The Iowa Hawkeyes losing streak is now at three games
Iowa basketball had every reason to be blown out at Notre Dame on Tuesday night. They found out before the game that star freshman Tyler Cook will miss three weeks with a broken right index finger, it’s a young team’s first true road game and Notre Dame was 6-0 coming into the game.
Not to mention Peter Jok had his worst game of the year. He finished the game with 15 points and six rebounds, however he only shot 4-of-20 from the field, 2-of-11 from three and missed his first free-throws of the year. He scored seven points in the final 1:13 of the first half, however Jok was never able to gain any momentum the whole game.
Still, Iowa played the Irish tough and actually held a small lead in the second half. Notre Dame beat Iowa 92-78, however it was a lot closer than the score suggests. While Iowa still looked like a young team and couldn’t hang on late in the game, they battled back from a deficit early and showed the fight that every young team needs to be successful.
Iowa started the game with a new starting lineup. The Hawkeyes started Jordan Bohannon at point guard, with Peter Jok, Isaiah Moss, Nicholas Baer and Cordell Pemsl. Even with Cook it would have been a small starting lineup, but it became beneficial for Iowa at times.
Bohannon, Moss and Pemsl all had good games in their first starts of the season. Bohannon finished with a team-high 23 points and seven made threes, while Pemsl added 18 points and gave Bonzie Colson trouble all game on that end of the floor. The Hawkeyes used their quickness to get by Irish defenders for easy layups.
Nicholas Baer, who missed a couple of easy open layups, put together another solid stat line in eight points, 12 rebounds and three steals.
That being said, the small lineup gave Notre Dame a clear edge on the glass. They out-rebounded Iowa 45-32. Plus, the Irish had six offensive rebounds in the first eight minutes and ended the game with 11 offensive rebounds.
Bonzie Colson, while he struggled defending a smaller and quicker Pemsl, dominated Iowa on the glass and offensively. He finished with an insane 24 points and a career-high 17 rebounds.
He continuously worked the offensive for second chance layups, and when he didn’t get a layup Iowa usually fouled him. Colson finished the game shooting 12-of-12 from the line. It’s his fourth straight double-double.
Notre Dame had four players with at least five rebounds, and four of five starters scored in double-figures.
Despite allowing 92 points, and struggling on defense late in the game, the Hawkeyes didn’t play terrible defense. They had mental lapses now and then, but they gave up a lot fewer open shots than in the Emerald Coast Classic.
It’s another loss, Iowa’s third in a row, but a lot of positives came out of this game. It might be a tough three weeks without Tyler Cook, but Fran McCaffery will have more of a chance to experiment with lineups, and Cook shouldn’t miss any conference games.
Iowa will be back at home on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. to try to end their losing streak. The Hawkeyes will host the Omaha Mavericks.
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