By Adam Hensley | [email protected]

    The art of creating a successful lineup is something coaches can struggle with at times.

    Going into the Cy-Hawk Series men’s basketball game, many counted Iowa out from the start. Freshman Tyler Cook had fractured a finger earlier in the season and was out for the rivalry game. Iowa State’s starting lineup consisted of five seniors. Iowa’s consisted of one senior, one sophomore, and three freshmen.

    “These guys, it’s early in their career, and they are trying to figure it out, and it’s our job to help them,” Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said. “I’ve been saying from the beginning, I really like this team. I really like this group. And it’s going to be an interesting journey. It’s not going to be smooth.”

    The win against Iowa State sure looked smooth, though.

    Peter Jok, the lone active senior on the team, was hitting his shots in rhythm, something he needed to do for Iowa to stay close with an Iowa State team averaging 84 points per game.

    Finding the right guys to surround him, that was the main question going into the game — as well as this season.

    When Iowa traveled to South Bend, Indiana, to play Notre Dame, McCaffery made the first major lineup changes of the season. Freshmen Jordan Bohannon, Isaiah Moss, and Cordell Pemsl each made their first college starts.

    Adding to Iowa’s starting youth, sophomore Ahmad Wagner started against Stetson, right before the matchup with Iowa State. His defensive spark and offense in the paint led McCaffery to start him against the Cyclones.

    Against Iowa State, they cemented their status as full-time starters.

    “I feel like we were able to hold our own,” Bohannon said. “We put [forth] a lot of energy. It wasn’t just one guy, it was all five of us.”

    Bohannon scored 8 points, 3 of which came on a deep 3-pointer late in the game to extend Iowa’s lead to 10 and put the Cyclones away for good.

    “Jordan is a really good player,” McCaffery said. “He’s as tough a guy as I’ve seen. He’s not going to be afraid. He’s not going to back down. He knows what he can do, what he can’t do. He’s just going to keep getting better.”

Moss, who started ahead of Nicholas Baer, fueled Iowa in transition, repeatedly attacking the basket and pushing the pace.

His 14 points were second on the team behind Jok’s 23. Pemsl provided offense down low and also held Deonte Burton to only 10 points in what many called Iowa’s best defensive effort of the season.

“It shows the people have to respect us,” Pemsl said. “We may be young, but we don’t use that as an excuse. [Against Iowa State] Isaiah, Jordan showed what they can do.”

Iowa isn’t built for a half-court, conservative-style of offense, not when the Hawkeyes possess one of the nation’s top scorers and a quick, athletic front court.

Iowa is built to run the floor and put up shots in transition.

The Hawkeyes scored 13 fast-break points — not an overwhelming figure, but buckets that came at key moments in the game.

Steve Prohm, the head coach of the Cyclones, stressed his team’s lack of defensive intensity in fast-break situations prevented them from making any sort of comeback.

“Transition, go look at all the baskets,” he said. “That’s the main way they score, that method or Jok. We didn’t do a great job of getting back.”

The Hawkeyes are 5-5 through 10 games this season. There’s been plenty of bumps in the road and headaches for fans. But McCaffery found rhythm in his starting lineup against Iowa State, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.