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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As the 2014-2015 college basketball regular season begins to wind down with the Iowa Hawkeyes (17-10, 8-6) finding themselves once again amidst a year full of similar expectations for Fran and company, it begs the question, are the Hawkeyes poised to make a deep postseason run or will they experience déjà vu from a year ago?

Throughout the arc of the regular season a postseason run looked in store for the Hawks, snatching up quality wins against powerhouse teams like North Carolina, Ohio State (twice), and Maryland.

Then, there are times where the thought of just sneaking in the backdoor of the NCAA tournament is deserved for a team that has had numerous second half collapses. Most recently, a loss to Big Ten bottom feeder, Northwestern, that only leaves fans scratching their heads in confusion.

There are three major factors moving forward that are key if this veteran squad is to find success come March. First, it is crucial for Iowa to start fast in the first half of games. Fast starts have paved the way for impressive blowout wins at Michigan and home against Maryland.

Playing with the lead is crucial too. Ever since the second half debacle against Michigan State early in the conference schedule, the leader after the first 20 minutes has gone on to win each and every game.

Secondly, Iowa’s best offense has been fueled by their havoc-causing defense. Iowa’s length and scrappy guards makes for a dangerous combination, and puts the team 3^rd in the Big Ten with 6.5 steals per game. These steals lead to easy transition points that jumpstarting the offense, huge for a team that has failed to consistently knock down perimeter shots.

Iowa has shown the ability to be one of the better defensive teams in the Big Ten, but now it is just a matter of showing the same intensity game in and game out.

Finally, the continuing emergence of Jarrod Uthoff is huge for the Hawkeyes. We know that Aaron White, the team leader,  will consistently put up his 14 points, 7 rebound game. Still, where Iowa finds its most success is when the offense runs through Uthoff.

The 6’8 Cedar Rapids native leads the team in three point percentage with 41% and total 3-pointers with 46. Uthoff is shooting over 50 percent from the field the last three games, a number that has been on the climb ever since Fran McCaffery publicly stated that Uthoff needed to assert himself offensively following the home loss to Minnesota.

It is safe to say that Fran echoed the hopes of the Hawkeye faithful that night, and everyone has since seen the product in motion.

All of the pieces seem to be in place for a significant run in the postseason for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Then again, they were last year too. The difference this year to propel the program over the hump? It just might be consistency.

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By Mark Freie (@markfreie)

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa State Cyclones (7-1) saw five different players reach double-digit scoring totals in their 90-75 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes (8-3) on Friday night.

Cyclone junior Naz Long led all scorers for the Cyclones with 21 points including five 3-point shots.

Hawkeyes head coach Fran McCaffery gave praise to Fred Hoiberg and the Cyclones.

“This is a good Iowa State team who has a ton of playmakers,” McCaffery said. “[Abdel] Nader was one of those guys who really impacted the game for them tonight.”

Impact is exactly what Nader did. The redshirt junior scored 19 points coming off the bench for the Cyclones, who shot 53% as a team.

The first half was full of high energy plays. Hawkeye senior Gabe Olaseni sent Hawkeye fans into a frenzy early in the game as he recorded a demolishing block on Nader. Olaseni fished with 5 points and 2 blocks on the night.

The Hawkeyes were able to hold Georges Niang to 2 first-half points, but Iowa States sharp shooters made up for his lack of play shooting 44% in the first half. Cyclone guard Matt Thomas drilled a buzzer-beating three to send his team into halftime with a 38-33 lead.

However, the game got away from the Hawkeyes early in the second half.

“Once the wheels started coming off, defensively we broke down, offensively we broke down,” McCaffery said. “[At the] start of the second half, we didn’t have too many buckets. It’s hard when the lead gets to double figures so quickly.”

A major area of concern this season for the Hawkeyes has been their long scoreless stretches. The Cyclones took advantage of a five-plus minute scoring drought as they went on a 23-4 run that included five-straight Iowa turnovers.

Niang was able to find his shot and scored 14 second-half points while dishing out 7 assists.

Leading the Hawkeyes was senior Aaron White who recorded 18 points and went 5-5 from the free throw line. White has now scored double digits in every game this year for the Hawkeyes. White’s performance was not enough for the dominant Cyclone team.

A bright spot for the Hawkeyes was shooting touch of Peter Jok who added 14 points, going 5-10 with two 3-point shots.

The Hawkeyes will need to find answers to their prolonged scoring droughts. Iowa State was able to take full advantage of costly Hawkeye turnovers in the second half.

“You have a great win, or you have a tough loss,” McCaffery said. “You go back to work…you have to get them believing again because they clearly had doubt tonight.”

The Iowa Hawkeyes will have the week off for finals, but will return to action on Saturday, December, 20 against the #23 UNI Panthers in Des Moines. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30.

Full Iowa-Iowa State Stats HERE

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Jok, a sophomore guard from West Des Moines, led all Iowa scorers with 16 points on six of nine shooting: two of two from behind the arc.

“Pete’s had the same sprained ankle two different times, so I think that hurt his chances to get that (starting) job,” Head Coach Fran McCaffery said when asked why neither Jok, nor senior Josh Oglesby started along side Mike Gesell at the two guard. “It’s also affected his conditioning, which you could see today, but it’s amazing he’s got 16 (points) in 17 minutes, he’s got that ability.”

This isn’t the first time Jok’s displayed his ability to light it up as he had 10 points on four of five shooting in last year’s NCAA tournament game against Tennessee. He will be a valuable asset to Coach McCaffery this season so long as he can stay on the floor: injury and off the court issues have brought concern over the past year.

However, if he can lead the charge off the bench this season, along with some other newcomers, Iowa will have 10 players who can provide valuable minutes.

Newcomers Dom Uhl, a 6’9″ freshman from Frankfurt, Germany, and sophomore transfer guard Trey Dickerson both showed tremendous upside in their Hawkeye debuts.

Uhl has the look of a freshman with a lot of muscle left to put on and a fairly raw skill set: shooting just two for nine from the field. However, his length, ball handling skills and athletic ability will be more than enough to earn him meaningful minutes as a freshman.

“His handle for a guy who’s 6’9″ is very unique he can go by anybody  he wants whenever he wants to… he sometimes gets to the rim and gets a little jammed up,” McCaffery said. “He’s got a nice touch I think what you’ll see him do is drive and finish with dunks a little more often as he gets older and stronger, and more confident in his game, his jumper needs work but it’s solid enough… he’s going to be a great player no question about it.”

McCaffery clearly has confidence in him, and so should we. Expect a modest freshman campaign from Uhl as he adjusts to the speed of the college game and continues to develop his body. But, he’s got the speed, skill, and desire to develop himself into an elite college basketball player.

Junior college transfer Trey Dickerson also provided some flare coming off the bench in his first ever game for Iowa. Dickerson flies up and down the court. His speed and athleticism are his strength, but don’t rule out this speedster’s ability to stroke it as well as he was two for two on his attempts from beyond the arc. He was three of four on the day with his lone miss on a breakaway where he got caught between a dunk and a layup and the ball got away from him resulting in a missed layup.

“He’s got a gear that most people really don’t have and that will really help our team, plus he can shoot the ball. When you’re fast and can’t shoot they can play you one way; when you’re fast and can shoot now it’s hard to guard that guy,” said McCaffery about Dickerson after the game.

Coach Fran McCaffery has quietly obtained the future of Iowa Hawkeye Men’s basketball with sophomores Jok and Dickerson as well as freshman Dom Uhl. The trio won’t be spotted in the starting line up all too often this season, but all will provide valuable scoring and athleticism off the bench for the Hawkeyes in the 2014-2015 campaign.

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The Iowa Hawkeye Men’s basketball season tips off in a month. It seems crazy, I know. If you paid any attention at all to last season, you’re aware of the fact that Iowa struggled down the stretch. Losing seven of their last eight games, which includes falling to Tennessee in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Before collapsing late, Iowa was ranked in the top ten in the country and was just outside the lead in the Big Ten. What happened?

“We didn’t defend,” Iowa head basketball coach Fran McCaffery said, who his entering his fifth year as the head coach for the Hawkeyes. “We didn’t defend the way we need to defend to consistently win. That’s why we were 9-9 and not better then that. That has to be the challenge for this team.”

As frustrating as it was to watch for Hawkeye fans, it was more frustrating for the players.

“Last year was one of the most frustrating things as an athlete that I have ever been through,” junior guard Mike Gessel said. “We learned from [last year’s late season collapse] and it’s made us stronger.”

Defense definitely was an issue for the Hawkeyes late in the year. They gave up 95 and 93 points to Minnesota and Indiana respectively, couldn’t defend the three-ball against Northwestern in the Big Ten Tournament; and when they needed to get that one stop late, they seemed to never get it.

“You’ll see a much tougher team this year,” Gessel said. “A team that’s going to finish out possessions on defense and really put teams away at the end.”

Senior forward Aaron White, who is Iowa’s most recognizable returnee this year, says that although he learned a lot from the collapse, he learned more from the beginning of the season.

Being ranked 10^th in the country and having those expectations; I learned a lot from that. I learned how to be successful at this level.”

Now, it’s a new season for the Hawkeyes. It’s a new team with a ton of experience.

White says this year, “ we just have to stop the train from going down the wrong path.”

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