By Adam Hensley
Stetson isn’t the best team in college hoops, but the Hawkeyes’ victory Monday steered them in the right direction at a pivotal moment in the schedule.
Here are some key numbers from the Hawkeyes’ win against the Hatters.
Hawkeyes owned the paint
Efficiency in the lane had been a breaking point for Iowa before Stetson.
Against Nebraska-Omaha on Dec. 3, Iowa allowed 40 points down low while only scoring 26.
Stetson only managed 20 points in the paint.
Derick Newton, a Stetson forward, entered the game averaging 18.6 points and 6 rebounds per game. He had been on a tear, especially in the lane, and head coach Fran McCaffery wanted his big men to focus on him.
The Hawkeyes held him to 12 points and 5 boards.
Even more impressive were the 50 points the Hawkeyes put up in the paint.
Iowa attacked from down low early and often, keying on high-percentage shots.
The Hawkeye’s starting big men, Ahmad Wagner and Cordell Pemsl, combined for 29 points and only missed 3 of their 15 shots. Each grabbed at least 6 boards.
Iowa committed only 5 turnovers
The turnover battle has been one of the Hawkeyes’ biggest challenges this season.
During Iowa’s four-game losing streak, it averaged around 14 turnovers a game.
Excluding the loss to Notre Dame, in which Iowa only had 6 turnovers, the rest of the stretch saw Iowa turn the ball over at least 15 times a game.
Jordan Bohannon and Isaiah Moss each finished with 2 turnovers in the Stetson win, and Christian Williams had 1.
Those 5 turnovers are a fraction of what Iowa committed against Omaha (15).
Iowa had a better assistto-turnover ratio for the third-straight game
Iowa has won one of its last three games. However, its assist-to-turnover ratio has been clicking.
Against Stetson, it was an even bigger margin than before.
The Hawkeyes dished out 21 assists, 7 of which came from Peter Jok in a career-high performance.
McCaffery was especially proud to see the senior’s ability to facilitate. Even with an off-night shooting, he was able to contribute on offense by finding cutting teammates.
On top of Jok’s big night passing the ball, each starter recorded at least 1 assist.
Aside from Moss, Iowa had a poor 3-point shooting night
Moss nailed 5 of his 8 shots from deep, a college best for the redshirt freshman.
The 3-point shooting stats for players not named Moss: 1-of-15.
That’s a little more than 6 percent.
Jok hit the lone 3-pointer out of that group, but he also missed six attempts from deep. Bohannon, whose specialty has been the long ball since he broke into the starting lineup, missed all three of his attempts.
The Hawkeyes recognized the shots weren’t falling, and they took only 23 attempts from deep, nine fewer than against Omaha.
New starters in Iowa’s lineup: Wagner
McCaffery tweaked Iowa’s starting rotation yet again.
This time Wagner received the nod, and Nicholas Baer came off the bench.
Both players earned high praise from McCaffery about accepting and excelling in the recent roles.
The coach looked for something — anything — in regards to bench production, and he got just that with Baer, who scored 7 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, threw 2 assists, and also recorded 1 steal.
