Ellingson and Pemsl shine in win over Savannah State
By Tyler Devine
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa sophomore guard Brady Elllingson and freshman forwardCordell Pemsl have endured their share of adversity during their basketball careers. Both appear to have turned a corner after the Iowa basketball team's 116-84 win over Savannah State on Sunday.
Ellingson scored 21 of his team-high 23 points in the first half on 7-of-9 shooting, while Pemsl added 18 points on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting to go along with nine rebounds.
"I just knew that if I was going to get open shots I was going to try my best to make them and my teammates did a great job of setting me up," Ellingson said. "(My confidence level) was really high. I was really open so I got to set my feet and all that. Also all the other guys off the bench too, I think we had 76 bench points so that was good to see."
The 6-foot-4 Ellingson redshirted his freshman season due to a foot injury and gained criticism from Iowa fans last season due to some inconsistent play.
Ellingson has put those inconsistencies behind him.
"I don't really think about last year too much," Ellingson said.
Ellingson's scoring outburst didn't come as much of a surprise to Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery.
McCaffery saw the embattled guard turn a corner during the offseason, but not just in the scoring column.
"He's been playing that way really since this year began," McCaffery said. "Which, as I always say, it sort of begins in June. If you look at his numbers, his assist to turnover is, I mean, just phenomenal, like four-to-one. His shooting percentages, his efficiency, he doesn't make mistakes. He's defending his position well. You know, it's year three. First year he got hurt, last year he had some good games and he had some not so good games. I backed his minutes off as the season went on. He just kept battling and I'm really proud of him."
Pemsl missed all of his junior season at Dubuque Wahlert due to injury and mostly flew under the radar until he got to Iowa. Pemsl also has been living in the shadow, and the same dorm room, of Iowa's highly-touted freshman forward Tyler Cook.
Iowa fans had not gotten a good look at the 6-foot-9 Pemsl until he stepped foot on campus, but McCaffery did when Pemsl played McCaffery's eldest son Connor McCaffery in the state championship game.
"Everybody kind of forgot about him," McCaffery said. "You know, I think it's understandable. He committed a very long time ago and then he missed his entire junior year in high school with leg surgery. He did have a stellar senior year but lost in the state championship game. He was really good when I saw him play, obviously both times against West High. Watching him in A.A.U., watching him grow up he just has a feel for how to play the game. There's just no substitute for that. You have a guy that can dribble, pass and shoot and is smart and tough.
"I understand how it all went down, but he's always been a good player."
Pemsl, as is his nature, gave all of the credit to his teammates.
"I was getting good position down low," Pemsl said. "They had to honor shots that our guys were making. Brady had a good first half so that left the low post open. Whether it was me and Ahmad (Wagner) running the high and low post they did a great job of getting us easy looks inside.
"It was a lot different than the exhibition and the first game on Friday where there were shots that I knew I could make that I was missing. I did a lot of practice just back on fundamentals and techniques and stuff like that and they were falling tonight."