Game Day Essentials: Game #23 at Iowa

 Iowa Info

Head Coach: Fran McCaffery
Location: Iowa City, IA
Conference: B1G
Nickname: Hawks

Coach's Nickname: White Magic

Mascot: Herky the Hawk

KenPom rank: 18

Point Spread: Iowa by 14.5

Depth: 9+

Offensive Style: In the paint

Defensive Style: In the paint

Note: Iowa runs the most efficient offense and least efficient defense in the conference

Key Injuries: 

• Patrick McCaffery - out
• Jordan Bohannon - out
• Jack Nunge - out

Hoiberg Presser

Haanif Cheatham Presser

Hoiberg recap the last game and mostly focused blocked shots, which are a problem on both sides of the court. 

Players to watch:  Luka Garza

One of he best players in D-1, Garza is having a monster year as the junior center is averaging 23.2 ppg to go along with 10 rebounds and 1.7 blocks. Nebraska will try to deny Garza but the outside shooting and passing ability of the Hawks will make this quite difficult. Also, he's shooting 37.5% from 3

Players to watch:   CJ Fredrick

Frosh Fredrick was out last game vs Nebraska and his outside shooting was sorely missed. He's shooting 48.2% from 3 this season.

Roster points

When Toussaint, McCaffery, and Evelyn are out on the perimeter, expect their guys to sag down into the paint and dare them to shoot.

• Freshman Toussaint became a starter with Bohannon out for the year. He's been an aggressive driver with an inconsistent outside shot. Nebraska won't guard him away from the rim.
• Wieskamp is the other
• Connor McCaffery is the least turnover prone of the guards and draws a lot of contact. Outside shot still isn't there
• Senior F/C Ryan Kriener will play alongside Garza at the 4 and is capable of making 3s
• Jr Cordell Pemsl is a formidable rebounder but has brought zero offense this year. He's depth for Garza and Kriener
• Senior grad transfer and former Husker Bakari Evelyn was brought in for depth/leadership but has seen his minutes uptick with all the Hawkeye injuries. Evelyn is turnover prone and his outside shot is inconsistent 

Multimedia

Last week it was reported that 'Fred Hoiberg looked the maddest he'd ever been on the Husker sidelines.' Was it?  With Iowa coming up it made me think of the Francon system and that we don't have a way to gauge the anger of our head coach. In the spirit of fairness, I went through and watched all of our previous games to nail down the details of what to look for. So, here are the various signs of anger you can expect from noted rage machine Fred Hoiberg and how to spot them.  Enjoy.

The Skinny:

After being embarrassed by Penn State in the 2nd half last Saturday, Nebraska spent its off week intensely practicing and being punished when not practicing correctly.  Not exactly sure what that all entails but don't be surprised if a Husker starts doing pushups on the court should they miss a FT tonight.  Hoiberg made note that he was going to play the guys who wanted to be out there. Will we see any rotation changes today? Speaking of embarrassed, Iowa got absolutely owned at Purdue as the Boilermakers put up a 100 burger on Iowa this Wednesday. Both teams are going to be chomping at the bit tonight in what will probably be a chippy game.

Speaking of chippy, Nebraska had a 26-5 FT take advantage last time in Lincoln. That sort of spread will absolutely not happen tonight on Iowa's home court. Also, the Hawkeyes shoot considerably better at home from 3.  With Nebraska most likely picking and choosing who they guard from 3 as they pack the paint, look for the Hawkeyes to easy best their 12.1% 3pt shooting in Lincoln.

Expect the Hawkeyes to pour fire tonight and their margin of victory to depend on how much resistance Nebraska can put up.  They reportedly responded well to the adversity of practice. How will that translate vs a Saturday night Iowa crowd?

Prediction: Iowa 88 - Nebraska 70