By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Pardon me for being distracted, but sadly, my beloved dog just died, and unfortunately, the Gary Dolphin controversy lives on.

So I’m not only devastated from the loss of LaKota, I’m disappointed in the silence and the lack of transparency from the Iowa Athletic Department, and more specifically Gary Barta.

But that isn’t the purpose of this column.

It is easy to forget under the unfortunate circumstances that the Iowa men’s basketball team is having a one-year resurgence that now ranks among the best in program history.

The Hawkeyes have won five of their last six games and are 21-6 overall and 10-6 in the Big Ten heading into Tuesday’s game at Ohio State.

Iowa has also more than doubled its win total in conference games from a year ago, and is 4-3 in Big Ten road games after finishing 1-8 on the road last season.

Junior point guard Jordan Bohannon is now considered by many, and not just by Hawkeyes fans, the most clutch 3-point shooter in college basketball.

And the players around him are pretty good, too.

College basketball analyst Clark Kellogg, who played for Ohio State in the early from 1979 to 1982, caused a happy stir by picking Iowa as sort of his surprise team to win the Big Ten Tournament.

But since last Friday, Bohannon and his cohorts have been reduced to a sideshow from within the state, and that’s despite Bohannon having one of the greatest late-game shooting performances that I can recall against Indiana this past Friday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

He made five 3-point baskets overall, which is impressive under any circumstance. But all five of Bohannon’s treys came after halftime, including one with 27 seconds remaining in regulation that sent the game into overtime, and then three in overtime.

The arena became louder with each 3-pointer that Bohannon made, and his legend grew with each standing ovation.

A pattern also continued where Iowa came from behind in the second half to prevail with Bohannon leading the way after having struggled in the first half.

This Iowa team is vulnerable in some ways and certainly has flaws.

But it also is resilient and has resolve and multiple shooters who can get hot it seems at any moment.

“Just through the process we’ve grown,” said Iowa coach Fran McCaffery. “Individuals have played well. We’ve got more experience and we’re more comfortable. I think what you see with our team is we’re not one-dimensional, we’re not one or two guys have to play well. We have various people that have proven over time they can step up and be a factor in any particular game at either end.

“And I think that’s critical for a tem to be able to win consistently in this league, you have to have depth. You have to have experience. You have to have people that understand and accept their roles.”

Iowa defeated Ohio State 72-62 on Jan. 12^th at Carver-Hawkeye Arena as four players scored in double figures for the Hawkeyes, but not Bohannon.

He only made 1-of-7 field-goal attempts and scored six points.

So that proves McCaffery’s point that his team is deep and versatility.

Iowa uses a nine-man rotation, and all nine players average at least 13 minutes playing time per game.

Ohio State has lost three of its last four games, but has won three of its last home games.

Iowa's last four road games have been decided by seven points or fewer, and there is a good chance that Tuesday's contest at Value City Arena in Columbus could be more of the same.

Iowa has all but clinched a spot in the NCAA Tournament after having failed to do so in each of the past two seasons.

It now comes down to playing for the highest seed possible, and right now, the Hawkeyes would likely project as a fifth or sixth seed.

But a lot can change, good or bad, in four regular-season games and during a postseason conference tournament.

This team has certainly caught the imagination of Iowa fans, and deservedly so.

It’s just been hard to tell since Dolphin’s suspension was announced last Friday because Hawkeye nation has been fixated on the controversy.

There is hope that Dolphin will be reinstated, and there is hope and optimism that the Iowa will continue to win games and be riding high when the NCAA Tournament begins in March.

This season marks the 20-year anniversary of Iowa’s last trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1999.

Tom Davis was in his final season as the Iowa coach after having not being offered a contract extension by then Iowa Athletic Director Bob Bowlsby.

Davis was basically being forced out and that didn’t sit well some fans, who became even more agitated after Iowa had success.

The players rallied around Davis, just like fans are now rallying around Dolphin.

Whether that has any effect on how Iowa performs on the court is probably a reach because Davis was the head coach, while Dolphin is the team’s radio play-by-play announcer.

The players have shown maturity throughout the season and that is to be expected with a nine-man rotation that includes a fifth-year senior (Nicholas Baer), a fourth-year junior (Isaiah Moss) and four third-year juniors (Jordan Bohannon, Tyler Cook, Ryan Kriener and Maishe Dailey)

That’s a lot of experience, and you can’t have enough experience when tournament time arrives.

 

Iowa vs. Ohio State

When: 6 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Value City Arena, Columbus, Ohio

TV: Big Ten Network

Series:The all-time series is tied, 80-80. Twenty-five of the last 37 meetings have been decided by ten points or less, including this season's earlier meeting in Iowa City on Jan. 12 (Iowa won 72-62).