Iowa Men Bounce Back in Win Over Alabama
By: Mike Rabon
Matt Gatens (Photo via Hawkeyesports.com)
After a difficult 86-73 loss to Xavier Friday night, the Iowa Hawkeye men rebounded with a 55-47 victory over the Crimson Tide in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Iowa trailed Alabama 15-5 minutes into the game but a pair of free throws by Jordan Stoermer and contributions from Bryce Cartwright and Zach McCabe allowed the Hawks to gain the lead 29-27 at halftime. Freshman Zach McCabe led the Hawkeyes in scoring with 13 points and Eric May added 12 points.
34.5% shooting will not win many more games this season but a stifling Hawkeye defense ensured the victory Saturday night. Alabama shot 33.9% from the field and was led in scoring by JaMychal Green who had 17 points.
The glaring statistic and likely reason for the Hawkeye victory was bench play. Iowa’s bench outscored Alabama’s bench 31-5. Fran McCaffery said “Our offense was good enough, but it needs to get better.” Iowa was fortunate to win Saturday evening but for a young and rebuilding team a win breeds much needed confidence. The Hawks were victorious one time away from Carver-Hawkeye arena last year.
Junior Matt Gatens returned from injury this weekend and scored 4 points in 34 minutes of playing time against Alabama. Iowa overcame an assist-to-turnover ratio of 5:16, which must improve before the Big10 season.
Iowa will play Long Beach State on Monday afternoon in the U.S. Virgin Islands and look to leave town with 2-1 record at the tournament and a 3-2 overall record before playing SIU-Edwardsville in Iowa City on Friday, November 26th.
The Anti-Lickliter Philosophy
By: Mike Rabon
Andrew Brommer (Press-Citizen/John Richard via The Des Moines Register)
The Iowa Hawkeye men defeated the Louisiana-Monroe WarHawks 68-40 on Tuesday earning new head coach Fran McCaffery his first win with the Black and Gold. Iowa jumped out to a quick 15-5 lead within minutes but a protracted scoring drought left the score 15-11 with 7:51 left in the first half.
Coach McCaffery was apoplectic with his team’s play and his coaches for not executing on either side of the basketball. McCaffery smacked the drawing board out of an assistant coach’s hand and pursued his players with a rage and passion I have not seen in my years watching Iowa basketball. His words were not discernible from press row but his intent could be easily understood. The small crowd in Carver-Hawkeye Arena was enthralled by this gesture of passion and conviction and so was Kirkwoood JUCO transfer Jordan Stoermer.
Stoermer immediately nailed a 3-point basket, which brought the fans to their feet and gave coach McCaffery much needed therapy. Roy Devyn Marble added 9 points off the bench along with Paris JUCO transfer Bryce Cartwright who added 7 points and 4 assists. Sioux City Bishop Heelan product Zach McCabe led the Hawkeyes in scoring with 12 points.
Iowa’s defense held ULM to 40 points and 34.5% shooting. McCaffery mixed in full- court 3-2 zone defense and man-to-man rotations to keep ULM off-balance and it culminated in Eric May stealing the basketball at mid-court and slamming the basketball through the net.
In short, McCaffery is the antithesis of former Iowa coach Todd Lickliter. He is publicly passionate, declares that he is culpable for lack of preparation, and energizes the team by mixing different defensive strategies and utilizing bench players even if they may not be deemed as “ready” by prognosticators. McCaffery does not sulk in the press conferences and he demands excellence just like any good business man from the Wharton school would.
Fran’s conviction and public display of determination is enough for me and it is a refreshing divergence from the morass created by Todd Lickliter.
Iowa plays Xavier on Friday night in the US Virgin Islands and will play either Alabama or Seton Hall this weekend as well. Xavier defeated IPFW 76-75 on Tuesday night but nonetheless is less than a year removed from a double-overtime loss in the sweet 16 to Kansas State.
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