 Michigan State on Wednesday night at 5:30pm CST on Big Ten Network.

The post Hawkeyes Run Over Gophers for Much-Needed Victory appeared first on KRUI Radio.

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.

It’s now October 31st, meaning Halloween is upon us and college basketball is right around the corner. Exhibitions are being played across the nation, used to size up the talent of all 347 Division I college basketball teams in the country before the regular season is in full effect.

In the middle of it all, Iowa City is now teeming with excitement around this year’s Hawkeyes: a team that bolsters youth and emerging talent with the recent graduation of star guard Peter Jok. However, Jok’s absence is not bringing groans of rebuilding, but instead eagerness for what the rest of the team has to offer.

Guard Play Will Come with a Learning Curve

Jordan Bohannon is undoubtedly the starting point guard for the Hawks this year. The sophomore scored a team-high 19 points while assisting four baskets in the exhibition win over William Jewell College. He is by no means a ‘true’ point guard, but his three-point prowess (4-7 in the exhibition) makes him a must-start.

The backup point guard looked to be the inconsistent Christian Williams, but his sudden exit via transfer puts pressure onto head coach Fran McCaffery to fill the void. With the news breaking so close to the season, many believed either Isaiah Moss or Maishe Dailey would be tasked with the backup role. Enter: Connor McCaffery.

The coach’s son is a freshman guard out of Iowa City West High School who was tabbed by many to receive little playing time and potentially redshirt. However, he was a surprise constant in the exhibition, tallying the fourth-most minutes (18) and the second-most assists (3).

A large chunk of his playing time may be attributed to Moss’s ankle tweak which sidelined him for much of the second half, but with McCaffery’s increased role up top, we may see Moss more as a true shooting guard in his attempt to fill Peter Jok’s shoes.

There’s no question that Fran McCaffery will reward Bohannon’s stellar freshman season with a starting role, but the backup slot is still up for grabs. With one home exhibition left (Thurs. Nov. 2 vs Belmont Abbey College), Connor McCaffery, Moss and Dailey will likely see increased minutes to sort out the pecking order for the season.

Freshmen Will Be A Focal Point Once More

Last season, 44.7 percent of Iowa’s offense came from four freshmen: Tyler Cook (12.3), Jordan Bohannon (10.9), Cordell Pemsl (8.9) and Isaiah Moss (6.5). This season, four freshmen enter the fold: forwards Luka Garza and Jack Nunge and guards Connor McCaffery and Austin Ash. Garza (26) and Nunge (17) each received extensive minutes in the exhibition and it certainly paid off with 17 and 16 points, respectively.

Both forwards will certainly see the floor more often than the guards, but Connor McCaffery is looking toward more minutes with Christian Williams gone. Ash, a walk-on from Cedar Rapids, was the only Hawkeye to not see the floor versus William Jewell College.

Garza, a true freshman from Washington D.C., is a bruising forward that managed nine rebounds in the contest. He’ll open up space to push Nicholas Baer to his rightful small forward spot. Garnering the most attention of the four recruits, he seems to have cracked the starting lineup already.

Nunge, a true freshman from Newburgh, Indiana, is a versatile swingman that can play all across the floor. He was perfect (3-3) from beyond the arc and notched nine boards in the exhibition. He’ll certainly add a third level of scoring past the traditional forwards and guards on the team.

Why The Hawks Can Compete

Last season, Tyler Cook proved to be the man down low that the Hawks have been seeking since Melsahn Basabe. He’ll help Iowa compete in not only the Big Ten, but in the tournament. Fran McCaffery has one B1G tournament win since taking over in 2010 and losing early in the conference tourney has often kept the team out of March Madness.

This year, though, Iowa has the talent down low to win games consistently in the conference. Wisconsin and Ohio State have traditionally given the team trouble and the tandem of Cook and Garza will look to change that.

Another variable that has held the Hawks back in March is poor point guard play, but Jordan Bohannon was recently named to the 20-player Bob Cousy Point Guard Watchlist, hopefully meaning that the string of poor point play is over. The sophomore will have an increased role as far as scoring goes, but he’ll need to facilitate better than guards in the past in order for the Hawks to advance in March.

The real reason the Hawks can thrive this year is the graduation of Peter Jok. He clearly scored points galore and boosted the team for many different reasons, but teams expected points to pour from Jok all year. Opening opportunities for many other skilled players, especially the newcomers, makes this squad exceptionally scary for Big Ten defenses.

Garza and Nunge add the final layer that the Hawks have been lacking for years and while it’s only Halloween, this team should be plenty spooky by the time March rolls around.

The post Why Iowa Basketball Can Be Spooky By March appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The 2017–18 season will mark the eighth season for Fran McCaffery as head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes. In his first seven seasons, he has recorded just two wins in the Big Ten Tournament and two wins in the NCAA Tournament.

Despite this, there is plenty of excitement going around the Hawkeye basketball program as the season approaches – and McCaffery is welcoming it with open arms.

“It’s not something that ever concerns me,” McCaffery said at Monday’s Iowa men’s basketball media day press conference concerning the outside expectations. “I think you want expectation. You want your fans to be excited about your team.”

It is easy to see why Hawkeye fans and outsiders are excited about the future of the program. Iowa loses just one contributor from last year’s 19–15 team that reached the second round of the NIT. A team that relied heavily on contributions from freshmen now has more experience and more depth. McCaffery says he has never tried playing 13 different players in a rotation before, so rotations this upcoming season could be a challenge.

“I think we have to give everybody a chance to kind of establish themselves,” McCaffery said. “We have size, we have depth in the backcourt, we have length, and we have guys that can score coming off the bench.”

Last season, the growth and development of youth Hawkeye forwards Tyler Cook and Cordell Pemsl was key to the outcome of the Hawkeyes’ season. Both players made major strides of improvement over the offseason.

“He’s really matured,” McCaffery said of Cook, a 6’9” forward who 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds a game en route to a spot on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team.

Cook seems to hold that opinion of himself, too.

“Offensively, I feel like I’m unstoppable,” he said. “My pace for the game is so much better … on-ball, off-ball, moving without the ball, my IQ of the game is so much better than it was a year ago.”

The Hawkeyes would benefit greatly from a step forward from Cook, who already established himself as the Hawkeyes’ best big man last season. Fortunately, he will have more help this season. Cordell Pemsl, also a sophomore, made strides to improve his physique this offseason, a move he believes will help him become more agile and more active down low.

Pemsl says he strove to drink a gallon of water per day this offseason, as well as cutting out sodas and junk foods for more healthier options. McCaffery said he weighed in at 235 pounds, as opposed to the 256 he weighed a year.

“My strength hasn’t gone down at all. I feel great,” Pemsl said. “I’m able to spread the floor a little bit, open up shots for other people as well.”

The ability to have more movement down low would be a coup for the Hawkeyes. Iowa also adds two highly touted freshmen big men – Luka Garza and Jack Nunge – who can both work the ball inside and score from outside. Both listen at 6’11”, they rank among the tallest players on the Iowa roster.

“Luka has a 7’1” wingspan … and Jack has a 7’1” or a 7’2” – that takes up a lot of space [in the paint], that’s going to be a lot harder for people to score on,” said sophomore forward Ryan Kriener.

“[Expectations for Garza and Nunge are] very high,” McCaffery said. “They’re incredibly versatile. They come ready.”

In the backcourt, it will mostly be returning faces for the Hawkeyes. Jordan Bohannon entered his freshman season as a bit of an unknown, but after a stellar first year where he sank 89 3-pointers and earned a spot alongside Cook on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team, teams will be having to game plan for him much differently defensively.

“They’re going to chase him around,” McCaffery said of Bohannon. “But they did that some as the season progressed … he’s got that relentlessness about him. He’s smart, he’s quick, he’s tough.”

McCaffery even went as far to say that Bohannon, as a high school recruit, reminded him of former NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry.

“He can pull the jumper right in your face. He’s fearless. He’s got unbelievable range.”

Still listed as 6’0”, 180 pounds, Bohannon lacks some of the size of other, more physical Big Ten point guards. His shooting ability gives him the edge over some of his matchup disadvantages.

The Hawkeyes will also have a new, unfamiliar challenge to face this upcoming season, as Big Ten conference play starts in early December for the first time, as the league compensates for its conference tournament being held in New York City in early March.

“The overseas trip [to three European countries in August] helped a lot,” said sophomore guard Isaiah Moss. “Chemistry-wise, finding out who plays together well … getting together and stronger as a team.”

“We do have a tough stretch there,” said junior Nicholas Baer. “It’s something we haven’t had a chance to try out yet, but anytime you have a chance to play against Big Ten competition you’ll be excited and you’ll be ready for it.”

Baer, the reigning Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year, described perfectly the attitudes of many Hawkeye fans of the upcoming season – excited and ready for it. Iowa’s returning experience and incoming talent could lead to one of the best years in McCaffery’s tenure.

“I have an expectation for the team,” McCaffery said. “I think they have an expectation for themselves, and I’m excited about it.”

The post Iowa Basketball Media Day: Hawkeyes Prepared for Challenges of Upcoming Season appeared first on KRUI Radio.

A four-point loss at home to Illinois on Feb. 18 was the team’s third straight loss, and the remaining schedule was not exactly favorable.

The schedule didn’t get easier, but the Hawkeyes did get better.

After beating Indiana 96-90 in overtime, Iowa had to hit the road for two games in a row, both versus ranked opponents. First, the Hawkeyes blew then-24th-ranked Maryland out of their own gym. Next, they took down #22 Wisconsin thanks to a three-pointer by Jordan Bohannon with less than 10 seconds to play.

Just like that, the Hawkeyes were starting to work their way back into the conversation for an at-large big. Beating Penn State 90-79 on Sunday to close the regular season on a four-game winning streak has them fully immersed in the bubble talk.

“There’s no better time to click than in March,” said senior Peter Jok following his 21-point performance in his (could-be) final game inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

As of Monday morning, the Hawkeyes’ rating percentage index (RPI) has jumped to 72 and the team’s record versus teams in the RPI top 50 is 5-7. ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi has Iowa listed as one of the “First Four Out,” along with Rhode Island, Kansas State, and Illinois. Thanks to the late-season push, the Hawkeyes have put themselves in contention for an-large bid.

“I think we deserve to be in,” said Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery after the Penn State game. “What you have to do is not focus on thinking about it and talking about it.”

For a young Hawkeyes team, it may be tough to block out all of the noise and bubble talk that will undoubtedly swirl around them as they prepare for the Big Ten Tournament. Iowa’s leaders know they have to help keep the team focused on what they can control and nothing else.

“Young guys probably think about (the bubble) but I try not to let them think about it,” Jok said. “You just have to keep winning and whatever happens happens.”

While there has been some doubt from those outside the locker room, the team thought of themselves as a tournament team all season. They just needed to play like it every time they took the floor.

“We thought that we were (a tournament team) the whole season, we’ve just been playing inconsistently,” said freshman Cordell Pemsl. “I think we finally got that rhythm and that swagger back as a team.”

The team is certainly playing some of their best basketball right now. The four-game winning-streak is the longest of the conference season for Hawkeyes, and they’ve done it as a unit. Six different players have scored in double figures in the last four games, three of them have come off the bench to do so.

“If you look at how we’ve played these last four games, we’re a top team in the country,” said sophomore Nicholas Baer who has scored in double figures each of the last four games, including a career-high 20 points versus Penn State. “You want teams that are hot in in NCAA Tournament, teams that are playing their best basketball. If you look at the Iowa Hawkeyes, we’re playing our best basketball right now.”

Still on the outside looking in, the team knows there is still work to be done. The late push has been great, but they can’t let up yet.

“We do have a sense of urgency,” Baer said. “Every game is our biggest game.”

It is the general consensus that Iowa will have to win two games in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament if they want to move in to the field of 68. Iowa, the seven-seed, will face off with the 10-seed Indiana on Thursday at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. If they survive that, they will meet Wisconsin, the two-seed, in the quarterfinals.

“We’ve got our hot streak going at the right time,” Pemsl said. “We’re hoping to carry that over into next week.”

There’s no way to predict exactly what the Selection Committee will do with Iowa until Selection Sunday arrives. The Hawkeyes know they have to keep winning, and if they win enough games, there won’t be anything left to chance.

“We just tell ourselves ‘we might as well just go win the Big Ten Tournament,’” Pemsl said. “They have to put us in then.”

Iowa plays Indiana Thursday at 5:30 PM CST on ESPN2.

The post Strong Finish to Regular Season Has Hawkeyes Eyeing Tournament Bid appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The Hawkeyes had other plans.

After falling behind by as many as 13 in the first half, the Hawkeyes rallied to force overtime and held on to beat Indiana 96-90.

It was a total team effort for the Hawkeyes in this one. After falling behind 9-0 in the opening two minutes, Iowa coach Fran McCaffery called a timeout and subbed in a whole new group of five players.

By the time the game reached the first media timeout, McCaffery had already used twelve different Hawkeyes.

“We needed some energy,” McCaffery said of the substitutions. “That next group came in and played with good energy and cohesion.”

The second wave of guys knew they had a specific job once McCaffery sent out their platoon.

“Better play well,” said forward Nicholas Baer. “Just try to weather the storm a little bit. I thought we did that. We were able to fight back and the end of the first half it was a one-point game.”

Without trying to do too much, the defense finally picked up for the Hawkeyes. After Indiana’s Josh Newkirk and James Blackmon, Jr. scored nine and six points respectively in the game’s first six minutes, the two didn’t score again the rest of the half.

Indiana was called for their first foul of the game with 8:47 to play in the half when De’Ron Davis bumped Tyler Cook. That sparked a 12-0 run for the Hawkeyes that was capped off by a three ball from Baer to tie the game at 26.

The teams traded baskets before the half and Indiana took a 33-32 lead into the locker room.

In the second half, the Hawkeyes took their first lead on a dunk and free throw from Cook with 2:13 to play. The teams traded free throws and layups in the final minute before heading to overtime.

Then Peter Jok happened.

After scoring 12 points in the first half and eight in the second half, Jok put up 15 points in the five minute overtime period. For the first time since his back and shoulder issues began, Jok was able to impose his will on a game at the offensive end.

After making 11 of his 12 free throw attempts in the overtime, he finished the day shooting 22-of-23 from the free throw line, good enough to set a new single-game record at Iowa, a record previously held by Don Nelson for 55 years (1962).

“I was surprised he missed the one,” McCaffery said of his senior’s performance at the line. “Not only does he make them, but he usually doesn’t hit anything but the net.”

After the game, Jok wasn’t exactly exhilarated over the news of being a new record holder.

“I don’t really care about all of that,” Jok said. “I just care about winning right now.”

Jok doesn’t put too much thought into his free throws. He works on them everyday, or as often as he can without upsetting his lingering shoulder issue, but he doesn’t stress over his form and mechanics.

“I don’t think about it, I just shoot with a free mind,” he said.

Jok finished with a game-high 35 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field, 1-of-6 from three, and of course, his record-breaking 22-of-23 from the free throw line.

Aside from Jok, a number of different Hawkeyes stepped up when their number was called.

After picking up two early fouls, Cordell Pemsl played just two minutes in the first half. In the second half, he played 14 minutes and played with a lot of energy, finishing the game with nine points on 3-of-3 field goals and 3-of-4 free throws.

Ryan Kriener played alongside Pemsl a lot in the second half. He made both of his field goal attempts while also grabbing three rebounds and recording three blocks, including one on Indiana’s Curtis Jones with thirty seconds left in overtime that was the exclamation point on the victory.

Nicholas Baer continued to stuff the stat sheet as well. The sophomore finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. He was the only Iowa player to make more than one three pointer in the game (2-of-4). He also completed a put-back, and-1 dunk midway through the second half that pulled Iowa to within one. It turned Carver-Hawkeye Arena into a mad house.

If not for a new free throw record from Jok, the story of the game would most likely be Christian Williams’ performance. The back up point guard has seen his minutes fade and go to freshman Jordan Bohannon, but he has emerged recently as a defensive threat for the Hawkeyes, recording five steals in the team’s last three games.

It was his offense that shined for him on Tuesday. Williams scored in double figures for the first time in his career, finishing with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting. He also added three rebounds and one assist, and more importantly, committed zero turnovers in his 21 minutes on the court.

“After I saw the first two (shots) go in, I got a roll a little bit,” Williams said.

After struggling out of the gate, Williams’ commitment to defense has allowed him to climb back into the mix as the season hits the final stretch.

“I struggled little bit at the beginning of the season, then I kind of picked things up defensively and that helped me transform my whole game.”

The deep rotation for the Hawkeyes proved to be the difference in this one. Twelve Hawkeyes played, nine of them playing double figure minutes.  While they stayed fresh, Indiana looked gassed at the end of the game. Four Hoosiers fouled out, and Thomas Bryant had four fouls, too.

The Hawkeyes next play at Maryland on Saturday at 5:00 P.M. CST on ESPN2. This will be the first of two road games against two of the top three teams in the conference (at Wisconsin on March 2). The team knows the next two games are important so that they can enter the Big Ten Tournament on a good note.

“We’re going to take it one game at a time,” Baer said. “We’re going to have two opportunities (to play good teams on the road) and we’re going to be ready for it.”

The post Jok and Company Outlast Hoosiers in Overtime appeared first on KRUI Radio.

This time, the series shifted to Iowa City, and it didn’t look like the game was played between the same two teams.

In an instant classic that could change the direction of the Hawkeyes’ season, the lead changed 20 times and every big shot was followed by an even bigger one.

After the first half went back and forth, Purdue took a nine-point lead into halftime after a 6-0 run, but the young Hawkeyes were not fazed. A 5-0 Iowa run started the second half, and the team showed everyone in Carver-Hawkeye Arena that they had matured since the last time they played the Boilermakers.

“When you go through what we went through (at Purdue), you have to learn from it,” said Iowa’s Head Coach Fran McCaffery. “Sometimes you just have to learn what playing on the road in the Big Ten is like, and then you go back to work. You grow, and you figure it out.”

The Hawkeyes did figure it out, and they did it as a team. The team recorded 22 total assists, 11 in each half, and nearly all of them came from their leaders, senior Peter Jok and freshman point guard Jordan Bohannon.

Jok lead this young team once again in scoring with 29 points on 11-of-19 shooting, but he also added six rebounds and a career-high eight assists. Bohannon also had a career-high nine assists compared to just one turnover in a team-high 36 minutes.

“My game plan was to come out and try to get everybody else open shots,” said Jok after the game. “The team did a great job of finishing.”

Jok is known for his shooting ability, but his unselfish play in his senior season has aided in the development of the team’s young core. His ability to be a leader by example has led to some high praise from his head coach.

“I thought he was really special tonight,” said McCaffery of Jok’s performance. “He just gets how everything fits, and he’s making it easier for everybody else, which is what you want your senior captain to do.”

Even though Jok put up a game-high 29 points, the game was not won on the perimeter. Instead, Iowa took the challenge of Purdue’s big men and faced it head on.

Purdue has a post presence unlike any other team in the Big Ten with 6’9 Caleb Swanigan and 7’2 Isaac Haas playing down low, but Iowa’s young big men rose to the occasion last night.

Iowa registered 40 points in the paint compared to Purdue’s 20, something that is not easy to do against a team with Purdue’s size. The Hawkeyes also outrebounded the Boilermakers 35 to 28 after allowing 37 boards in West Lafayette.

Freshman forward Tyler Cook was second on the team in points with 16 on 7-of-10 shooting. He also contributed six rebounds and his defense on Swanigan never allowed the B1G Player of the Year candidate to fully settle in and get comfortable.

Off the bench, Nicholas Baer continued to wow everyone with his aggressiveness and gritty play. He grabbed ten rebounds, nine of them in the second half, and blocked a would-be dunk from the 7’2 Haas that brought the crowd at CHA to their feet.

Twice the Hawkeyes forced jump balls with Haas, and twice two big bodies hit the floor hard. In the first half, it was Cordell Pemsl who took Haas to the floor with a takedown Iowa wrestling coach Tom Brands would have been proud of. In the second half, Haas was taken to the ground again, this time by Ryan Kriener.

Yes, Ryan Kriener.

The freshman from Spirit Lake was only averaging 4.4 minutes per game and had not checked in to a conference game yet this season, but he played eight impactful minutes late in the game.

Kriener checked in midway through the second half and picked up a quick foul on Haas, but the freshman responded by scoring six of the teams next eight points that helped the Hawkeyes tie the game for the first time in the half.

“M-V-P! M-V-P!” Tyler Cook chanted as the two made their way into their post game media session.

For the second straight game, McCaffery used a player off the bench to spark a rally and give the team a boost when they needed it. First, it was Dom Uhl against Rutgers. On Thursday night, it was Ryan Kriener.

“(He’s) been waiting for a chance, and he’s earned that chance,” McCaffery said of Kriener’s performance. “I couldn’t be prouder of him.”

“When you get your shot you just have to go and make the most it,” said Kriener. “I have a lot of confidence in my ability to score … but I couldn’t do that without my teammates getting me open, so credit to them.”

The Hawkeyes have now played four Big Ten games since their opening night debacle at Mackey Arena, and each game has been decided by single digits. In those games, the Hawkeyes are 3-1, with all three wins at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“I’m really proud of our guys and how we were able to compete tonight, said Baer following the upset of Purdue. “It’s something we’re going to have to do moving forward. Every night’s going to be a battle.”

Inexperience is no longer an excuse for this Iowa team, and they never wanted to use it as one in the first place. They’ve been through a lot already in the early going of the Big Ten season, and a signature win like this over a good Boilermakers team might just give them the confidence they need going forward. The “rebuilding year” for the Iowa program may not have to take a whole year if the team keeps playing at this level.

Iowa (11-7 overall, 3-2 Big Ten) travels to Evanston, IL on Sunday January 15^th to take on the Northwestern Wildcats (14-4 overall, 3-2 Big Ten) at 6:30 pm CST on BTN.

The post Iowa’s Fight Leads to Upset Over #17 Purdue appeared first on KRUI Radio.

After scoring just six points in the team’s first three Big Ten games, the junior from Frankfurt, Germany came off the bench and scored in double figures for the first time in almost a whole calendar year. His efforts helped push the Hawkeyes past Rutgers by a score of 68-62 on Sunday night as the team improved to 2-2 in conference play.

Each of Uhl’s points carried significant weight and most of them came at very opportune times. His first bucket, a three-pointer at the top of the key, gave the Hawkeyes a 22-20 lead with eight minutes to play in the first half, their first lead since the opening minute. In the second half, he made consecutive free throws to end an Iowa scoring drought that lasted for nearly three minutes. The Hawkeyes outscored the Scarlet Knights 24-11 to close out the game following those free throws.

“He was the man today,” said Iowa Head Coach Fran McCaffery after the game. “He was the difference in the game without question. I’m so proud of him.”

Uhl’s presence was felt at both ends of the floor today. His free throws sparked a rally and brought some energy back into Carver-Hawkeye Arena that had been absent most of the game, and his five blocked shots prevented the Scarlet Knights from being able to keep pace with the Hawkeyes late in the game.

Before coming to Iowa, Uhl attended Point Pleasant Beach High School in New Jersey, and playing a team from his home state may have been one reason he was able to turn it up a notch today.

“It’s always fun to play a team from Jersey,” Uhl said.

In the team’s double-overtime loss to Nebraska on Thursday, Uhl played just six minutes total and not at all in the second half or either of the overtime periods. His playing time has diminished this season, but his attitude and work ethic have stayed consistent according to McCaffery.

“It would have been really easy for him to get mad at me and make excuses,” McCaffery said. “He just kept working.”

McCaffery said Uhl was at the gym two hours early to get extra shots up before today’s game.

“You just have to stay positive,” Uhl said after Sunday’s game. “Get in the gym, work on your game.”

Even with the struggles Uhl has had this season, he proved today that he can be ready to go when it’s his turn to step up for the team. While he admitted it felt good to finally come out and have a good game, he was more concerned with the team having success.  Both he and freshman Cordell Pemsl spoke postgame on the team’s chemistry and how that has helped them fight through some close games recently.

“Today was my game I guess. Other days it’s somebody else’s game,” Uhl said. “Everybody stays positive and fires each other up.”

The Hawkeyes (10-7 overall, 2-2 Big Ten) play next on Thursday when they host the #20 Purdue Boilermakers (14-3 overall, 3-1 Big Ten) at 8:00 pm. The teams met on December 28^th at Mackey Arena when Purdue beat Iowa 89-67 to open up conference play.

The post Uhl has breakout game to push Hawkeyes past Rutgers appeared first on KRUI Radio.

After going through a four-game losing streak and having a complete makeover in the starting lineup, winning five in a row before facing a top-15 team in Purdue seems pretty good for the young, but talented, Hawkeyes.

“Considering where we were, yeah,” said head coach Fran McCaffery when asked if he liked where the team stands at the end of non-conference play.

Since McCaffery changed the starting lineup at Notre Dame, which included starting three true freshmen in Jordan Bohannon, Cordell Pemsl, and Isaiah Moss, the Hawkeyes are 5-2 and they have found some balance in their game. Before the change, defensive communication had been a problem and senior Peter Jok was the only player scoring consistently. That has not been the case during the current five-game winning streak.

“They’ve definitely shown signs of improvement,” McCaffery said. “We played so poorly in that stretch of games defensively, and they knew we had to be better. Then they had to figure out how to do it together.”

During the four-game skid, opponents were scoring 91 points per game against the Hawkeyes. Since, that number has gone down to 61.6.

Since becoming starters, Pemsl and Bohannon have averaged 13.6 and 11.7 PPG, which has given the team a much-needed boost offensively since freshman Tyler Cook was sidelined with a broken finger.

Before the injury, Cook was averaging 13.7 PPG and 5.3 rebounds per game.

Cook is expected to return to the lineup for the first time in three weeks against Purdue next Wednesday, although it is unclear whether or not he will be in the starting lineup. McCaffery says he will evaluate how he plays in practice over the next few days before making a decision.

“We’ll see how he does when he comes back,” McCaffery said of Cook. “Ahmad (Wagner) and Cordell have really played well together, so I’ll think it through.”

As is often the case with good players who miss time with injuries, it could take a while for Cook to get re-acclimated to playing with his teammates again, and for the team to get re-acclimated to Cook being on the floor. The team thinks the next week of practice will help them get accustomed to the change, and they don’t expect Cook to struggle at all when he returns to the lineup.

“I don’t see it changing at all,” said Wagner of the team chemistry when Cook returns. “We’re going to be just as effective as we were before, and I don’t think he’s going to miss a beat.”

Having Cook’s 6’9” frame back in the lineup will be helpful, as Purdue is one of the bigger teams Iowa will face all season. The Boilermakers have a potential first-round NBA Draft pick in 7’2” center Isaac Haas, as well as a B1G player of the year candidate in 6’9” forward Caleb Swanigan. Both players are averaging more than 14 PPG so far this season.

The Hawkeyes will have to be at their best from this point on. Only a couple of players on this young team have been through B1G play before, and they will be relied on more in the coming weeks as the freshmen get accustomed to the conference schedule.

“Our team’s been clicking lately, and we’re only going to get better from here,” Wagner said. “People say we’re young and inexperienced, but I think our team’s good and I think we can surprise a lot of people.”

It will be an interesting conference season for the Hawkeyes who are still trying to find their groove. Fans will need to keep their expectations in check as they watch this young team grow and learn on the fly, and we have to understand that the team will have to make mistakes and hit some bumps in the road if they want to keep improving.

Big Ten Conference play starts on Wednesday, December 28^th as Iowa (8-5) travels to West Lafayette, Indiana to take on the #15 Purdue Boilermakers (11-2) at Mackey Arena. Game time is set for 7:30 PM central time and can be seen on Big Ten Network.

The post Hawkeyes Turn Their Attention to B1G Play appeared first on KRUI Radio.