Iowa men pound Stetson 95-68 to end four-game losing
By Pat Harty
Iowa City, Iowa – The Stetson Hatters couldn’t have timed their appearance at Carver-Hawkeye Arena any better.
The Iowa men’s basketball team desperately needed to face an opponent that wasn’t good enough to expose its weaknesses and the Hatters were up to the task, or maybe down to the task would be a better way to put it.
Iowa bolted to a 9-0 lead and the game never was in doubt from that point on as the Hawkeyes cruised to a 95-68 victory on Monday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Iowa ended a four-game losing streak and will bring a 4-5 record into Thursday’s annual showdown against Iowa State at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The Iowa players also might bring some confidence into the Iowa State game based solely on Monday’s lopsided victory.
Who cares if the game was a foregone conclusion?
The Iowa players needed to feel good about something for a change and now they do because there is no substitute for winning regardless of the opponent.
“It was very much needed,” said freshman forward Cordell Pemsl, who shared game-high scoring honors with 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field. “We haven’t won for a while, so it was fun to get that under our belt.
“We get to enjoy this for tonight. But we come back tomorrow and we start working for Thursday night.”
Iowa received a scare early in the second half when sophomore forward Ahmad Wagner crumbled to the floor in pain with an apparent knee injury. The arena became eerily silent as the medical staff examined Wagner’s knee.
Wagner could be heard moaning in pain as he grabbed his knee. He was helped to the locker room, but then returned to the bench about 10 minutes later with no assistance and with no wrap or even an ice bag on his knee.
“I’m not going to lie, it hurt pretty bad,” Wagner said of his injury, which was described as hyperextended knee. “But I think it’ll be alright. The doctor said I’ll be able to play Thursday.”
The competition will improve significantly on Thursday when the Cyclones come to town.
Iowa State pounded Nebraska-Omaha 91-47 on Monday in Ames. That’s the same Nebraska-Omaha team that defeated Iowa 98-89 this past Saturday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
No disrespect to Stetson, but it’s hard to know for certain how well Iowa performed on defense because the competition left much to be desired.
“I think that’s important,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said of getting a win. “But I think it’s important how you get a win. What do you do? Are you correcting some of the deficiencies that have been problematic for us.”
McCaffery was pleased with how his team valued the basketball on Monday and deservedly so, considering Iowa had just five turnovers.
Iowa also had a 52-43 advantage on the boards and held the Hatters to just 34.7 percent shooting from the field.
“I think defensively in the first half, I don’t think we could play much better,” McCaffery said.
Redshirt freshman guard Isaiah Moss matched Pemsl in scoring on Monday with a career-high 21 points.
“I just think he’s got a better understanding of what he needs to do,” McCaffery said of the 6-foot-5 Moss. “That takes time, and everybody’s impatient.”
McCaffery shuffled his starting lineup with Wagner replacing sophomore Nicholas Baer. It was McCaffery’s way of rewarding Wagner for playing well recently. McCaffery also likes having the versatile Baer come off the bench.
Baer scored seven points and grabbed five rebounds while playing 20 minutes off the bench.
“I thought last game Ahmad was spectacular, and I thought it would really help our team to have Nicholas come off the bench,” McCaffery said. “Ahmad deserved it, and I knew Nicholas would be fine with it.”
Iowa prevailed on a night in which leading scorer Peter Jok struggled from the field, making just 4-of-13 field-goal attempts, including 1-of-7 shots from 3-point range.
The 6-6 Jok compensated by grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out seven assists.
“Any coach is going to be proud of that from your senior leader,” McCaffery said. “He’s proven that he’s human. He doesn’t make every shot.”
Jok now has one last chance to defeat the Cyclones for the first time.
That was a popular topic with his teammates during Monday’s post-game interviews.
“It’s a big game,” Wagner said. “We’ve got to take them down. Peter mentioned that he hasn’t beat them yet. So we’ve got to send Pete off right.”
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