Once it was announced that Jok would be absent for Saturday’s game, the question became who would step up to fill Jok’s 21 points per game. Many thought it would be Isaiah Moss or Jok’s replacement Nicholas Bear, both of whom have had solid seasons so far. But the scoring role was instead filled by redshirt Sophomore Brady Ellingson who finished with 17 points on 6-9 shooting from the floor, including an impressive 5-7 from deep. He was the Hawkeyes’ leading scorer in Iowa’s 85-72 victory over the Buckeyes Saturday night.

Coach Fran McCaffrey had a lot of praise for his sophomore shooting guard saying, “(Brady) really made a concerted effort tonight (to be more aggressive) tonight.” McCaffrey added, “I would like to see him be like that on a regular basis.”

Ellingson’s 17 was his second highest on the season and highest point total in conference play. Ellingson also added 4 rebounds and 1 assist without turning the ball over.

Ellingson credited Jok as being a big motivator for this game, saying Jok, “Texted us all last night saying he’d be there no matter what.” Ellingson also said, “Peter told me to be more aggressive with my shots.”

That aggressiveness clearly showed, as he attempted and made more threes than he had all season. If the Hawkeyes are going to continue to have to play without Jok, they need Ellingson’s aggressiveness to continue.

While Ellingson was the highlight off the bench, the other bench players were able to contribute some serious scoring as well. The Hawkeyes had 44 total bench points accounting for more half of the Hawkeyes’ points. It was the kind of performance they needed in the absence of their star.

With the win, the Hawkeyes move to half a game out of 5th place in the Big Ten, while the Buckeyes fall into a tie for 11th place. The Hawkeyes’ next game will be in Piscataway, New Jersey to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (12-10, 1-8) at 6pm this upcoming Tuesday. The game will be broadcasted on BTN.

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IOWA CITY, IA- The Iowa Hawkeyes were without their star player Peter Jok as he was sidelined with a back injury.

Other players needed to step up and boy did they ever.

Brady Ellingson led the way off the bench for the hawkeyes with a team high 17 points. Forward Ryan Kriener had 14 points to go along with seven rebounds. Freshman Tyler Cook went 5-9 form the field to finish with 13 points in the contest.

Buckeyes head coach Thad Matta was not too keen on his team’s defense.

“I tried everything I had in my arsenal tonight. It just wasn’t clicking,” Matta said.

Coach Fran McCaffery was impressed with the defensive effort that his team put on the floor.

Iowa had 41 rebounds, five steals, and five blocks in the defeat of the buckeyes.

“For us to defend the way we did… for us to execute the way we did, I think it is a big step for our program,” McCaffery said.

Additionally, the hawkeyes held the buckeyes to 29 points in the first half and 7-22 from three-point range the entirety of the game.

Brady Ellingson, as mentioned, went 6-9 from the field to score his team high 17 points. The hoop truly felt like an ocean to him.

“We ran a play and went off a ball screen and had a good look and let it fly,” Ellingson said.

Those kinds of opportunities were plentiful as the hawkeyes made exactly 50 percent of their shots from the field Saturday night.

The hawkeyes will travel to Piscataway, New Jersey as they will face off against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. central Tuesday night.

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The new-look Hawkeyes (2-1) faced their toughest test as the reigning Big East champions came to Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and the team struggled with turnovers against a bigger, quicker opponent. The Pirates (3-0) managed to record 21 points off of 17 Hawkeye turnovers.

Every Hawkeye that took the floor had at least one turnover with the exception of freshman Isaiah Moss, and the two Hawkeye point guards, sophomore Christian Williams and freshman Jordan Bohannon, each had three turnovers on the night.

“You can’t have 17 (turnovers) against a team with the caliber of Seton Hall,” said Head Coach Fran McCaffrey after the game. “The length, quickness, and power of this team is unlike what [we’ve] seen.”

The turnovers obviously did not help the Hawkeyes’ case, and the Seton Hall defense played a big role in making things difficult on the Iowa ball handlers. The Hawkeyes also went just 19-32 from the free throw line, which Coach McCaffrey says is not something he expects to continue.

“We’re better than that,” said McCaffrey.

Much of the talk after the game was that youth may have played a factor. Although the Hawkeyes only played four freshmen, many of the key players on this team were role players on last year’s team that started four seniors and current senior leader Peter Jok. McCaffrey and company agreed that communication was the main reason for the defensive struggles, not youth.

“We had a pretty experienced team out there that did not defend,” said McCaffrey. “We have to get better.”

The Pirates had 50 points in the paint against an Iowa team that has decent size all across the board, and the team knows that missed defensive assignments and not protecting the rim made the difference in the game.

“We talk about defense all the time,” said Jok. “Tonight we didn’t do a good job, and I think that’s one of the main reasons we lost.”

On a bright note, freshman Tyler Cook put up a career-high 24 points and shot 60% from the field, but he also showed some growing pains as he went just 5-12 from the line and struggled to keep the Seton Hall big men off the scoreboard. Cook emerged as a potential go-to guy for the Hawkeyes in just his third game, which gives the team a lot of confidence in him moving forward.

“I liked a lot of the things he did,” said McCaffrey. “As he figures it out, he’ll get even better.”

The Hawkeyes’ struggles overshadowed some of the bright spots, but the team has plenty of time to address those issues as the season is still just getting underway. McCaffrey seems confident that the team will be able to bounce back and get the communication issues straightened out as they move forward and get accustomed to playing some tougher opponents.

The team is back in action Sunday as they take on UT Rio Grande (0-3) inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena at 4:30 P.M. CST.

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The team reaches its highest point in the first half of Big Ten Conference play, and they struggle mightily as the regular season comes to a close.

First, it was the 2013-2014 season that saw Iowa start 8-4 in conference play but lose five of their last six games to end the regular season with a 9-9 conference record. That team went on to lose in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament to Northwestern before bowing out in a First Four game against Tennessee.

Then, it was last season. Iowa had momentum going into the Big Ten Tournament winning their last six games of the season, but then the Hawkeyes lost their game to Penn State, the #13 seed in the bracket.

The 2014-2015 team won Iowa’s first NCAA tournament game since 2001 with a blowout of Davidson, but they ran into a buzz saw in Gonzaga in the second round and lost by 19 points.

This season, nobody knows how Iowa will fare. They easily could lose their first tournament game, but they could make a run towards the Sweet 16 or further.

The Hawkeyes again limped across the finish line losing five of their last regular season games.

Unlike previous years, Fran McCaffrey and company are clearly in the Field of 68 but the seed and destination has yet to be determined.

Iowa will likely be somewhere in the five to eight seed range. The professionals who make brackets a living have Iowa playing anywhere from Denver, Spokane, St. Louis, and everywhere in between.

Compared to their last two predecessors, this year’s team has a considerable amount of upside when things are clicking.

The upside was not on display in Indianapolis Thursday night as Peter Jok and Jarrod Uthoff were the only two players that showed up as the Hawkeyes fell to Illinois 68-66.

The two combined to score 50 of Iowa’s 66 points, while the rest of the roster made only 6 of their 30 shots attempted.

If Iowa does that in their first NCAA tournament game, it will be a quick trip wherever they go.

The bracket will be unveiled tomorrow at 4:30 central time on CBS.

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