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.

Cook showed off his high-flying exploits several times as he soared in for many dunks against the over-matched Crusader posts. Cook finished the game with 24 points on 7-for-12 shooting with seven rebounds and four assists. Garza was an absolute beast on the glass, hauling in 12 rebounds along with his 18 points, including a three pointer. Sophomore Cordell Pemsl also played a solid game, putting in 13 points, with nine of them off free throws.

Another story for the Hawkeyes was the lack of scoring that came from the guards tonight as all of them combined for 1-for-11 performance from three point land. However, they made up for it by passing as Jordan Bohannon dished out a team-high five assists. Freshman guard Connor McCaffery followed closely with four assists. Forwards Nicholas Baer and Jack Nunge played solid game as Baer put in nine points, all off three-pointers, and Nunge added nine points as well.

As for the Crusaders, sophomore guard DeQuan Abrom led all Belmont Abbey scorers with 15 points off of 6-for-15 shooting. Junior Ben Ferguson and senior Jacob Wilson added 12 points each, mainly scoring from beyond the arc. Senior center Aiden Richard contributed eight points, and senior forward Deion Lane added seven points. This game also marked a return for former Iowa Director of Basketball Operations, Billy Taylor, who now serves as head coach for Belmont Abbey.

The Hawkeyes open up their regular season next Friday, Nov. 10 against Chicago State at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

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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.

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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.”

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