The Iowa men’s basketball team kept up with the Seminoles long enough to secure the win.
By Ian Murphy
As soon as Florida State secured a rebound, one of its supremely athletic guards looked down the floor for an easy lay-up in transition.
More often than not, however, a Hawkeye was just a step behind in the 78-75 overtime win against the Seminoles.
The Seminoles stake their living on running the floor, and the majority of their scoring comes in the transition game, as was the case on Wednesday.
However, the Hawkeyes stayed within themselves, never letting the game get too far out of hand and keeping step with the Seminoles well enough to keep the game close. Guards Mike Gesell, Peter Jok, and Anthony Clemmons keyed into the transition game in the second half to close down on the Seminoles.
“It’s part of experience,” Clemmons said. “Having all the guys at the right place in the right time.”
Florida State jumped out to an 11-4 lead, but the Hawkeyes kept pace enough to face just a 32-31 deficit at the half, with 26-of-32 points coming from in the paint.
In the second half, the Hawkeyes forced the Seminoles to use the whole shot clock on almost every possession, which clearly forced them outside their comfort zone.
“A win like this is going to benefit us in a lot of ways,” head coach Fran McCaffrey said.
The Seminoles are arguably the most athletic team the Hawkeyes will play all season, and it showed in the first half.
Meanwhile, Florida State scored 46 of its 75 points in the paint, as the Hawkeyes played good enough half-court defense to keep the Seminoles well below their season average of 91.4 points.
The Hawkeyes kept star guards Dwayne Bacon and Malik Beasley, both of whom came in averaging well over 20 points per game, to just 31 points combined. Xavier Rathan-Mayes, another top-flight Seminole, tallied 15.
“The thing about them is obviously they are quick,” McCaffrey said. “But they are bouncy, they are long, and they have great size.”
The same script read in overtime, as Florida State continued to try to run the floor but was met step for step by the Hawkeyes.
A clutch 3 from the corner by Jok followed by four successive Jarrod Uthoff free throws sealed the Seminoles’ fate.
The biggest takeaway, however, was the win and the knowledge the Hawkeyes can play with a team such as the Seminoles.
“They’re all athletic, 1 through 5,” Jok said. “They’re all big, they send five guys to the boards … we just kept fighting, and we got the ‘W.’ ”
McCaffrey praised his guards for this after the game, noting the Seminoles’ ability to capitalize on missed, blocked, or otherwise ill-advised shots.
The fight to the finish had been missing earlier this season, but the Hawkeyes closed out on the Seminoles on Wednesday, and the transition defense proved to be a big factor.
“If you don’t get back and get faced up, they are just going to run right by you,” McCaffrey said. “If they got burned once or twice, they got back and at least were talking and communicating to our other guys.”