News and notes from the Iowa men’s basketball team’s weekly availability.
By Ian Murphy
The Iowa men’s basketball team finished 1-2 at the AdvoCare Invitational this past weekend, with a win over then-No. 20 Wichita State, but head coach Fran McCaffery wants one thing from his team.
Senior Jarrod Uthoff needs to take more shots, McCaffery said. But for a player such as Uthoff, who does not like to speak to the media and is unselfish on the floor, that’s easier said than done.
McCaffery, however, provided a simple solution to get the star senior to shoot the ball.
“Just tell him to shoot more, make fun of him,” McCaffery said. “Just keep telling him. I saw the stat, I said, ‘Why did you only take 15 shots?’ ‘Yeah, yeah, I should have taken more shots.’ ‘Yeah, you should have.’ I said, “I’m telling you to take 20.’ “OK.’ ”
Uthoff had 22 points on 15 shots against Wichita State, 16 shots and 20 points against Notre Dame, and 15 shots and 18 points against Dayton.
Uthoff said he will do whatever it takes to help the team win.
“I don’t always think shots first, I pass up a lot of open shots just because I’m not always shooting or I think I’ll get a better look,” Uthoff said.
Baer, others contributing
McCaffery has sung the praises of redshirt freshman Nicholas Baer all season, and Baer seemed to have a breakout game against Wichita State.
In his 24 minutes of floor time, Baer tallied 8 points and 2 rebounds, and McCaffery said Baer’s performance reaffirmed his belief in Baer’s place in the rotation.
“Nicholas Baer could be a really good player, and that proved to be true,” the head coach said. “He played well on a big stage against really big people.”
Baer wasn’t the only new player who McCaffery talked up on Tuesday. He also praised redshirt freshman Brady Ellingson, junior Dale Jones, and sophomore Dom Uhl.
The rest of the new platoon will be called upon more as the season progresses and as they become more familiar with the system.
“We’ll get more out of Ahmad [Wagner] when the season goes on, and I think we’ll get more out of [Andrew] Fleming and Christian Williams,” McCaffery said.
Don’t expect to see many freshmen in close games, however; the Hawkeyes will likely go with their experience.
“When you get into those kinds of games, it’s hard to play 12 guys,” McCaffery said. “You walk down, and you want to get some of those guys in there to get experience and bring them along to try to win the game, and we do have four seniors and five really experienced players, and that’s who you’re going to play.”
Woodbury’s big game
Aside from a small bout of the turnover bug, Woodbury had a big weekend in Orlando.
He ran the floor for 33 minutes against the Shockers and had 15 points and 7 blocks. It was Woodbury’s longest outing of the season, and the senior was just 1 point from a career high.
“He’s still going to be doing all the things he’s always done well, but he can score. When he stays within himself, he screens and rolls. He gets an angle to the rim,” McCaffery said. “The only time he gets himself into trouble is when he tries to do too much with post moves.”
Woodbury played well within his limits on Sunday, and it showed in the box scores, aside from 3 turnovers.
Woodbury said he’s in good enough shape to go extended minutes, as he did on Sunday, and he will do whatever is necessary for the team to win.
“I think a couple of games I got into foul trouble,” Woodbury said. “I think I could go out and do that every night.”
Follow @ianfromiowa on Twitter for Iowa men’s basketball news, updates, and analysis.