JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
Fran McCaffery picked up his 1st ever Big Ten conference win and Iowa won its 700th Big Ten game on Sunday in Carver Hawkeye Arena, beating Indiana 91-77. Both the Hawkeyes and the Hoosiers are 1-6 in Big Ten play.
For the first time since December, Iowa took the court knowing it was the better team. Indiana was down two key players due to injury and played like it for most of the game.
That isn't to diminish Iowa's effort in this game; the Hawks played with urgency and bounce for the entire 40 minutes, which was great to see. Perhaps that had something to do with them knowing they had the rare chance to play the bully in this game.
It was also great to see given that Iowa had begun conference play 0-6. Some teams can just pack it in and give up after facing so much losing, but this Iowa team did not look remotely like a team that was the first in school history to lose its first six conference games.
Iowa led by double digits at the break and opened up a 20 point lead in the second half as the Hoosiers never really threatened in this game. In fact, the final score was not really indicative of the way Iowa controlled this game, as Indiana made several late, desperation three's. Tom Crean didn't allow his team to quit, employing a press late in the game trying to close the gap, but the Hawkeyes had built such a lead it did not matter.
Melsahn Basabe led Iowa with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and he was too tough for Indiana to tame. He is learning how to use his slender frame on the inside to keep would be defenders on his backside and not affect his shot. He has improved so much as this season has gone on and it's very exciting to think about what he could look like in one year.
Matt Gatens scored 19 for the Hawks, including 11-12 from the line. Other than Gatens, Iowa was 16-27 from the free throw line (getting there 39 times as a team as Indiana was fouling late trying to get back into it).
Eric May scored 11 for Iowa, including back to back dunks in the second half in the middle of Iowa's run that put the game out of reach.
Freshman Devyn Marble had his best game as a Hawkeye, scoring 18 points, balanced in both halves. Those points came on 8-13 shooting from the floor, but just 1-4 from the line.
As as team, Iowa shot a scintilating 57.7% from the floor (65% in the second half), hitting 30-52 field goals. Iowa did have 19 turnovers on the game, however but 46 points in the paint. Indiana shot just 37.1% from the floor (26-70) and just 8-27 from three. They committed 15 turnovers and had 30 points in the paint.
One week ago, I felt Iowa was the 11th team in the Big Ten. Indiana's injuries have changed that and Iowa is no longer 'the worst' team in the league. What's encouraging is Iowa played Sunday like a team that is much better than the 10th best team in an 11 team league. It helps not playing five ranked team in a six game span of course, as this league is very tough.
Next up for Iowa is a winnable game at Penn State. The Nittany Lions have found an inside player to go with Talor Battle on the perimeter, a player that has given Iowa a load of issues.
One final note: The Iowa women's team plays a huge game Monday night at Ohio State. Tip off is 6pm and the game is on ESPN2. They are a lot of fun to watch and have a great team this season and should be playing for seed the rest of the way. Getting better than an 8 or 9 seed will be big as to avoid the 1 or 2 in the second round of the tournament, and they appear on pace to earn somewhere in the 4-7 range depending on how the season turns out.
For the first time since December, Iowa took the court knowing it was the better team. Indiana was down two key players due to injury and played like it for most of the game.
That isn't to diminish Iowa's effort in this game; the Hawks played with urgency and bounce for the entire 40 minutes, which was great to see. Perhaps that had something to do with them knowing they had the rare chance to play the bully in this game.
It was also great to see given that Iowa had begun conference play 0-6. Some teams can just pack it in and give up after facing so much losing, but this Iowa team did not look remotely like a team that was the first in school history to lose its first six conference games.
Iowa led by double digits at the break and opened up a 20 point lead in the second half as the Hoosiers never really threatened in this game. In fact, the final score was not really indicative of the way Iowa controlled this game, as Indiana made several late, desperation three's. Tom Crean didn't allow his team to quit, employing a press late in the game trying to close the gap, but the Hawkeyes had built such a lead it did not matter.
Melsahn Basabe led Iowa with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and he was too tough for Indiana to tame. He is learning how to use his slender frame on the inside to keep would be defenders on his backside and not affect his shot. He has improved so much as this season has gone on and it's very exciting to think about what he could look like in one year.
Matt Gatens scored 19 for the Hawks, including 11-12 from the line. Other than Gatens, Iowa was 16-27 from the free throw line (getting there 39 times as a team as Indiana was fouling late trying to get back into it).
Eric May scored 11 for Iowa, including back to back dunks in the second half in the middle of Iowa's run that put the game out of reach.
Freshman Devyn Marble had his best game as a Hawkeye, scoring 18 points, balanced in both halves. Those points came on 8-13 shooting from the floor, but just 1-4 from the line.
As as team, Iowa shot a scintilating 57.7% from the floor (65% in the second half), hitting 30-52 field goals. Iowa did have 19 turnovers on the game, however but 46 points in the paint. Indiana shot just 37.1% from the floor (26-70) and just 8-27 from three. They committed 15 turnovers and had 30 points in the paint.
One week ago, I felt Iowa was the 11th team in the Big Ten. Indiana's injuries have changed that and Iowa is no longer 'the worst' team in the league. What's encouraging is Iowa played Sunday like a team that is much better than the 10th best team in an 11 team league. It helps not playing five ranked team in a six game span of course, as this league is very tough.
Next up for Iowa is a winnable game at Penn State. The Nittany Lions have found an inside player to go with Talor Battle on the perimeter, a player that has given Iowa a load of issues.
One final note: The Iowa women's team plays a huge game Monday night at Ohio State. Tip off is 6pm and the game is on ESPN2. They are a lot of fun to watch and have a great team this season and should be playing for seed the rest of the way. Getting better than an 8 or 9 seed will be big as to avoid the 1 or 2 in the second round of the tournament, and they appear on pace to earn somewhere in the 4-7 range depending on how the season turns out.
