Takeaways and postgame after Iowa Men’s hoops crush Buckeyes 92-75
By Dallas Jones
IOWA CITY, Iowa – With just six games left in the regular season for the Hawkeyes, there is no margin for error. The Hawkeyes looked like a team on a mission as they ran over the Buckeyes 92-75, led by a passing performance of a lifetime from Connor McCaffery.
The ninth win of the last twelve contests for the Hawkeyes have them in prime position as we pass the halfway point in February, with five game left to play till the postseason.
Check out my takeaways and postgame comments from the team here:
Threes are always worth more than two’s: The Hawkeyes play fast and get shots up as fast as anyone in the country, which is lead the Big Ten in scoring late in the season.
That was on full affect Thursday night as the Hawkeyes put on another impressive shooting display.
While they started the night 2-11 (18.1%) from three, by the half they were 7-18 (38.9%) form deep including four during a 12-0 run to close the half. Leading 47-36 at the break.
That fast pace continued into the second half as Iowa almost matched the first half performance with 45 points on 64% from the field. Marking the third time this season that the Hawkeyes have eclipsed the 90 point mark.
Connor McCaffery masterclass: The sixth year super-senior has been called the “glue guy” over and over this season, but what does that mean?
Sometimes it’s 16 points in a win over Indiana, it has been ten rebounds on the road at Minnesota, and tonight it was a career high 13 assists with zero turnovers in a win over Ohio State.
His final stat line tonight was seven points, six rebounds, 13 assists and a couple of steals in 35 minutes.
Not often you will see a player fill the box in this way and with the plethora of talent on this team, it is almost impossible to game plan a way to slow the Hawkeye offense down right now.
Everybody eats: The balanced scoring of Iowa’s high powered offense may be the hardest part about game planing for it.
We all know Kris Murray is pretty much a lock for 20 points a night, but this is a team that has five or maybe six guys that can put up a similar amount or more. Tonight that was on display as five different Hawkeyes hit double figures.
Tony Perkins led all scorers with 24 points (8-11 FG) tonight, making that 56 points in his last two contests in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Similarly to last year, Perkins seems to be most comfortable most comfortable as the season winds down.
Filip Rebraca, Ahron Ulis, and Patrick McCaffery all also eclipsed the double digit mark.
After the game, Head Coach Fran McCaffery said both Filip and Patrick had been sick over the last game, not knowing how much they would be able to go coming into tonight.
Nonetheless, the Hawkeyes performed and executed at a high level in this one.
What the outlook on the Big Ten season is: With the win tonight, Iowa has moved to 9-6 in conference play on the season. That ties them with both Indiana and Maryland for third place in the Big Ten.
Their five remaining games are @ Northwestern on Feb. 19th, @ Wisconsin Feb. 22nd, vs Michigan State Feb. 25th, @ Indiana Feb. 28th and the regular season finale at home vs Nebraska on March 5th.
Going 3-2 during this stretch would be still put Iowa in a great position as far as NET ranking and seeding in the Big Ten tournament.
Imagine a season finale with a Big Ten bye on the line against the Cornhuskers, possible revenge for the Hawkeyes from football season. We will have to wait see how things platy out.
Postgame comments from the Hawkeyes: