The Iowa Hawkeyes (2-1) got slow starts in each of the three frames tonight in a 93-88 loss to Virginia Tech (3-0). The most notable was not scoring a field goal until 0:44 left in the overtime frame. Despite having a chance to tie at the end, Cooper Koch couldn’t make his 3 point attempt amidst a career night. Giving up 93 points is never Ben McCollum’s preferred style and they struggled to contain the Hokie guards, Ben Hammond & Jaylen Curry, who combined for 57 points on 18/34 shooting and 16/18
from the line. Curry’s 3 pointer in overtime proved to be enough distance for Tech as the Hawks couldn’t get it inside of 2 after that.
It was a game riddled with fouls and the Hawks finished 66% (31/47) from the line. The biggest of which was Ty’reek Coleman missing on his final attempt with less than 2 seconds left in regulation. Andrew McKeever couldn’t convert the putback quick enough, which allowed VT to come away with the victory in Sioux City’s Tyson Center.
The flipside of foul trouble was Kael Combs who lived in foul trouble for the bulk of the game with 2 early ones before the first television timeout, a third later in the first half, and a fourth right out of the break. Thankfully Coleman performed well off the bench with 20 points on 7/10 shooting.
Career night for Cooper Koch
Despite missing his final attempt of the game, Koch was aggressive all night, with 15/17 from the line en route to a career high 26 points. He was just 5/11 from the field and 1/5 from 3 but he played incredibly hard for all 45 minutes of the game. Many of his free throw attempts came on drives and post ups where he pulled out the Kevin Durant rip throw. Iowa will need to see him take more shots.
Koch was joined in double digits by Coleman, Isaia Howard (13 on 3/5 from deep), and Combs (10 points on 4/4).
Offensive rebounding kept the Hawks in it
Iowa rebounded 18 of 35 opportunities, good for 18 second chance points. It came from unexpected sources – McKeever got his 3 but Coleman and Howard added 3 of their own. While Iowa went after size in the portal, much of the rebounding gains tonight happened from Iowa’s guards.
High leverage free throw shooting hurts Iowa
Coleman missed the second of 2 attempts down the stretch and then he & Koch combined for 3/5 in the extra frame. Any one of those misses very easily could have flipped it for Iowa.
Overall the 31/47 is going to add some frustration to the loss but 7 of Iowa’s 16 misses came from Cam Manyawu & McKeever who went just 2/9. They’re not good FT shooters but they have to be better than that.
Next up: Sunday, November 15th at 2:00p vs Creighton in Des Moines, IA
