Here we are. After 5 games against inferior opponents (come on Xavier!), the Ben McCollum proof of concept finally faces its first real test: a neutral site tilt against the Ole Miss Rebels (5-0), led
by Chris Beard. Drake’s run through Charleston roughly this time last year was when folks started taking notice of McCollum and his Bulldogs (double-digit victories against Miami (FL), Florida Atlantic, and Vanderbilt) so the set-up is there for this team to do something similar with a couple of wins in Palm Springs.
Ole Miss Rebels (5-0)
Oxford, MS | Southeastern Conference
Chris Beard (49-24 at Ole Miss, 220-97 overall)
How to Watch
Tonight, 11/25: Ole Miss v Iowa
8:30 PM CST CBS Sports Network (Ed Cohen & Dan Dikau)
Acrisure Arena, Palm Springs, CA
Hawkeye Radio Network
Live Stats (StatBroadcast)
Stat Pack
KenPom ($): +18.82; 34th (118.5 Off; 32nd | 99.7 Def; 43rd)
BartTorvik: 46th (116.9 Off; 44th | 101.4 Def; 60th)
Sports-Ref:
PPG: 82.2 (125th) | 65.0 (49th)
RPG: 40.8 | 34.2
Leaders (via Sports-Ref)
PPG: Ilias Kamardine (15.8), AJ Storr (14.4), Malik Dia (14.4)
RPG: James Scott (6.8, 2.6 off); Dia (5.4, 1.4 off)
APG: Kamardine (5.2); Storr (2.4)
FG%: Scott (63.2%); Kamardine (56.6%, 45.5% from 3)
3P%: Storr (60.0%); Patton Pinkins (55.6%)
Last 5 games
11/18: W v Austin Peay: 72-65
11/14: W v Cal St. Bakersfield: 82-60
11/11: W v Memphis: 83-77
11/7: W v Louisiana Monroe: 86-65
11/3: W v Southeastern Louisiana: 88-58
Can the Hawkeyes stop Ilias Kamardine?
Like the Hawks with Bennett Stirtz, the offense for Ole Miss runs through Kamardine. The 22-year-old from France is playing in his first year at the college level (classified as a senior) after bouncing around professional French teams since 16 years old*. The 6’4” guard shows an ability to get to the rim and deep, deep range from 3 in their win over Memphis two weeks ago.
Tavion Banks figures to get the first crack at stopping him. Throughout 5 games, Banks as looked the part as a perimeter defender, and at 6’7” provides plenty of size to counteract Kamardine. The concern with Banks is that foul trouble has been his bugaboo, averaging 5.0 per 40 minutes so far this season, an increase from 4.9 last year at Drake.
To his credit, in his highest minutes game against Xavier, he had 3 fouls in 30 minutes. He also draws an insane amount of fouls, largely with his ability to sell moving screens when faced with ball screen action. McCollum has also proved adept at managing Banks through foul trouble as the only game he fouled out of last year was an overtime contest against UNI.
Iowa’s ability to stifle the Frenchman one-on-one is incredibly important as the Rebels are shooting 37.8% from deep, 53rd in the country. With a willingness to pass and find the open guy (53rd best assist rate in the country), staying out of situations where they’re constantly rotating will be important.
If there’s one opportunity, it’s that Mississippi are willing shooters from the midrange. 30% of their shots are coming from what Bart Torvik defines as “Far 2” and with a FG% of 42.2%, those are the shots you want to see them take.
What level of efficiency can Iowa maintain on offense?
The two former conference players of the year have looked the part so far, in Stirtz and Alvaro Folgueiras. Folgueiras has been so good, I haven’t misspelled his name this season. His efficiency exists at the most important parts of the floor with 11/13 shooting from 2 and 10/19 shooting from 3. This ability from deep allows Iowa to invert the offense to allow driving lanes for Stirtz & other guards as rim protectors are forced to defend the Hawks’ European import.
Iowa will need it, as Mississippi currently blocks 15.4% of opponent 2s (28th in the country) with James Scott leading the charge as a throwback big. The 6’10 junior averages nearly as many blocks (2.2) as he does made field goals (2.4). And he does this without fouling (just 1.0 per 40 minutes). So maybe not that much of a throwback. The Hawks have not had much difficulty scoring at the rim with a nation-leading 70.0% from 2 and only 4.7% of shots getting blocked.
Tonight also poses the question of just how low [possession] can Iowa go. Neither of these teams want to speed the other up and with Ole Miss as a stout rebounding outfit, McCollum will likely send guys to the defensive glass to rebound with even more fervor. This will allow Stirtz to operate in the half court and guide his team into [hopefully] lean looks. They’ll be tough to come by, though, with Mississippi holding teams to 45.4% eFG%, and Stirtz will likely be faced with multiple opportunities to “get his” in one-on-one situations.
While a loss is not the end of the world, a win would represent about as exciting a win as Iowa has had in some time. Beating Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament was the only top 40 win Iowa had last season and there was not much thrill in that one. With a win or two in California, the season will really start to pick up steam.
