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.

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 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.

The post Hawks Surge Late but Fall Short appeared first on KRUI Radio.

You could argue the Hawkeyes played their best basketball offensively in the first half, shooting 64 percent from the field, but intensity lacked on the defensive end and the Hawks trailed by six at the half.

“Their ability to get second shots hurt us,” Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said. “They have good shooters who take good shots. They are a tough team to guard.”

Wisconsin did shoot the ball well in the first half (53 percent) but the key first half stat was that the Badgers had 10 second-chance points on seven offensive rebounds, and out rebounded the Hawkeyes 15 to 9.

“We just needed to put bodies on guys more than we did,” Iowa forward Gabe Olaseni said. “They went around us, they went through us. That’s all on us.”

Olaseni ended the game with 12 points and 5 rebounds. That’s the ninth time this season he’s scored in double figures.

That key first half stat lead into the second half, and became the biggest key into the Hawkeyes loss. In total the Badgers brought down 15 offensive rebounds and 16 second-chance points.

“If you’re going to look at one thing that really was the difference in the game, it was offensive rebounding,” McCaffery said. “Their efficiency at scoring on second-shot opportunities is probably the best in the country.”

Being outrebounded isn’t something Iowa is use too, and senior forward Aaron White isn’t happy about their rebounding efforts today. “It’s frustrating because we are a good rebounding team. We have size, today was just tough.”

Defensively Iowa forced Wisconsin to miss some shots as they only shot 30 percent in the second half. Along with only shooting 30 percent, the Badgers also had a few scoring droughts, giving Iowa an opportunity to cut or even take the lead.

“That could have been a time where they (Iowa) could have changed the tide, but they didn’t,” Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. “We just kept grinding defensively and kept getting the ball back.” If Iowa had any chance of winning this game they needed to make shots when Wisconsin couldn’t. Iowa only scored 27 second half points.

The Hawkeyes will try and end their three game losing streak Thursday on the road against Michigan.

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By Mark Freie

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Michigan State Spartans senior guard Travis Trice poured in 25 points as the Spartans defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 75-61 on Thursday night in Iowa City.

The night for Iowa Hawkeyes (11-5, 9-2) as the Hawkeyes went into halftime with a 39-28 lead. Iowa senior Gabe Olaseni provided a spark off the bench as he scored 15 first-half points going 7-7 from the free throw line. The Hawkeyes went 12-14 from the free throw line in the first half. However, the Hawkeyes were unable to match their strong first half performance as they were limited to 22 second half points and shot just 3-10 from the line. Hawkeye junior Jarrod Uthoff recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

“[Michigan State] got some energy from the fact that they were playing good defense,” Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffery said. “The disappointing thing is whenever you play a team, you hope you can do a better job on their good players. They have three elite guys and that’s who hurts us. That’s disappointing.”

However, Michigan State (11-5, 2-1) had a strong second half response as they erased an 11-point deficit, silencing the crowd inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The Spartans displayed a three point barrage shooting 8-9 from behind the arc in the second half.

21 of Trice’s 25 points came off three point shots. Trice shot 3-4 in the first half and 4-4 in the second half from behind the arc. Adding into the mix was junior guard Denzel Valentine with 18 points and Branden Dawson who recorded a double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds.

“Give Iowa credit they took it to us after the first six or seven minutes of the game,” Spartans head coach Tom Izzo said. “We feel very fortunate to beat this team on the road under the circumstances.”

The Iowa Hawkeyes will four days to prepare for the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Tuesday, January 13 in Minneapolis. The Gophers will travel to Ann Arbor to face the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday, January 10 before hosting the Hawkeyes.

The post Spartans rain threes, washout Hawkeyes 75-61. appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Iowa (11-4, 2-0) started the first half on a tear as they drove to the basket early and often allowing the team to go 15-19 from the free throw line. Hawkeye senior Aaron White surpassed Roy Marble’s career free throw mark of 516, making him the all-time leader in free throws at Iowa. White finished with a team high 23 points, grabbed 9 rebounds and shot 12-15 from the charity stripe.

“We wanted to drive the ball,” Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said. “[Shooting] 38 free throws is terrific. Our energy and concentration was constant down the stretch.”

The Hawkeyes also saw strong play from senior Gabriel Olaseni who recorded a career high 18 points and also grabbed five   rebounds. Olaseni was able to take advantage of 13 trips to the free-throw line, where he made 12.

“[Olaseni] was playing with great confidence,” McCaffery said. “He made a concerted effort to go inside and try to get to the free-throw line.”

Nebraska (8-4, 0-2) had a strong night shooting from the floor shooting 57 percent in the first half. Things simmered down a bit for the Cornhuskers in the second half as they shot 37 percent down the stretch.

Leading the way for Nebraska was junior guard Shavon Shields who recorded 25 points and six rebounds. Husker’s forward Terran Petteway also reached double digit scoring with 11 points.

One concern for the Hawkeyes was the play from their guards. Peter Jok, Mike Gesell and Anthony Clemmons combined for 9 points with a majority of those points coming late.

“That’s a combination of things,” McCaffery said. “We weren’t pounding inside, weren’t giving it up early. Those guys can score and they’ll be okay.”

The Hawkeyes will now shift their focus towards their game Thursday night against the Michigan State Spartans in Iowa City. The Spartans (10-5, 1-1) are coming off a 70-50 win over the Indiana Hoosiers on January 5. The Hawkeyes and Spartans are set to tip-off at 7 PM.

The post Aaron White sets free-throw record as Iowa defeats Nebraska appeared first on KRUI Radio.

By Mark Freie

IOWA CITY, Iowa – After splitting a pair of games against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the 2013-2014 season, the Iowa Hawkeyes (9-4) will begin Big Ten play against the Buckeyes (11-2) in their final game of the 2014 year on Tuesday.

Iowa travels to Columbus, Ohio with the memories of a non-conference schedule that tested 5^th year head coach Fran McCaffery and his players.

“We pride ourselves into really competing. We amped up our non-conference schedule,” McCaffery said following an 80-70 win over North Florida. “When you schedule Pepperdine, [there is] a very good chance they’re going to win their league. When you schedule North Florida, [there is] a very good chance they’re going to win the Atlantic Sun. Their RPIs are all up. Hopefully that’s going to help us and pay dividends down the road.”

Shooting woes have not been a secret for the Hawkeyes who are 13 games into the season. Long, scoreless stretches have impacted the team in losses most notably against Texas, Iowa State and UNI.

“I think in particular with guys that know they’re really good shooters that aren’t making shots, they tend to [hang their head low],” McCaffery said. “All I ask them to do is keep battling defensively, don’t turn it over, and make sure you take good shots. I tell them to keep shooting.”

Aaron White, a senior out of Strongsville, Ohio, has led the way for the Hawkeyes this season. White, who eclipsed the 1,500 career point mark against North Florida, is averaging 15.8 points per game. Although White has only attempted 20 three-point shots of the team’s 253 attempts, he is still finding his way to the basket and is 81-92 (88%) from the free throw line. White only needs 12 made free throws to surpass Roy Marble on list for all-time free throws made at Iowa.

Iowa senior Gabe Olaseni and junior Jarrod Uthoff have also made their presence known. Uthoff has started all 13 games and is averaging 10.6 PPG and has been the three-point shooter for the Hawkeyes. Olaseni has appeared in all 13 games and is without a doubt, the sixth-man for Iowa. Coming off the bench, he averages 8.5 PPG, shooting 58% from the field, 5.6 rebounds per game, and has blocked 32 shots this season.

With the non-conference schedule behind them, the Hawkeyes embark on a Big Ten Conference schedule that has not been friendly to them in recent years. Although Iowa has finished with a 9-9 record the past two seasons, they have not enjoyed a winning Big Ten record since the 2006-2007 season.

Iowa will open Big Ten play on the road for the first time since the 2008-09 season. The Hawkeyes face a tough hurdle out of the gate in No. 20 Ohio State. The Buckeyes are led by freshman guard D’Angelo Russel averaging 17.7 points per game. While the Buckeyes have two losses on their record, one to Louisville and another to North Carolina, they boast one of the nation’s top offenses scoring around 85 points per game.

The Hawkeye shooting woes must be corrected in order to start Big Ten play on a high note. Buckeye opponents have averaged just below 60 points per game this season.

Tip-off for Iowa v. Ohio State is slated for 12:00 PM CT. The Hawkeyes will return to Carver-Hawkeye Arena in 2015 as they face Nebraska and Michigan State on Jan. 5 and 8.

For more Hawkeye Basketball coverage, be sure to follow @KRUISports on Twitter.

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