Iowa announces 5,000 tickets still remain for Rutgers game on Wednesday
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – When it was announced that approximately 5,000 tickets still remain for Iowa’s game against Rutgers on Wednesday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, I’ll admit that it caught me by surprise.
Because I keep hearing from fans how much they like and appreciate this Iowa team for its toughness, grit and resolve.
And yet, 5,000 tickets is a lot tickets, even for a school night. It’s basically one-third of the arena being empty, and that would be unfortunate, because this Iowa, which is ranked 19th in this week's Associated Press poll, is fun to watch and deserves better.
Wednesday’s game will feature two ranked teams in a pivotal Big Ten matchup with the winner getting a nice addition to its postseason resume.
It has become virtually impossible to win on the road in the Big Ten this season, and that is largely due to the hostile environments that distract and harass the visiting teams.
Iowa fed off the energy from the crowd to defeat Michigan 90-83 on a snowy and icy night last Friday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The announced attendance was 14,136 for the Michigan game, but the actual attendance probably was closer to 10,000 because of the weather.
But those fans made a lot of noise and made a difference in the outcome, as Iowa coach Fran McCaffery and some of the players said afterwards.
So imagine what another two or three thousand fans would do for the atmosphere on Wednesday.
It’s easy for me to tell fans how to spend their money, and to overlook the distance that some have to travel to attend games, sometimes in bad weather, and on school nights.
I never would criticize any fan for choosing to stay home to watch Iowa play on television, especially when it’s an 8 p.m. tip-off on a school night, also with the threat of bad weather, as are the circumstances for the Rutgers game on Wednesday.
But I will say that a packed arena on Wednesday, or having close to a packed arena, would be a nice way to show this Iowa team how much it’s appreciated.
It would also help to create a hostile environment for a Rutgers squad that is playing with poise and confidence under head coach Steve Pikiell.
Rutgers is ranked 24th in this week’s Associated Press poll, marking the first time it has been ranked since the 1978-79 season.
Rutgers also ruined Nicholas Baer’s Senior Day last season by defeating Iowa 86-72 in the final home game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena for the 2018-19 season.
“I think everybody really has a salty taste in our mouth from last year, Nicholas’s Senior Day,” said junior center Luka Garza. “So we’ll have that in mind, and we want to make sure that doesn’t repeat.”
Mother Nature has certainly done no favors for this Iowa team, because so many of the home games have come on days when the weather has been lousy.
The late starts on a school night don’t help, either, but every Big Ten team faces the same obstacles.
Fans just have to decide if it’s worth overcoming those obstacles.
To me, this Iowa team is worth the time and investment because of how well it plays together, because of how well it handles adversity and because of how well Garza is playing.
You’d be hard-pressed to find another college center who is performing at a higher level than the 6-foot-11 Garza, who leads the Big Ten in scoring with a 22.9 per-game average.
The Washington D.C. native is also one of just five college players nationally to average better than 20 points and 10 rebounds per game.
But the real beauty of this Iowa team is that Garza is hardly a solo act.
He is almost always surrounded by two, three, and sometimes even four teammates, who are reliable outside shooters.
“It’s like a post player’s dream,” Garza said. “When you’ve got guys around you that can make shots, it makes it so much harder for teams to game plan around you and double-team you.”
Some probably dismissed this Iowa team as a legitimate Big Ten contender after senior point guard Jordan Bohannon shut it down in December to have hip surgery.
Sophomore forward Jack Nunge already was lost for the season at that point, leaving Iowa without two starters, including the school record-holder in 3-point baskets made in Bohannon.
It was easy to assume that Iowa would struggle to be in the upper half of the Big Ten, and yet, Garza and his cohorts continue to defy the odds.
The emergence of redshirt freshman guard C.J. Fredrick has helped to compensate for the loss of Bohannon.
Fredrick, who recently missed two games because of a stress reaction in his left foot, has shown that he also has a knack for making big shots, which is Bohannon’s trademark.
Fredrick was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Monday after combining to average 16 points, four assists and three rebounds in victories over Northwestern and Michigan.
The Cincinnati, Ohio native spent his redshirt season getting stronger and watching how Bohannon would react to pressure at crunch time.
“For sure, just how he handles pressure and how there’s so much attention on him when he has the ball,” Fredrick said. “So how you have to move without the ball and how you have to create shots with the ball.
“So there is definitely a lot that I’ve learned from him.”
Wednesday’s game will match two teams with contrasting styles as Iowa’s leads the Big Ten in scoring offense at 79.9 points per game, while Rutgers leads the conference in scoring defense at 58.7 points per game and in field-goal percentage defense (.364).
“They have one of the better defenses in the country, not only just the league,” Garza said. “I think that’s the biggest challenge for us, is just how intense they are on that end. It’s just been impressive so far scouting them and just seeing how they’re getting really up into teams and taking teams out of what they want to do.
“So that’s our biggest thing. We’re going to try and set the pace and set the tone and play at our pace and at our speed.”
As for the fans, the players made a point after the Michigan game last Friday to thank them for braving the weather because the fans made a huge difference throughout the game, but especially down the stretch.
This Iowa team is better than most probably expected, especially without Bohannon, and is also entertaining to watch.
And with winning on the road so difficult, it makes the home games even more important.
Wednesday’s game against Rutgers is big for both teams, but especially for Iowa as the home team.
This Iowa team has overcome so much adversity, on and off the court, and seems to have earned the respect and caught the imagination of fans.
That’s why it was so surprising to learn that 5,000 tickets still remain for Wednesday’s game.
Iowa vs. Rutgers
When: Wednesday, 8:07 p.m.
Where: Carver-Hawkeye Arena
TV: Big Ten Network
Records/rankings: Iowa is 13-5 overall, 4-3 in the Big Ten and ranked 19th in the Associated Press poll. Rutgers is 14-4, 5-2 and ranked No. 24 in the AP poll.
All-time series: Wednesday will be the ninth meeting between Iowa and Rutgers. Iowa is 6-2 in the series, including 2-1 in Iowa City.