The Iowa Hawkeyes (8-1, 1-1) followed up their loss at Michigan State with a big win against the Maryland Terrapins (6-4, 0-1). While the Terps are in a more full-fledged rebuild than Iowa (Buzz Williams brought some dudes from Texas A&M but hardly one of Bennett Stirtz’s caliber), returning to Carver Hawkeye-Arena and giving the fans a thorough beatdown was just what the doctor ordered.
That was the type of game where the offense was cooking, the defense was stifling (outside of the incessant foul
calls…yuck!), and there were plenty of transition opportunities to get the 10k+ crowd off their feet. Back in the day, that’s one where you look at the schedule on the way out and try to find another game to attend (hint: it should be the Illinois game…the team will need a packed arena to take those guys down).
As it stands, the Hawks are 3-1 with just one game left from their tough fall pre-Winter Break stretch, making it already a success. Granted, Ole Miss has turned out to be …spottier… than expected and Iowa didn’t get Utah in the championship game (though Grand Canyon currently rates higher on KenPom) but 3-1 with 2 Q3 & 1 Q4 wins is better than the alternative.
The one game left? The baddest of them all.
Iowa State (9-0) is ranked 4th in both polls, similarly regarded in analytics, and has done it while playing the majority of their games (as of now) away from home. This team is stout. After injuries last season derailed their tournament outlook, they have returned stronger behind huge strides from Joshua Jefferson & Milan Momcivilic.
Jefferson, 6’9”, is the #2 KenPom player through the first quarter of the season. At 6’9”, he does it all with 4 double-doubles on the season – two points/rebounds, two points/assists. His most complete game was arguably his 18 point/10 rebound/5 assist game against Creighton (now there’s a train wreck) where the Clones had their way with the Blue Jays.
Take a look at this play where he sons 6’10” Isaac Troudt on a 3-point-attempt, seamlessly corrals the rebound, and then makes easy work finding Killyan Toure for the dunk in transition.
There are a number of plays where Jefferson looks like that in transition. I hesitate to use the comp but he just plays so within himself, he looks very much like LeBron James with his ability to maneuver in the open court, to get a clean basket for himself or teammates.
Momcilovic, on the other hand, looks the part as an elite scorer. Right now, he’s at 54% FG% / 54% 3P% / 86% FT on high volume (12 FGA, 7.7 3PA). Absolutely nuts. At 6’8”, he’s pretty much impossible to guard, considering he’s an elite midrange shooter (15/30 from far 2s according to Bart Torvik). The good news is that running him off the 3 point line does bring down his expected FG% but … it’s still excellent.
Tamin Lipsey is still around (he missed three games this season) but the pieces TJ Otzelberger has brought in has filled gaps incredibly well. Toure, an ageless freshman from France, is a combo guard who can get to the rim with aplomb but is a capable shooter to keep defenses honest. If Lipsey’s injury issues continue, they’re in fine hands with Toure.
They’ve also added Blake Buchanan from Virginia, who anchors the defense which allows Johnson to occupy his true power forward position.
It’s a championship-level team with a championship-level construction. Iowa State fans will be in a lather after since this is just the third home game in about a month and the first since Matt Campbell was hired away by Penn State. Iowa will need to be substantially better than their first game on the road last week with Iowa State having the top defensive turnover rate in the country.
Things can get ugly quick against this team, as Purdue found out on Saturday: ISU’s lead went from 4 entering half to 15 inside of 3 minutes. This is where Bennett Stirtz simply needs to be better. Ben McCollum will do all he can to manipulate the clock and shorten the game but that only works if the do-it-all guard can get baskets for himself or others in these situations. 10 shot attempts just won’t do but against a team like ISU, maybe that is all he can get.
Since it’s such a tall task, it is good to see that Iowa has gotten the wins you’d like to see out of this stretch of games but with ISU taking football & wrestling, it be incredibly exciting to leave this week with a Cy-Hawk win or two.
