Iowa pounds Northern Iowa 69-46 in Des Moines
By Pat Harty
As a graduate of Drake University, I’m willing to concede the mythical state championship to the Iowa men’s basketball team, even though my alma mater doesn’t get a crack at the Hawkeyes this season.
Iowa showed its supremacy on Saturday by crushing Northern Iowa 69-46 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines in a game that was competitive until about the midway point of the first half.
Iowa seized the lead and the momentum by scoring 12 consecutive points early in the first half. That 12-0 scoring run ultimately swelled to a 32-11 scoring run that gave Iowa a 34-16 lead at halftime.
There were reminders on Twitter during halftime that Northern Iowa had bounced back from an 18-point deficit against Oklahoma in the first half to win in overtime earlier in the season.
But there was no comeback for Northern Iowa on Saturday.
Iowa outscored the Panthers 17-8 to start the second half and that basically erased all the drama and put the lead out of reach. A game that looked highly competitive on paper was anything but that on the court.
Iowa improved to 6-5 and has won three games in a row for the first time this season, including back-to-back to victories over Iowa State and Northern Iowa by 14 and 23 points, respectively. Iowa defeated Iowa State 78-64 last Saturday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The same Iowa team that repeatedly broke down on defense during a 98-89 loss to Nebraska-Omaha on Dec, 5 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and against practically everybody else until recently, held the Panthers to just 15 field goals in 56 attempts on Saturday.
And though some of the misses came on shots that the Northern Iowa players often make, some of the credit has to be given to Iowa’s defense.
“I think the critical thing was our defensive effort for the full forty minutes,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said on his post-game radio show. “We had played well defensively early in the season at times. We hadn’t put it together until the Iowa State game and that was the challenge. And we did it against a really good team at home.
“And now we come to a neutral site and play another good team and put the defense together again. So it shows what we’re capable of doing as a group.”
Perhaps it isn’t a coincidence that Iowa is 3-0 since losing to Omaha, with two of the victories coming against quality instate opponents.
The Hawkeyes don’t play lowly Drake this season, which is unfortunate for the Iowa players because any team could use a sure-win against an instate opponent.
Maybe the Omaha loss was basketball’s version of the 41-14 debacle at Penn State in football, sort of wake-up call for the players.
Because whatever the case, the Iowa team that dismantled Northern Iowa on Saturday in Des Moines shared little resemblance to the team that lost to Omaha two weeks ago.
Iowa’s 95-68 victory over Stetson on Dec. 5 didn’t tell us much about the Hawkeyes because Stetson wasn’t very good.
The victories over Iowa State and Northern Iowa, on the other hand, did tell us something about Iowa. We’ve learned that this Iowa team can defend when the players set their minds to it and work together as a unit.
We’ve always known that the Hawkeyes could score because any team with McCaffery leading the way and with Peter Jok taking many of the shots could fill it up.
Jok scored a game-high 21 points on Saturday, making 9-of-15 field-goal attempts, including all three of his shots from 3-point range.
He was joined in double figures by sophomore forward Nicholas Baer and freshman forward Cordell Pemsl with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Baer also grabbed 11 rebounds, while Pemsl made all four of his field-goal attempts and now has made an incredible 46-of-60 field-goal attempts this season.
The 6-foot-6 Jok only made one basket in the first 12 minutes of the game as the Panthers blanketed him on defense. He relied on his supporting cast during the early stages of the game before getting more involved on offense.
Much was made of the matchup between Jok and fellow senior star Jeremy Morgan, but the competition never really materialized with the Panthers playing from so far behind and with Morgan struggling on offense.
Morgan scored 14 points, but he only made 4-of-13 shots from the field.
“It was a great challenge for me and for the team, so I just wanted to stick up to it and play good defense on him, which I think we did collectively,” Jok said.
McCaffery was asked on his post-game radio show to explain what has changed on defense.
“I think it’s commitment,” he said.
Iowa now has two winnable games at home against North Dakota on Tuesday and Delaware State on Thursday before beginning Big Ten play at Purdue on Dec. 28.
Freshman forward Tyler Cook also could return this coming week after missing the last five games with a broken finger. The 6-9, 253-pound Cook was averaging 13.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game when he was injured.
“We’ll slide him in there,” McCaffery said. “He’ll figure in this week. It’s a question of when. I don’t know if he’s going to play Tuesday or Thursday or wait until Purdue. That will be a doctor’s decision.
“But he looks good in practice. He’s been shooting. He’s been running. I think he’s in good shape physically. He’s been paying attention to what we’re doing. We’ve put some new things in since he’s been out and I think he’s ready to go.”
Part of the challenge for Iowa is to handle success as well as it handled the recent adversity. McCaffery always tells his players to not get too high during good times or too low during bad times.
It's all about staying the course.
And it's easier to do that for a team that plays defense.