The Iowa men’s basketball team dominated Coppin State to wrap up a Hawkeye weekend to remember.
By Ian Murphy
The only piece left during the weekend puzzle for the Hawkeyes fell into place early Sunday evening with the men’s basketball team’s win over Coppin State.
In what amounted to complete domination on all fronts, the Hawkeyes trounced the Eagles, 103-68, to put a weekend sweep on every Hawkeye sporting event at home.
Iowa jumped on the gas early, with sophomore Dom Uhl starting in place of an injured Peter Jok.
There were no problems for the Jok-less Hawkeyes, however; they scored early and often in a 22-2 run to start the game. And it was the bench, all of the bench, that had the biggest role.
“When you have young players, you’ve got to be able to let them get in the game, make a mistake, stay in the game,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “If every possession in the game was in the balance, it’s hard to do sometimes.”
In continuing to tinker with his lineup, the coach played 11 men in the first half, nine of whom scored en route to the Hawkeyes’ 52-22 halftime lead. The rest of the available platoon, except for freshman Brandon Hutton, played in the second half.
The game was not without issue for the Hawkeyes. McCaffery laid into his team at the under-12 media time-out, taking issue with his team’s defensive performance during a small Coppin State run.
“If you look at the numbers, defensively, we had a little problem in the second half trading baskets, and we got that corrected,” McCaffery said.
The final score, however, 103-68, demonstrated how a strong outing the Hawkeyes had.
Redshirt freshman Brady Ellingson had the biggest first half, going 3-3 from the field and 3-4 from the free-throw line for 10 points. Senior Mike Gesell logged 12 assists
The second half played out in similar fashion, although the bench played significantly more. Ellingson, Uhl, and junior Dale Jones continued to light up the scoreboard, dropping 20, 18, and 16 respectively.
McCaffrey praised Ellingson’s movement without the ball. Ellingson credited his teammates for getting him the ball.
“I think we’re just moving better without the ball,” he said. “My teammates were setting good screens, looking for me coming off of them.”
Ellingson, known more as a shooter, had his 3-point shot overshadowed by the rest of the team. Uhl went 3-of-5 behind the arc, Uthoff was 1-of-3, Gesell was 1-of-2, and Dale Jones was 4-of-6.
The team as a whole went 12-of-28 beyond the arc, good for a 42.9 percentage; 31 of the Hawkeyes 40 shots had an assist attached to them.
The Hawkeyes played their best game of the season, both on the box score and according to the eye test.
And while McCaffery said his rotation will depend mostly on the in-game situation, Gesell said the young players on the team are getting better.
“Our freshmen don’t play like freshmen,” he said. “Our young guys have a lot of talent, and you have to bring it out of them”
While the Hawkeyes capped off the perfect Iowa weekend with their victory, and they will savor the dominate performance, they now face a much tougher slate of games.
Gone are the Coppin States and Gardner-Webbs. The nonconference slate picks up significantly, starting this week.
“It’s why you play college basketball,” Gesell said. “You want to play the best, and that starts with Marquette on Thursday.”
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