Hawkeyes Mix, Match ... And Pick Up Another Win
Iowa’s rotation has expanded and contracted all season, but nothing seems to break.
Take someone out, the Hawkeyes respond.
Put someone back in, and it’s the same.
Iowa’s 77-68 win on Saturday afternoon at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena looked like nothing was different with the Hawkeyes, even if there was a key player back.
Guard CJ Fredrick, out for three games with a sprained right ankle, returned and played 32 ½ minutes, scoring 10 points.
That’s 32 ½ minutes that belonged to others in the games that Fredrick was out.
It doesn’t matter, and it hasn’t mattered all season.
Iowa’s box score was filled with everyone doing everything. Seven of the eight who played scored six or more points. The one who didn’t, freshman guard Joe Toussaint, had eight assists against one turnover.
“It’s chemistry,” said senior forward Ryan Kriener, who moved out of the starting lineup with Fredrick’s return. “We’ve had guys in and out of the lineup, the next-man-up mentality all year. Guys (get) banged up, guys come back.”
The Hawkeyes got 21 bench points from Kriener (8), Bakari Evelyn (7) and Cordell Pemsl (6). Evelyn is a fifth-year senior. Kriener is a senior. Pemsl is a fourth-year junior.
“They’re character guys,” coach Fran McCaffery said of his roster. “And some of them are veterans. Nobody’s hung up on minutes, (or) who starts.
“They just want to win.”
The Hawkeyes (20-9 overall, 11-7 Big Ten) stayed in the hunt for a double-bye in the upcoming Big Ten tournament. They moved into a tie for fifth place with Penn State (21-8, 11-7) heading into the final week of the regular season.
Luka Garza had 25 points and 17 rebounds for his 14th double-double of the season. The Iowa junior center also extended his streak of Big Ten games with 20 or more points to 14, a new school record.
It wasn’t easy. Garza was 11-of-28 from the field, going 3-of-16 in the first half.
“I just had to refocus,” Garza said. “I’ve never missed that many shots in my life. It was frustrating. Over the course of my career, I don’t let that bother me. I just keep shooting. No matter how many shots it takes, I need to be confident.
“That’s the rare occasion where I shoot that poorly. I’m still going to be aggressive.”
“It was great to have him in there, because we kept going to him,” McCaffery said. “And it opens things up for everybody else.”
“I thought we did a good job on Garza, for the most part,” Penn State coach Pat Chambers said. “It took him 28 shots.”
The Hawkeyes took control of the game in the second half. They closed the first half on a 13-4 run, then they started the second half with an 18-6 run.
Garza had nine consecutive points in that second-half run, but it started with a three-pointer from Connor McCaffery, followed by a layup by Joe Wieskamp. Garza then went on his run, followed by a basket inside by Kriener and two free throws from Wieskamp after a technical foul was called on Penn State’s Jamari Wheeler.
Every piece seemed to fit, just like always.
“It was important to come out there and make a punch to start the second half,” Garza said. “We had to come out there, force our will.”
“We wanted to punch them in the mouth early,” Fredrick said. “We didn’t play our best in the first half, but we were still up one. We just wanted to create some separation, kind of set the tone.”
“Obviously we played decent in the first half, we had that lead at halftime,” Wieskamp said. “But we knew we could play better. We just kind of jumped on them to start the second half, and then we kept that lead.”
“The league is so good,” Chambers sighed. “So relentless, so suffocating.”
It was the Hawkeyes’ 13th consecutive win at home, another constant in a season of combinations that always seem to work.
It’s how they’ve survived.
