By Kyle Mann
The stumbling Hawkeyes will head to Brooklyn, New York, as a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and they have a decently favorable matchup with Temple (21-11, 14-4 conference) of the American Athletic Conference.
The Owls were regular-season champions in the AAC but were upended by UConn in the second round of the conference tournament. Despite the season championship, Temple has its weaknesses.
The Temple offense relies heavily on the 3-pointer, and while it did lead its league with 7.8 made 3s per game, it was only fifth of 11 teams, hitting only 34 percent. The team’s 68.7 points per game ranked a modest eighth among the league’s offenses.
Furthermore, if shots aren’t falling from the outside, the Owls can struggle. They toed the line of pitiful from the floor, shooting only 40 percent from the field.
They are led by 6-5 senior guard Quenton DeCosey, who will likely start the night being guarded by Peter Jok but can expect a healthy dose of Anthony Clemmons. DeCosey was fourth in the AAC with 15.6 points per game, and he is quite representative of the hit-or-miss nature of the Temple offense. He posted a respectable 36 percent clip from beyond the arc but only 40 percent from the field. He also grabbed 6 boards per contest.
Josh Brown, a 6-3 junior guard, was second in the AAC with 4.9 assists per game and first with a 3.5 assist-to-turnover ratio. He also grabbed 4.7 rebounds but was also only 40 percent from the floor and was not a threat from deep.
Senior off-guard Devin Coleman will be the biggest threat from the outside; he will need attention with his 40 percent clip, but he is limited by his height (6-2) and his lack of ability as a creator. The most complicating matchup for the Hawkeyes may come from 6-9 sophomore forward Obi Enechionyia.
Enechionyia scores 11.2 points per game and can score from both the inside and the outside. His 39 percent from the outside will spread the Iowa defense and could be the X-factor that allows the Owl offense room to operate.
Down low, Iowa center Adam Woodbury will have a height advantage as usual, but 6-8, 240-pound senior Jaylen Bond possesses the strength that has given Woodbury problems in the past. Bond corrals 8.3 rebounds per game and has also been the most efficient scorer for Temple with 10.2 points on 47 percent shooting, though his game is restricted to near the basket.
Where are the advantages?
Iowa’s recent struggles are well-documented and immensely frustrating for the Hawkeye community.
However, the Owls could provide a low-stress opportunity for the Hawkeyes to find themselves offensively early in the tournament.
The Owl defense was the eighth most flimsy defense in its conference, allowing a 41 percent shooting from opponents. That number seems low, but relative to the competition, being eighth of 11 teams is not a good sign. (For perspective, Iowa in its dreadful 2-6 stretch to end the season “plummeted” to 40.9-percent shooting.)
Iowa could use a low-resistance defense right about now, as they need to not only make sure that Jok and Jarrod Uthoff can get into a groove but everyone else as well. Iowa has lost six of its last eight games, and in that span Jok and Uthoff have accounted for a whopping 54 percent of Iowa’s scoring.
The duo is among the best in the country in terms of scoring, but the Hawkeyes will need more from everybody else.
Fortunately for Iowa, the Owls shouldn’t be hounding them too much; 3.1 blocks, 5.3 steals, and only 11 total turnovers forced all ranked ninth in the AAC.
Another piece of welcome news for the Hawkeyes is that Temple doesn’t rebound all that well. Iowa never struggled on the boards as much as some feared but was not impervious to being dominated physically. Despite having a pair of strong frontcourt players, Temple was only eighth in rebounding (36.8) and allowed the second-most rebounds by opponents (38.2). They were one of only three teams with a negative rebounding margin.
Key Matchup: Uthoff vs. Enechionyia
DeCosey will likely lead his team in scoring, but a relatively more hardened Jok this season will offer enough resistance to disrupt his ability to find clean looks and also contribute enough for Iowa’s offense to offset DeCosey. Where things could possibly get dicey, however, is with Uthoff and Temple’s potential X-factor.
Uthoff has been uncharacteristically inconsistent recently and has been known to struggle with long, athletic defenders. Not only that, but if Enechionyia is able to score near the basket and also move Uthoff away from the basket to respect his outside shooting, the interior defense of Iowa will be more out of position than the players would like to be.
A lot of variables can come into play in March, but both teams will need each player in this respective matchup to perform well if either expects to have success on March 18.
Where will the game be won?
Temple’s starting lineup is talented and should actually be able to cause the Hawkeyes some problems, but there’s not much else for the Owls after the first five.
One bench player (Daniel Dingle) averages 20 minutes, and the next only 12 (Trey Lowe), but no single player in the second unit seems equipped to make a significant impact if things aren’t going well. The 3-heavy offense is very reliant on its starters to make shots and essentially only asks its bench to try its best in the meantime. The numbers, however, show that the bench doesn’t offer much.
Temple’s top four bench players each let it fly from the outside, taking 6.5 shots per game from beyond the arc but hitting on only 26 percent. Iowa’s bench, for what it’s worth, has averaged only 9 points per game in the eight-game skid but is notably more naturally talented and battle-tested.
Iowa and Temple could be relatively close to start, but it is likely that as soon as Temple’s starters need a breather or get in foul trouble, the Hawkeyes take off.
Temple Starters:
PG: 6-3 Jr Josh Brown; 8.1 ppg, 40% FG, 33% 3PT, 4.9 apg, 4.7 rpg,
G: 6-2 Sr Devin Coleman; 9.3 ppg, 37% FG, 40% 3PT, 2.9 rpg
G: 6-5 Sr Quenton DeCosey; 15.6 ppg (4th in AAC), 40% FG, 36% 3PT, 6 rpg, 2.6 apg
F: 6-9 220 lbs So. Obi Enechionyia; 11.2 ppg 43% FG, 39% 3PT 3.7 rpg
F: 6-8 240 lbs Sr. Jaylen Bond; 10.2 ppg, 47% FG, 8.3 rpg
Game Info:
No. 7 Iowa vs. No. 10 Temple
Brooklyn, New York
March 18
