Thursday night, the Iowa offense was struggling, at halftime the Hawkeyes were only 8-25 from the field, shooting 17 threes in the process. “In the first half, we took 17 threes and eight two-point shots, So I was really disappointed in that aspect, I thought we had an advantage in the post offensively, I know I wanted to try and exploit that but we were jacking threes”, Fran McCaffery said of the first half shooting.

Iowa turned to their defense in their 77-63 win over the UMKC Kangaroos, “It was kind of funny, we kind of joked around about it in the locker room,” junior forward Ryan Kriener said. “This was kind of the first time that offense has been our problem, our offense was a little stagnant and our defense really held us in there”. Kreiner played 16 minutes and was very effective on the defensive end, adding eight rebounds to his six points.

The game also marked the official debut of freshman guard Joe Wieskamp, the former five-star recruit from Muscatine High School was the Hawkeyes leading scorer with 15, including four, three-pointers in the first half.

“Being here since June, going up against the guys every day, I think you just adjust,” Wieskamp said of his adjustment to the college game. Wieskamp also showed his great athleticism with a beautiful putback dunk in the second half that received a rousing cheer from the Carver crowd of 9,317.

Get up then, @JWieskamp21!

The @IowaHoops freshman has showed out tonight: pic.twitter.com/tuuY6MGx1j

— Iowa On BTN (@IowaOnBTN) November 9, 2018

Junior guard Maishe Dailey also played a big role off the bench against the Kangaroos as he scored 11 points. “We just needed to bring intensity, we felt like we got hit in the mouth in the first half so we just wanted to bring that fight and we reciprocated that fight in the second half,” Dailey said of Iowa’s performance.

Dailey also believes he’s transitioned into the role of “Defensive stopper and defensive leader,” and if he in fact has, would be a huge boost to this Iowa team.

Joe Wieskamp led all Iowa scorers with 15 points and also added four rebounds and an assist. Juniors Jordan Bohannon and Tyler Cook followed up with 12 points each, Bohannon added four rebounds and three assists, while Cook accumulated eight rebounds and five assists.

Next in the scoring column was Maishe Dailey, who had 11 points with two assists to boot. Sophomore Luka Garza added eight points and three rebounds and freshman Connor McCaffery contributed seven points and three assists.

Iowa’s next action is Sunday afternoon against Wisconsin-Green Bay, tipoff is at 2 P.M. local time.

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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.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Pressure and heightened expectations are hard to live up to. Freshmen in new universities, new states, even new parts of the country often have a difficult time reaching the standards others have set for them.

Four-star recruit Luka Garza was no exception to this in the first half of Iowa’s season. The 6’11 big man from Washington, D.C. found himself out of the starting lineup and struggling to keep up with power conference teams

Naturally, criticism followed. The team was struggling, and the highly regarded center wasn’t meeting expectations.

That hasn’t stopped Garza from focusing on his game.

Since going for 19 points and 11 rebounds in a career-high 30 minutes in Iowa’s overtime victory at Illinois, Garza seems to have turned the corner.

“I had a couple stretches where I wasn’t as consistent, but I feel like I’m getting better at that,” Garza said after another double-double (17 points, 16 rebounds) in a win over Wisconsin. “I think playing as hard as I can is helping me through that.”

The freshman is just the third player in the last 20 years to accumulate 17 points and 16 rebounds versus Wisconsin, joining Iowa’s Reggie Evans (2001-02) and Indiana’s DJ White (2007-08).

Garza has been playing as hard as any Hawkeye recently. ESPN’s Dan Dakich was on the call each of Iowa’s last two games, including the blowout loss to Purdue. Dakich praised Garza on Saturday for being the only Hawkeye playing with fight in the second half.

He gave the young center praise again on Tuesday.

“I like to play with that intensity, I’ve always been taught to play hard and give those extra efforts,” Garza said. “That emotion is something I like to play with.”

Dakich isn’t the only one who has noticed Garza’s energy level. Head Coach Fran McCaffery is appreciative of the big man’s efforts.

He’s a gamer, a warrior, however you want to describe it. He’s relentless,” McCaffery said. “A lot of big guys – a lot of young big guys – they tire. When they tire, they takes possessions off, and he doesn’t do that.”

McCaffery was particularly impressed with Garza’s defensive on Tuesday when he guarded an All-American in Ethan Happ.

“I thought Luka was great. Happ’s an All-American. Luka’s a freshman,” McCaffery said. “I think he really studied him this week and moved his feet.”

McCaffery has said before that leadership can come from anyone, whether he is a senior or a freshman. Tyler Cook was a freshman leader last year. Now, Garza is stepping into that role.

“The way Luka leads is obviously with his emotion… it’s something easy too feed off of,” Cook said. “We’ve got a lot of vocal guys on the team, but I think he brings something else to the table that really fits well with this group.”

Whether he’s scouting out the next opponent in a film session or practicing new offensive moves to improve his productivity, Garza isn’t going to get complacent. Even if games are rough, his worth ethic is noticeable behind the scenes.

“Regardless of if he’s hitting shots or not, he’s playing his behind off,” Cook said. “When you get a guy like that who’s always working after practice or on off days, going to put it together.”

There’s always room for improvement, and he’s already made big strides in the early going of 2018.

In this lost season, Garza has given fans something to be proud of. Iowa fans have always held stock in the tradition of hard work.

Garza is a hard worker.

“It’s a learning experience,” Garza said. “I’m learning, I’m getting better, and I’ll continue to get better.”

The post Garza Making Strides in Freshman Year appeared first on KRUI Radio.

All those adjectives can be used to describe the character and play of Chris Street, the former Hawkeye great who passed away 25 years ago in a car accident during his junior season. In situations like this, it’s important to seek the help of an experienced lawyer here to navigate the legal process and obtain justice for the victim and their loved ones. On Saturday, when the Iowa Hawkeyes hosted a top-3 ranked Purdue team and honored Street – with his family and dozens of former Hawkeye players and coaches in attendance – none of those adjectives could be used to describe the team’s play.

Iowa fell behind early and never were able to claw back, falling to the Boilermakers, 87–64. The Hawkeyes outscored Purdue in the second half, but a 31-point halftime deficit left Iowa in a hole they could not come out of.

For Purdue (19–2, 8–0 Big Ten), the win marks the end of a four game losing streak at Carver-Hawkeye Arena that dated back six years. The Boilermakers sank 11 three-pointers in the first half and nine in the second half to set a school record for made 3-point field goals in a single game. They shot 61% from deep.

Iowa (10–10, 1–7 Big Ten) took an early 3–0 lead just over two minutes into the game, but would never lead again. Four minutes later, the Boilermakers had hit four threes and held a 17–6 advantage. The Hawkeyes were never able to figure out a defensive plan to stop a staggering offensive attack from Purdue in the first half.

“They shoot it, they can throw it inside, and they can share it,” said Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery. “They have a special team.”

Purdue’s starting lineup, with four seniors and one sophomore, scored 70 of the team’s 87 points. The only time Purdue struggled to score was late in the second half, long after the team’s starters had departed.

Carsen Edwards, Purdue’s crafty young point guard, led the team with 22 points, including connecting on 6 of 9 three-point attempts. The Boilers’ 6-foot-8 power forward Vincent Edwards (of no relation) had 19 points, including 3 made threes. Dakota Mathias and P. J. Thompson also scored in double figures for Purdue.

For Iowa, Luka Garza led the team with 19 points on 8 of 10 shooting from the floor, much of which came during a complete takeover by the freshman big man in the second half.

“I got a couple shots from the outside, got shots from the inside,” said Garza on his second-half performance. “I was feeling it for a little bit there.”

Iowa got unusually unproductive play from Tyler Cook, who was 3 of 8 from the floor and failed to reach double figures in points for just the sixth time this season. Jordan Bohannon also scored just nine, and hit only one three-pointer after hitting five in each of his last three games.

Perhaps the best summation of Iowa’s performance came with just under three minutes left to play in the first half. With the Hawkeyes trailing by 29, a packed Carver-Hawkeye Arena let out sarcastic cheers after a missed three-point shot by Carsen Edwards. Dom Uhl collected the rebound and threw an outlet pass down to Cordell Pemsl, who was all alone for a layup – before it was blocked from behind by a sprinting Vincent Edwards, who turned the block into a layup of his own, extending Purdue’s lead.

Never in the game did Iowa show as much defensive effort as Purdue did on that possession. Even as the Boilermakers continued to sink three-pointers with little effort from the top of the key, Iowa failed to make immediate adjustments to their on-ball defense.

When questioned about Iowa’s defensive game plan, McCaffery pointed to Purdue’s senior big man, 7-foot-2 Isaac Haas, as a reason for why the defense was not guarding the three-point line as hard. Yet Haas only played 18 minutes due to foul trouble and took only one shot – which he made.

Asked if he felt that the messages he was sending to the team, which has now lost five of its past six, were being received, a discouraged McCaffery replied that he has “seen change”. Whatever change he saw did not show up for the Hawkeyes on Saturday morning.

“We’ve just got to keep working,” Bohannon said. “At the end of the day that’s the attitude you have to have during adversity.”

Iowa is back in action on Tuesday when they host Wisconsin.

The post Iowa Outclassed by Purdue on Chris Street Day appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Iowa had 18 turnovers in a 77–73 loss in which the Nittany Lions never trailed Saturday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Tyler Cook led the Hawkeyes with 23 points, and energized the crowd with several monstrous dunks, but it was not enough to stop Penn State’s outside shooting attack. Penn State had zero bench points, relying entirely on the starting guard of Tony Carr, Lamar Stevens, and Shep Garner.

Led by Stevens’ 22 points, the Nittany Lions hit 12 of 23 three-point attempts, including seven in the first half – many of them un-defended. Carr added 16 points and Garner chipped in 12 for Penn State.

“They were definitely in a rhythm early, especially Garner,” said Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery. “If he has that kind of game, they’re a different team.”

Iowa’s Jordan Bohannon had a rough night, with only 8 points, and 3 turnovers and four assists. The guard-heavy Penn State roster tired out Bohannon and Isaiah Moss, the only two true guards playing significant minutes on the Iowa roster as Connor McCaffery recovers from injury.

Iowa (4–4, 0–1 Big Ten) struggled with turnovers as a whole, with Cook giving up the ball five times (on an otherwise stellar afternoon for the sophomore), Isaiah Moss turning it over four times, and four other Hawkeyes coughing up the ball at least twice. Even an advantage in rebounds (39 to Penn State’s 30) was not enough to overcome the turnover woes.

Penn State (7–2, 1–0 Big Ten) took command early in the game, hitting their first six field goal attempts to jump out to an 11–2 lead that they never surrendered. The only time the Nittany Lions were not in the lead was when the score was tied, 2–2.

Beyond the success of the guards, Penn State also had valuable contributions from sophomore forward Mike Watkins, who was 9–13 from the field and had 19 points. For Iowa, Cook did all he could inside (7–13 shooting, and an improved 9–13 from the free throw line), but saw minimal help from his frontcourt teammates. Luka Garza, Jack Nunge, Ryan Kriener, and Cordell Pemsl had just 13 combined points.

With 12 seconds left, and the Hawkeyes down two, McCaffery and the Hawkeyes elected not to intentionally foul the Nittany Lions, hoping for a turnover – and he almost got one. Nicholas Baer made what appeared on replay to be a clean strip of Carr near the sideline, but was called for a foul, sending Carr to the line to sink the two free throws that ultimately put the game out of reach.

For the Hawkeyes, the loss is damaging, but the players know that the tools are there to succeed. “We have tendencies of showing how great we can play,” said Pemsl. “We’re just trying to figure out how to stay positive and stay on our feet.”

Both teams are back in Big Ten action on Monday – Iowa travels to Assembly Hall to play Indiana, while Penn State returns home for a tilt with Wisconsin.

The post Hawkeyes Struggle in Big Ten Opening Loss to Penn State 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.

The post Cook and Garza Dominate as Hawks Blowout Crusaders appeared first on KRUI Radio.

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.

The post Why Iowa Basketball Can Be Spooky By March appeared first on KRUI Radio.

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.”

The post Iowa Basketball Media Day: Hawkeyes Prepared for Challenges of Upcoming Season appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The Hawkeyes had other plans.

After falling behind by as many as 13 in the first half, the Hawkeyes rallied to force overtime and held on to beat Indiana 96-90.

It was a total team effort for the Hawkeyes in this one. After falling behind 9-0 in the opening two minutes, Iowa coach Fran McCaffery called a timeout and subbed in a whole new group of five players.

By the time the game reached the first media timeout, McCaffery had already used twelve different Hawkeyes.

“We needed some energy,” McCaffery said of the substitutions. “That next group came in and played with good energy and cohesion.”

The second wave of guys knew they had a specific job once McCaffery sent out their platoon.

“Better play well,” said forward Nicholas Baer. “Just try to weather the storm a little bit. I thought we did that. We were able to fight back and the end of the first half it was a one-point game.”

Without trying to do too much, the defense finally picked up for the Hawkeyes. After Indiana’s Josh Newkirk and James Blackmon, Jr. scored nine and six points respectively in the game’s first six minutes, the two didn’t score again the rest of the half.

Indiana was called for their first foul of the game with 8:47 to play in the half when De’Ron Davis bumped Tyler Cook. That sparked a 12-0 run for the Hawkeyes that was capped off by a three ball from Baer to tie the game at 26.

The teams traded baskets before the half and Indiana took a 33-32 lead into the locker room.

In the second half, the Hawkeyes took their first lead on a dunk and free throw from Cook with 2:13 to play. The teams traded free throws and layups in the final minute before heading to overtime.

Then Peter Jok happened.

After scoring 12 points in the first half and eight in the second half, Jok put up 15 points in the five minute overtime period. For the first time since his back and shoulder issues began, Jok was able to impose his will on a game at the offensive end.

After making 11 of his 12 free throw attempts in the overtime, he finished the day shooting 22-of-23 from the free throw line, good enough to set a new single-game record at Iowa, a record previously held by Don Nelson for 55 years (1962).

“I was surprised he missed the one,” McCaffery said of his senior’s performance at the line. “Not only does he make them, but he usually doesn’t hit anything but the net.”

After the game, Jok wasn’t exactly exhilarated over the news of being a new record holder.

“I don’t really care about all of that,” Jok said. “I just care about winning right now.”

Jok doesn’t put too much thought into his free throws. He works on them everyday, or as often as he can without upsetting his lingering shoulder issue, but he doesn’t stress over his form and mechanics.

“I don’t think about it, I just shoot with a free mind,” he said.

Jok finished with a game-high 35 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field, 1-of-6 from three, and of course, his record-breaking 22-of-23 from the free throw line.

Aside from Jok, a number of different Hawkeyes stepped up when their number was called.

After picking up two early fouls, Cordell Pemsl played just two minutes in the first half. In the second half, he played 14 minutes and played with a lot of energy, finishing the game with nine points on 3-of-3 field goals and 3-of-4 free throws.

Ryan Kriener played alongside Pemsl a lot in the second half. He made both of his field goal attempts while also grabbing three rebounds and recording three blocks, including one on Indiana’s Curtis Jones with thirty seconds left in overtime that was the exclamation point on the victory.

Nicholas Baer continued to stuff the stat sheet as well. The sophomore finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. He was the only Iowa player to make more than one three pointer in the game (2-of-4). He also completed a put-back, and-1 dunk midway through the second half that pulled Iowa to within one. It turned Carver-Hawkeye Arena into a mad house.

If not for a new free throw record from Jok, the story of the game would most likely be Christian Williams’ performance. The back up point guard has seen his minutes fade and go to freshman Jordan Bohannon, but he has emerged recently as a defensive threat for the Hawkeyes, recording five steals in the team’s last three games.

It was his offense that shined for him on Tuesday. Williams scored in double figures for the first time in his career, finishing with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting. He also added three rebounds and one assist, and more importantly, committed zero turnovers in his 21 minutes on the court.

“After I saw the first two (shots) go in, I got a roll a little bit,” Williams said.

After struggling out of the gate, Williams’ commitment to defense has allowed him to climb back into the mix as the season hits the final stretch.

“I struggled little bit at the beginning of the season, then I kind of picked things up defensively and that helped me transform my whole game.”

The deep rotation for the Hawkeyes proved to be the difference in this one. Twelve Hawkeyes played, nine of them playing double figure minutes.  While they stayed fresh, Indiana looked gassed at the end of the game. Four Hoosiers fouled out, and Thomas Bryant had four fouls, too.

The Hawkeyes next play at Maryland on Saturday at 5:00 P.M. CST on ESPN2. This will be the first of two road games against two of the top three teams in the conference (at Wisconsin on March 2). The team knows the next two games are important so that they can enter the Big Ten Tournament on a good note.

“We’re going to take it one game at a time,” Baer said. “We’re going to have two opportunities (to play good teams on the road) and we’re going to be ready for it.”

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The Hawkeyes had plenty of chances to keep the game close late against Illinois, but the ball just wouldn’t find the bottom of the net. As a result, Iowa dropped just their second home conference game of the season 70-66.

With less than one minute to play in the game, Brady Ellingson and Nicholas Baer each had open shots from the three-point line. Baer’s with 18 seconds left would have tied the game.

“I thought we had a couple of good looks at the end that didn’t go in,” said Iowa senior Peter Jok, “but that’s the game of basketball.”

At the end of the game, Iowa Head Coach Fran McCaffery was happy with the shots his team put up, but it was the inability to convert off of Illini turnovers that had he and his players frustrated.

The Hawkeyes forced 17 Illini turnovers throughout the game, but they only came away with 12 points on the possessions that followed.

“I think we quick-shotted a couple of times,” said McCaffery. “We maybe should have moved the ball a little better.”

In a game of runs, neither team led by more than eight points. When the Illini went of a 6-0 run, the Hawkeyes would answer with an 7-0 run of their own, and vice versa. That was the flow of the game for nearly the whole 40 minutes.

One such run started with 10 minutes remaining in the game when the Hawkeyes went on an 8-0 to take the lead 54-50. Tyler Cook picked up his fourth foul of the game with 7:16 remaining, and that prompted a 10-2 Illini run as they regained the lead.

After the teams traded a pair of buckets, the Illini took a lead with just under three minutes to play and never relinquished it again.

Cook’s absence after his fourth foul sent him to the bench changed the momentum of the game in favor of the Illini. The Illini was no match for Cook throughout most of the game as Cook emerged as a “safety valve” of sorts for the Hawkeyes. The freshman was 5-of-7 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line in the game, but he did not attempt another shot after he earned his fourth foul.

Cook finished the game with 14 points, which would had led the team had Peter Jok not hit a three-pointer with just over one second remaining in the game. Having to sit out a lot as the game neared its close was not easy for the freshman to do after having a good shooting day.

“It’s tough. I felt like I was getting the shots I wanted to get,” Cook said. “I was obviously trying to get the ball more down the stretch, but when you’re out you just have to encourage the rest of the guys.”

Aside from Cook, no one else for the Hawkeyes was ever able to get into a consistent scoring rhythm. The team shot just 38.9% from the field and 33.3% from three. Jordan Bohannon was 3-for-4 from behind the arc, whereas the rest of the team was just 4-for-17.

Sometimes the shots just don’t fall, but the team isn’t going to let this game effect the rest of their season. Even while the team is in the midst of three-game losing streak, McCaffery is optimistic that the difficulties of the last few games will be good for the team.

“Sometimes you’ve got to go through it and experience it, the good and the bad.”

Iowa plays next on Tuesday at home against Indiana at 8 P.M. CST on ESPN.

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