Game Day Essentials: Game #15 vs Iowa

Iowa Info

Head Coach: Fran McCaffery
Location: Iowa City, IA
Conference: B1G
Nickname: Hawks, "Jayden De Boer"

Coach's Nickname: White Magic

Mascot: Herky the Hawk
Last time out: Beat Michigan
Typical Rotation Depth: 10+
Line: Nebraska by 2.5
Tempo: Fast paced
Style: High assist
4 Factors Good: Shooting, not fouling
4 Factors Bad: Not forcing turnovers, allowing offensive rebounds

Most Frequently Used Lineup over the last 5 games

Expect these to be the starting lineups except with Tyler Cook starting over Ahmad Wagner.

Player to Watch: Tyler Cook

You know who Peter Jok is so let's dig just a little deeper. Iowa started 4 freshman around Jok last game and highly touted 6'9" 250lb Cook is an offensive force in the paint, averaging 13 points a game.

FranCon Alert System

The Skinny

You know you had yourself a week when people have to start pouring through the record books and for once this season it was a good one as Nebraska becomes the only team in B1G history to beat both Indiana and Maryland on the road. (That one didn't take much looking up)  All of a sudden all those stomach punches you absorbed pre-conference are paying off. All of a sudden that Iowa game that looked like your chance at your first conference wins becomes an impromptu test on how you handle success.

This Iowa squad offensively brings Virigina Tech to mind in terms of their high tempo, passing ability, and 3pt ability. The challenge will be trying to simply slow down Peter Jok while not letting the rest of the team kill you. Does it seem like anyone beside Taylor or Webster would be able to guard Jok?  Given you want Webster to score and keep out of foul trouble, Taylor guarding Jok theoretically seems like a winning strategy though Fran will figure out ways to free him up and Jok is simply too good to not score 10+ points. Iowa is capable of putting up 100 but expect them to be in the 60s-70s as this young squad hasn't looked nearly as good on their few trips away from Iowa City.

Is Nebraska going to have enough offense? Fran McCaffery teams consistently will not foul you so a shooting night like the one against Indiana will be required and thus far Iowa has been quite accommodating this year. Despite the lack of contact, Nebraska will need to remember that regardless of how much Iowa packs the paint nor how many 3s they make, they still butter their bread in the paint. 

Young players are quite unpredictable.  Typically this favors whomever is at home.  Look for the scribes to start churning through the record books while the fans eat their Runzas

Prediction: Nebraska 78 - Iowa 73