Game Awards: Iowa Hawkeyes 95, Stetson Hatters 68

Bench Player Of The Game: Nicholas Baer

In his first game coming off the bench this season, Nicholas Baer brought the hustle and intensity head coach Fran McCaffery hoped he would when making his decision to start sophomore Ahmad Wagner over him.

Baer led the bench with seven points, along with five rebounds, two assists and one steal. Plus, Baer had a monster one-handed dunk in the second half that had even Tyler Cook on his feet cheering.

Even though Baer hasn’t played bad as a starter, his hustle and gritty play might be what’s needed off the bench to help give a spark to the second unit. He only shot 2-of-5 from the field, however he got into the lane with backdoor cuts and drew multiple fouls, as he attempted a bench-high four free-throws.

When it comes down to it, Iowa needs stability on the bench. Baer isn’t great in any particular area, but he’s efficient in almost every area. His 6.8 points per game might be enough to help give life to players like Dom Uhl, Christian Williams and Brady Ellingson off the bench.

Baer is going to hustle, rebound and play solid defense, and being comfortable in a bench role due to last season helps, as well. If Baer stays active on offense and becomes a consistent option on offense with his cuts to the basket, it will relieve a lot of pressure off the second unit.