Peter Jok continues to struggle as Iowa loses second game in a row
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Peter Jok’s senior season has suddenly turned from jubilation to frustration.
Jok said after Thursday’s 84-76 loss to Big Ten leader Maryland that his back and shoulder were bothering him. He also complained about his back stiffening up in last Sunday’s 89-54 loss at Northwestern.
That might explain why Jok has combined to score just 18 points in the last two games, which is four points below his Big Ten-leading scoring average.
“He’s got a lot of things going on,” said Iowa coach Fran McCaffery. “So it can’t be easy, I guess.”
The good news is that Iowa has almost a week off before its next game against Illinois on Wednesday in Champaign, Ill. That will give Jok time to heal because he has to be healthy in order for Iowa to be competitive in the Big Ten.
“They needed me out there, so I went out there and did as much as I could,” said Jok, who made 4-of-12 field-goal attempts while playing 31 minutes against Maryland.
Iowa fell to 11-9 overall and 3-4 in the Big Ten and has lost back-to-back games in the conference for the first time this season.
There still is plenty of time to right the ship. But with Jok ailing and his supporting cast struggling, Iowa has hit a critical point in the season.
There were some bright spots in Thursday’s game, most notably sophomore forward Ahmad Wagner, who came off the bench to score 12 points and grab six rebounds in just 15 minutes of action.
“I was just trying to bring extra energy to the team,” Wagner said. “We were sluggish at the beginning. So I just tried to bring extra energy.”
Wagner sparked Iowa’s comeback by scoring 10 points in the second half. He made one of two free throws to give Iowa its first lead of the game at 67-66 with 5 minutes, 18 seconds left to play. He also made a basket to expand Iowa’s lead to 69-66 with 4:36 remaining.
“He was the difference in the game,” McCaffery said of Wagner. “There’s no question about that. He sort of imposed his will on that game, which isn’t easy to do against a team that’s that athletic.
“But he did and I’m really proud of him.”
Maryland star guard Melo Trimble also imposed his will on the game, especially near the end when he made two 3-points baskets in the final minutes to secure the win.
Maryland shot a blistering 56.6 percent from the field, making 30-of-53 field-goal attempts, including 11-of-23 shots from 3-point range.
Iowa, on the other hand, shot 35.7 percent from the field, making just 25-of-70 field-goal attempts and just 7-of-28 attempts from 3-point range.
“I think you’ve got to give them credit for the shots they made,” McCaffery said of Maryland, which improved to 17-2 overall and 5-1 in the conference. “I mean they were moving the ball.
“Our activity defensively was obviously much better in the second half. I’m proud of our guys, the way they fought back. But (Maryland) did a good job of answering our runs with timely baskets.”
Maryland prevailed despite committing 21 turnovers and despite having 14 fewer offensive rebounds than Iowa.
Thursday's game basically came down to the Terrapins yet finding another way to win on the road.
“It’s what we’ve done all year,” said Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said. “We don’t get to where we are right now without winning games like that and believing that we’re going to win those games.”
It’s hard to tell where Iowa’s confidence level is at this point after back-to-back losses and with its best offensive player ailing.
“We’ll see how it feels tomorrow and go from there,” Jok said.
It was a late-arriving crowd as expected for a 6 p.m. tip-off, but the late arrivers didn’t much in the first half as Maryland bolted to an 8-0 lead and never trailed.
McCaffery could be heard yelling and pleading for his players to compete during several timeouts in the first half.
He also used 11 players in the first half, frantically looking for the right combinations to ignite a spark. But nothing seemed to work.
Senior forward Dale Jones played for the first time this season after being out with a wrist injury. He played four minutes in the first half and missed his only two shot attempts.
Junior forward Dom Uhl did not play because of a thumb injury, while sophomore point guard Christian Williams only played two minutes in the first half. Uhl has missed the last two games because of the injury.
"Dom just didn't look right to me yesterday in practice," McCaffery said. "In a game like this, especially when we're behind the whole time, I just didn't think it was a good game for him."
McCaffery was visibly upset after Jok committed a turnover early in the first half. McCaffery immediately removed Jok from the game and let him know that he wasn’t pleased with his effort.
Iowa finally showed a pulse late in the first half, outscoring the Terrapins 12-6 in the final 4:12 to trail 41-32 at halftime.
The Hawkeyes attempted 17 shots from 3-point range in the first half, but made just five. Iowa appeared to settle for 3-point shots on some possessions in the first half, causing the offense to become stagnant and predictable.
Iowa made more of an effort to feed the post in the second half.
“We started getting more ball reversals and started going inside more,” Wagner said when asked what the difference was between the first and second halves. “We have a great 3-point shooting team. But I think we realized we weren’t shooting the ball well and started moving the ball and getting inside more.”
McCaffery rushed to mid-court when the game ended to confront an official. McCaffery was upset that Maryland hadn’t been called for a delay of game in the closing seconds after having already been warned for touching the basketball.
McCaffery declined to comment on why he chased after the official because coaches are prohibited from criticizing the officials.
Matt Weitzel from the Iowa Sports Information Department spoke for McCaffery instead.
McCaffery's tirade went viral on social media as he was heard cursing at an official. His outburst actually became a bigger story than the game itself.
However, Jok's health is the biggest story moving forward. It's hard to envision this Iowa team having much success without its senior leader performing well on offense.
Just look at what happened in the last two games.
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