Iowa basketball: Hawks face must-win situation against #24 Nebraska
By Andrew Wade
The Iowa basketball team, fresh off a bad loss to Purdue, is set to take on the #24 Nebraska Cornhuskers at Carver tomorrow afternoon.
After Iowa’s blowout loss to the Purdue Boilermakers, urgency needs to begin rising within the Iowa basketball program considering the difficult schedule they have upon them (they played nine ranked teams in the next 17 games).
To be fair, the Hawks did take care of business in their non-conference schedule going undefeated, but through three games in the Big Ten, they have yet to emerge victorious.
Unfortunately, as is the case with the Big Ten being so strong this year, the Hawkeyes take on another very tough and underrated Nebraska Cornhusker team that is fresh off a loss to the 11-3 Maryland Terrapins. It was an uncharacteristic game for Nebraska as HuskerCorner.com alluded to as they got outrebounded by 10 boards in the game, their star guard James Palmer Jr struggled from behind the arc converting just 3 of his 10 shot attempts, and the Huskers couldn’t convert consistently on their 23 free throws (making just 15).
That being said, the Huskers head to Carver Hawkeye Arena to take on an Iowa basketball team that is struggling right now defensively. Against Purdue, Iowa couldn’t control the paint with Luka Garza out and Purdue took advantage. While I do expect Garza to play Sunday (no exact word has been issued on the matter), it will still be a difficult time for the Hawkeyes front court to handle their defensive assignments against former five-star recruit Isaac Copeland who is averaging 14.1 points per game and athletic freak Isaiah Roby who is averaging 10.2 points per game in addition to his team-leading 6.1 rebounds per game.
As a whole, the Iowa basketball team will be have to be smart defensively as the Huskers are effective shooting the ball in all three phases (2 pt, 3 pt, free throws) and are currently the third highest scoring team in the Big Ten (right behind Michigan State and Iowa). Guard James Palmer Jr leads the way with 20.1 points per game and at 6’5” 200 pounds, the Hawks will probably rotate Joe Wieskamp and Isaiah Moss on him to slow him down.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Iowa basketball team will need to be smart with the basketball as Nebraska is keen on forcing turnovers (they are 37th in the nation according to KenPom in defensive turnover percentage), and they will need to be aggressive in driving to the basket. To date, the Cornhuskers are the 7th best team in the nation in fouls committed per game, while the Hawkeyes rely on free throw attempts as an integral part of their total scoring output more than all but one team in the entire nation.
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While the Hawkeyes are likely to find themselves unranked when Monday’s AP rankings are released, a win here would help create some positive momentum as the Hawks enter one of their easiest stretches in conference play (@ Northwestern, vs #14 Ohio State, @ Penn State, and vs Illinois). Tip off for this game is set to take place at 430 PM Central Standard Time in Carver Hawkeye Arena, and the game will be aired on the Big Ten Network.