Iowa has had the best of luck with these kinds of stories. Just this year, the Kinnick Wave captured the hearts and minds of the nation, even winning the annual Disney Spirit Sports Award. But, if you had the chance to be at the Purdue-Iowa slaughter at Carver, the annual Chris Street reminded the Iowa faithful of why we love sports.

January 19^th, 2018 marks the 25^th anniversary of the passing of Hawkeye legend Chris Street. Street lived out his dream, even if it was marked short. The legend of Chris Street was never about his stats. Street’s passion was such a high intensity that the only thing you’d be able to do is be in awe. And smile. Chris did that a lot, another level of the legend. Not only did Street have an unparalleled passion for the game, but his lovable personality and magnetic smile was equally a force to be reckoned.

Iowa fell in love with Chris Street because Street was Iowa embodied. Street had the “Iowa Nice” personality commonly found in the Hawkeye State and held the tenacity of the court that is a by-product of his tough, blue collar work ethic. But, more than anything, Chris Street woke up everyday wanting to do nothing more than to play basketball for his Hawkeyes. The University of Iowa released a video and showed the same video during halftime of the Purdue-Iowa contest one day after the 25^th anniversary of his passing. The following link goes to the inspirational tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48dGMn_muYk.

The game prior to and following the Chris Street tribute did not have the match the intensity of the Iowa legend. Purdue put Iowa out of the game in the first ten minutes of the first half and merely poured on the point. Making the game seem like nothing more than a morning stroll, the Boilermakers sliced through the soft Iowa defense on its way to a Big10 record in most 3-pointers in a game. 20 shots fell out to 33 attempted from beyond the arc for the third nationally ranked Purdue squad. Iowa could and would not come close after taking an early 3-0 lead in an eventual 87-64 loss.

Purdue will be taking their talents back home to West Lafayette, Indiana in a matchup against Michigan on Thursday, January 25^th at 6 pm CST. The next game for the Iowa comes with another tribute to Chris Street. However, in this Tuesday contest against the hated Wisconsin Badgers, Iowa will be wearing the Gold jerseys. Iowa faces Wisconsin on January 23 in Carver-Hawkeye Arena at 6 pm CST.

The post Forever 40: Remembering Chris Street appeared first on KRUI Radio.

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.

The post Hawkeye Bench Shines in Exhibition Win appeared first on KRUI Radio.

By Alex Solsma

1 ) Michigan State (14-10, 6-6 Big Ten) RPI: 49 SOS: 8
I did not think that Michigan State, a team that was in the Final Four last year and was preseason #2, would be a team fighting to get into the tournament late in the season. This week Michigan State has to play at Ohio State (RPI #3) on Tuesday and hosts Illinois on Saturday. Michigan State can’t afford many more losses after dropping games to Michigan, Penn State, Illinois, and Iowa.

2 ) Kansas State (16-9, 4-6 Big 12) RPI: 40 SOS: 17
#1 Kansas comes into Manhattan on Monday. It is not a must win game to get into the tournament, but getting that win would drastically help their cause. Beating Oklahoma on Saturday will be a must win.

3 ) Georgia (17-7, 6-4 SEC) RPI: 41 SOS: 40
Georgia gets Vanderbilt at home on Wednesday and then goes to Rocky Top to play Tennessee on Saturday. Huge week for Georgia. If they drop both games, they won’t have many more opportunities to pick up signature wins in the weak SEC.

4 ) Cincinnati (19-6, 6-6) RPI: 55 SOS: 108
You wouldn’t think that a Big East team with a 19-6 record would be on the bubble, but Cincy had arguably the worst out of conference schedule of any major conference program. Their only big wins came against Xavier and St. John’s, but those are not really jaw-dropping wins. If they want to be taken seriously, they have to beat one of the big boys in the Big East. They can do that this Wednesday when they host Louisville (RPI #24). They also can’t look past a road trip to Providence on Saturday. Villanova and Louisville have already came up with L’s at the Dunkin Donuts Center this season.

5 ) Virginia Tech (16-7, 6-4 ACC) RPI: 66 SOS: 98
VA Tech makes their yearly appearance on the bubble watch. They could have used a win at Boston College last week, but they have a big week this week because they face fellow bubble team Maryland in Blacksburg and they have a tricky road game at UVA on Saturday.

6 ) Maryland (16-9, 5-5 ACC) RPI: 89 SOS: 81
Maryland is on the wrong side of the bubble this week due to their weak RPI. This week they have to travel to VA Tech and they host NC State on Sunday. Win both and they can work their way back into the tourney discussion.

7 ) Boston College (16-9, 6-5 ACC) RPI: 43 SOS: 21
Other than the win versus Texas A&M, Boston College does not have many impressive wins. They can change that on Tuesday if they can beat North Carolina (RPI #11) They need to beat Miami on Saturday (who they lost to earlier in the season) and finish out the season with wins at UVA, Virginia Tech, and Wake. They can’t lose too many more games to earn a bid.

8 )  Marquette (15-10, 6-6 Big East) RPI: 57 SOS: 31
If teams got bonus points for really close losses, Marquette might have already eclipsed the bubble. They lost by 5 points or less to teams like Duke, Wisconsin, Vanderbilt, Louisville, Notre Dame, Georgetown, and Gonzaga. Quality wins versus West Virginia, Syracuse, and Notre Dame are keeping them on the bubble. This week they very winnable have home games versus St. John’s and Seton Hall to keep their hopes alive.

9 ) St. John’s (15-9, 7-5 Big East) RPI: 17 SOS:1
Purely looking at their RPI and strength of schedule, St. John’s would seem like a lock for the tourney, but they have had their struggles along the way. They have some of the most impressive wins in the country, since they beat Duke, Georgetown, UCONN, West Virginia, Notre Dame and Cincinnati. With all due respect to Fordham and St. Bonaventure, those are AWFUL losses. This week they have a big road game at Marquette and they host Pitt (RPI #6) at the Garden on Saturday. Barring some more shocking losses, this team should be dancing in March.

10 ) Illinois (16-9, 6-6 Big Ten) RPI: 39 SOS: 22
The last few years, Illinois has been notorious for winning big games and then having head-scratching losses. They get an improved Michigan team in Campaign on Tuesday and then have a monster game in East Lansing on Saturday against fellow bubble team Michigan State.

The post Ten Bubble Teams to Keep an Eye on this Week appeared first on KRUI Radio.