Facing Seton Hall will be Iowa’s first
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Nothing against the Iowa basketball team’s first two opponents, but the first real test of this young season will come on Thursday against Seton Hall.
The 2-0 Pirates you could argue are better than Iowa on paper, with four starters returning from a team that won the Big East Tournament and played in the NCAA Tournament last season.
Seton Hall is athletic, aggressive on both ends of the floor and above being intimidated by a hostile environment.
In other words, this isn’t Kennesaw State or Savannah State coming to Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Thursday. Those two overmatched teams already had their shot against the new-look Hawkeyes and lost by scores of 91-74 and 116-84, respectively, this past weekend at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
To say that Savannah State struggled with perimeter defense would be an understatement, considering the Hawkeyes made a school-record 18 3-point shots this past Sunday.
Seton Hall isn’t Savannah State.
“It's a great opportunity because this is a team that's going to be in the NCAA tournament,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said of the Pirates, who won 25 games last season and beat the eventual national champion Villanova in the Big East title game. “We're playing an NCAA Tournament team. I think they know that. They expect that. And we would like to be there as well.
“So it's the only chance we're going to get to play them. I think it's great for our fans, too, to see another power conference team that they don't see regularly and maybe play a little bit of a different style. And so I'm looking forward to the challenge for our players.”
One of the featured matchups will take place at shooting guard between Iowa senior Peter Jok and Seton Hall junior Khadeen Carrington. Both players are prolific scorers and can torch the nets from 3-point range.
Carrington has made all but one of his 10 3-point attempts this season, while Jok is 6-of-18 from 3-point range.
The 6-foot-6 Jok has a two-inch height advantage on Carrington, but Carrington might have an edge in quickness.
“They're a little bit different, but they're both really good,” McCaffery said. “They're both very competitive guys. They're veterans, and I think both of them realize that they're going to have to work to guard the other guy. And they're both being asked by their team to score. And I think that's the challenge for anybody in that position that sort of views themselves as an NBA prospect, you have play both ends.”
Jok relishes the challenge of facing an elite opponent early in the season.
“This is going to be the true test for us,” Jok said. “They won the Big East last year and return four starters. They’re really experienced. They’ve got really good players.
“So I think everybody is looking forward to playing. It’s going to bring out the best in everybody. So we’re definitely looking forward to it."
Jok knows what to expect from Seton Hall on defense, even more so after speaking with Villanova guard Josh Hart.
“I talked to Josh Hart, he’s one of my (friends) from Villanova, and he said they’re an aggressive team,” Jok said. “They’re going to be super physical, and I love when teams play physical. They really can’t get into me because of the new rules.
“So I’m going to try and get to the free throw line as much as I can.”
With four new starters and with seven freshmen on the Iowa roster, the team still is a mystery after two mismatches.
Freshman forward Tyler Cook struggled at times in the first two games, but still is averaging 10 points and seven rebounds per game. The 6-9, 253-pound Cook will have to grow up in a hurry because the Pirates have loads of experience with four juniors and a graduate student in the starting lineup.
Cook said Wednesday that he rushed things in the first game against Kennesaw State and then was thinking too much against Savannah State.
“You can’t really think while you’re playing the game,” Cook said. “The (coaches) do a good job of preparing us, so I just have to focus on being prepared and other than that just hooping and playing the game I love.”
Cook came to college highly acclaimed, but hasn’t faced an opponent of Seton Hall'scaliber.
“It will be great for us,” Cook said. “They’re a tough team. They’ve been really good historically and stuff like that. And we’re a new team. We’re a young team.
“So playing them this early in the season will be great for us. So hopefully, we’ll be able to match their intensity and level of toughness.”
Toughness will certainly be a factor in Thursday’s game, but so will talent and Seton Hall has plenty of it.
Iowa also has talent, but it’s mostly unproven at this level with players like 6-5 sophomore point guard Christian Williams stepping into a new role as a starter
Williams expects Seton Hall to try to rattle him by applying defensive pressure.
“We’ve seen that on film, they’re a real physical team that just tries to get up in you and try to force you to make turnovers and try to play crazy,” Williams said. “So we’re just going to try to stay calm as much as possible.”
Iowa vs. Seton Hall
When: 8:06 p.m.
Where: Carver-Hawkeye Arena
Event: The game is part of the Gavitt Games matching teams from the Big Ten and Big East Conferences.
TV: Big Ten Network
Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network
Iowa’s probable starting lineup
Position, name, height, ppg, rpg
G – Christian Williams, 6-5, Soph., 2.5, 2.5
G – Peter Jok, 6-6, Sr., 20.0, 5.0
F – Nicholas Baer, 6-7, Soph., 9.5, 2.5
F – Dom Uhl, 6-9, Jr., 5.5, 4.5
F – Tyler Cook, 6-9, Fr., 10.0, 7.0