By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – After scoring in double figures in each of Iowa’s first two games this season, heralded freshman Joe Wieskamp saw his role change dramatically in New York City.

The 6-foot-6 Muscatine native combined to score just five points during Iowa’s victories over Oregon and Connecticut in the semifinals and championship game of the 2K Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden.

“My first true road game at the college level, so I just tried to learn and gain any knowledge that I could,” Wieskamp said before practice on Monday.

This marks one of the few times in Wieskamp’s career that he doesn’t have the burden of carrying most of the offensive load for his team.

He ended his high school career as the all-time leading scorer in Class 4A in Iowa with 2,376 points.

He then scored 15 points in his Hawkeye debut against Missouri-Kansas City and 10 against Wisconsin-Green Bay in the second game.

But Wieskamp only scored four points against Oregon on 1-of-6 shooting from the field and one point against Connecticut while attempting just two shots.

Asked what he learned from his experience in New York City, Wieskamp said:

“We’ve got a really good team and we have a lot of scoring options. Obviously, I didn’t have a lot of scoring opportunities out there. But I know my time will come. But I’ve just got to do the little things to help my team win, and try to really lock in defensively and get few key offensive rebounds and really just box out defensively and get a couple steals, just doing the little things to help us win.”

Wieskamp doesn’t seem too concerned about his lack of scoring in the last two games.

“It’s early in the season and I’m still trying to figure out my role, kind of just where I can have opportunities as a scorer,” he said. “After watching those two games, I think I found a few places that I can do it to improve offensively.

“It’s just a learning experience for me. It’s still early in the season. I’ll figure it out.”