Iowa men lose in double overtime at Nebraska
By Pat Harty
Losing stinks under any circumstance.
The Iowa men’s basketball team blew a chance on Thursday to be 2-1 in the Big Ten heading into a very winnable home game against Rutgers on Sunday by losing to Nebraska 93-90 in double-overtime in Lincoln, Neb.
Senior Peter Jok scored 34 points, while redshirt freshman Isaiah Moss scored 15 in the first half and 17 points overall, but still it wasn’t enough to get the job done against a surging Nebraska team that improved to 3-0 in Big Ten play for the first time since the 1975-76 season.
Iowa, on the other hand, fell to 1-2 in conference play, so there is nothing about Thursday’s loss that should be considered a moral victory.
But you still can be encouraged, even in defeat because there is a lot to like about this Iowa team, despite its 9-7 record.
It’s fun to watch. It’s athletic, unselfish, young, energetic and skilled in so many ways.
And it has the 6-foot-6 Jok, who is capable of taking a game over on offense, really without warning, as he did in the second half on Thursday. Jok scored 16 consecutive points for Iowa during one stretch in the second half, turning a 58-54 deficit into a 70-67 lead.
Nebraska ultimately hung on to win, but had to scrap and claw for everything because Iowa wouldn’t quit in a game that had 14 ties and 12 lead changes.
It was Iowa’s second consecutive overtime game, with the Hawkeyes having defeated Michigan 86-83 in overtime on Monday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
“You can focus on some of the mistakes that happened late in the game or in the overtime periods that seemingly lost the game for us and you’ve got to be careful doing that,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said on his post-game radio show. “What you have to do is remember the last two games were both overtime games and we won one and lost one. So you win one and everybody thinks that everything is wonderful. It’s great that we won and we closed the game out, and obviously, that’s a positive, but it was not perfect. We had some mistakes in that game and are going to learn from that.
“And then you turn around and come here and it’s the same thing. You lose a game and you’re disappointed and you need to make the teaching points about those mistakes that we’re talking about that didn’t work at the end of the game. But also remember some of the positive things that happened in the game and try to keep doing those and cut out the mistakes that we made.”
That is classic McCaffery, his way of staying the course and not reading too much into a win or a loss at this stage.
We still don’t know a lot about this Iowa team besides that Jok is one of the best offensive players and perimeter shooters to play for the Hawkeyes in years and that sophomore forward Nicholas Baer's might be the Big Ten's best sixth man. Baer came off the bench in Thursday's game and scored five points, grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked six shots.
Baer also hustled to catch up with Nebraska guard Evan Taylor in the closing seconds of regulation in order to foul him instead of allowing an easy basket in transition. Taylor missed both free throws, helping to send the game into overtime and earning Baer praisefrom his head coach..
"How about that," McCaffery said. "What an incredible play that was. But whatever he does just doesn't surprise you anymore. The kid is just amazing."
As for Jok, there are times when he almost seems unstoppable, like in the second half of Thursday's game. Judging from Jok’s body language, he knew that many of his shots were on target in the second half.
“In the first half they were definitely face guarding me pretty much,” Jok said. “I missed some regular shots that I always make, but in the second half I came out just trying to get everybody open, and of course, also told everybody to get me open and just be more aggressive.”
And yet, it wasn’t enough.
Iowa struggled with foul problems and with protecting the basketball as Nebraska finished with 14 steals. Iowa's final possession in regulation ended when Nebraska gaurd Tai Webster stripped the ball from Jok. Webster then passed to Taylor, who was fouled from behind by Baer.
Nebraska struggled to make free throws throughout game, but especially with the game on the line.
Iowa had a chance to force a third overtime, but Brady Ellingson's jumper bounced off the rim. Point guard Jordan Bohannon passed to Ellingson instead of attempting a 3-point shot from beyond the top of the key.
Nebraska had the advantage at point guard where sophomore Glynn Watson scored 34 points before fouling out.
Some fans wanted McCaffery to call a timeout near the end of regulation and then vented on social media when Iowa self-destructed in the closing seconds. McCaffery rarely calls a timeout in those kinds of situations and there is little defense against hindsight when his strategy fails. But calling a timeout also would have given Nebraska time to adjust its defensive strategy.
So it goes both ways.
This season has up-and-down written all over for Iowa it because it’s not easy to replace four senior starters, including an All-America forward, which is the current circumstance.
But again, that doesn’t excuse the team from losing to Nebraska for the first time in six games.
This is year seven for McCaffery and the program is coming off three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and four consecutive 20-win seasons.
It’s beyond having moral victories or participation badges.
But it’s not beyond earning some praise in defeat.