By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – History is about to made on Saturday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena because it’s hard to believe that the head coach for Iowa and Iowa’s radio play-by-play announcer have ever watched the Hawkeyes play on television together from the head coach’s office.

But that will be the unusual circumstance for the regular-season home finale against a dangerous and what Tyler Cook assumes will be a determined Rutgers squad, partly because of what happened when the teams met last month in Piscataway, N.J.

Iowa freshman Joe Wieskamp made desperation a 3-point shot from the baseline in the final seconds that somehow banked in, giving Iowa a 71-69 victory.

The odds of Wieskamp banking in a three from the baseline were slim to none, but he did it and Rutgers paid a heavy price for it with a devastating home loss that it probably deserved to win.

The Scarlet Knights now have a chance for payback at Iowa.

“I would be extremely anxious and extremely excited to get back on the floor,” Cook said if he were a Rutgers player. “I know that’s how they’re going to approach tomorrow’s game, so we’ve got to be ready, both mentally and physically to be in a dog fight tomorrow.

“So I think we are ready, and I think we’ll be ready tomorrow night. And I’m sure both sides are excited to get back at it.”

All six of Rutgers’ conference victories have come by eight points or less, and it was so close to being seven wins until Wieskamp made his improbable three.

The Scarlet Knights have plenty of size on the frontline and they lead the Big Ten in offensive rebounding (12.8). Rutgers had 14 offensive rebounds in the first game against Iowa.  

“It’s just another game that we’ve got to have our hard hats on and we know it’s going to be a battle,” Cook said.

But it’s not just another game when you consider that Iowa coach Fran McCaffery will be watching the game from his office inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena, along with Iowa radio announcer Gary Dolphin.

McCaffery will be serving the first of a two-game suspension for berating an official at Ohio State this past Tuesday, while Dolphin is suspended for the remainder of the basketball season for calling Maryland forward Bruno Fernando King Kong on his post-game broadcast.

Dolphin’s comment was considered insensitive because Fernando is black and Dolphin has apologized publicly for saying it and he wants to reach out to Fernando after the season.

McCaffery reached out to Dolphin about watching Saturday’s game together and that goodwill gesture contradicts the belief that McCaffery and Dolphin have a strained relationship.

McCaffery addressed that perception while meeting with the media on Friday.

“It's interesting because, for some reason there's a narrative that we don't like each other, and that's just not true,” McCaffery said. “It's unfair to him. It's unfair to me. I worked with the guy for nine years. At some point, you have a disagreement. These are some minor issues, when you work with somebody, you might want to be different, but I get along fine with Dolph. I'm sure we'll enjoy watching the game together. It's something we don't typically get to do.”

McCaffery will be allowed to participate in the Senior Day ceremony in which forward Nicholas Baer will be honored prior to the 4:07 p.m. tipoff.

But then it’s up to his office to watch the game with Iowa’s play-play announcer since 1996.

Cook said McCaffery's situation has brought the team closer together because the players know that their head coach has their back and vice versa.

"We've always known that coach had our back and he's always known that we have his," Cook said.

Iowa point guard Connor McCaffery, who is Fran McCaffery’s son, knows what it’s like to watch Iowa play on television with his father.

Connor watched Iowa play on television with his father in 2014 when Fran McCaffery was serving a previous suspension.

“I watched the game with him in his office and it was fun,” Connor said. “We just got some pizzas, but he’s into it. He gets into the game. He really does.  You can’t really talk to him during the game.”

Connor said it’ll be weird to not have his father on the bench during the Rutgers game. But Connor also expressed optimism in Iowa’s assistant coaches, including Andrew Francis, who will act as the head coach during the Rutgers game since he had the scouting report.

“It’s just an adjustment we’ll have to make,” Connor McCaffery said. We have a lot of good leadership that I think will be able to help out.”