Game Awards: Iowa Hawkeyes 95, Stetson Hatters 68

A look at who performed well and who didn’t in Iowa’s win over Stetson

The Iowa Hawkeyes ended their four game losing streak with an impressive win over the Stetson Hatters.

Iowa jumped out to a quick 14-2 lead and never gave Stetson a chance to come back. The Hawkeyes led 44-28 at halftime and ended up winning 95-68 in arguably their best performance of the season.

Despite it coming against a now 4-6 Stetson team, Iowa played angry and like they are out to prove something. This level of play and motivation will have to transfer over against good teams, however a young Iowa team showed great resilience in their bounce back win after a loss to Omaha where everyone questioned them afterwards.

Defense will be a problem for Iowa all season, but the zone gave Stetson a ton of problems and forced them into a lot of bad shots. The Hatters only shot 34.7 percent from the field and a brutal 8-of-33 from behind the arc. Not to mention Iowa forcing twice as many turnovers (10) as Stetson.

Iowa smothered a poor offensive team, something they’ve struggled with this season. Three players on Stetson did score in double-figures, however no one with at least five shot attempts shot above 50 percent from the field.

Also, Iowa received a lot more help from their bench. Seven players came off the bench and five played double-digit minutes. Iowa’s bench accounted for 28 points in the win, which is miles better than the nine points they scored in Iowa’s loss to Omaha on Saturday.

With Iowa State coming to town on Thursday, the Hawkeyes need any positive sign to give them confidence. They’re still under .500 but a 27-point win should help them forget the horrid memories of losing to Omaha at home and go into their game against the Cyclones with a better attitude.

Ahmad Wagner went down with a knee injury and did not return to the game. He did return to the bench and was cleared to play.