By Adam Hensley
Attempting to keep up their momentum, the Hawkeyes will travel to Des Moines for the annual Hy-Vee Classic, this year facing Northern Iowa. The Hawkeyes (5-5) and Panthers (5-4) will meet for the 45th time at 3:30 p.m.Saturday.
It’s been a roller-coaster season so far for Iowa, which comes off of a 78-64 upset victory in Carver-Hawkeye against Iowa State on Dec. 8. Head coach Fran McCaffery believes this game was the Hawkeyes’ most consistent performance of the season.
“We’ve won some games because we played really well at times in those games,” he said. “And we lost to good teams who could score, because we didn’t play well at times in those games. We couldn’t get the stops that we needed. You think about the Seton Hall game, the Omaha game, the Memphis game. We couldn’t get stops at crunch time. Scored a ton of points in all those games, probably scored enough to win, if you play defense the way you’re supposed to play it. But that’s part of the journey.”
In his first taste of victory against Iowa State, senior Peter Jok scored 23 points (including 4 3-pointers) and grabbed 9 rebounds. He also dished out 3 assists.
Iowa’s freshmen core helped to carry the team as well.
Jordan Bohannon, Isaiah Moss, and Cordell Pemsl combined to score 33 points. Each player also recorded at least 4 rebounds.
The Hawkeyes managed to hold the Cyclones to just 36 percent shooting from the field and outrebounded them 42-39.
The Panthers have had an up-and-down season of their own; just like the Hawkeyes, they suffered through a four-game losing streak.
Also like the Hawkeyes, they cruise into this weekend on a two-game winning streak.
UNI senior guard Jeremy Morgan exploded for 38 points in the second half of the Panthers’ last win.
McCaffery had high praise for Morgan; the two go back for years, mainly when McCaffery attempted to recruit him out of high school but the Hawkeyes’ number of scholarships were limited.
“Jeremy has always been a terrific player,” he said. “I saw him as a young kid. I really wanted to have him badly, but we only had one scholarship.”
Although Morgan’s stellar second-half performance ranks in the history books at UNI, Northern Iowa normally uses a balanced scoring effort.
“That’s the thing about this team, it’s not a one-man team, it’s not a five-man team,” McCaffery said. “But you look at [how] they’ve changed their starting lineup, played different big guys, played different guards. They’ve made 20 3s in a game and beaten high major teams. They’ve come back. You beat Oklahoma, down 18, come back and win. Tells you a lot about the character of that team. But you watch one game to the next, and it’s a different lineup on the floor that’s really getting the job done, and that’s what makes it hard to prepare for, because they’re really a deep club.”
In the Hawkeyes’ previous Hy-Vee Classic game, they slipped by Drake, 70-64. Nicholas Baer scored 13 points, snagged 7 rebounds, and blocked 6 shots. Those 6 blocks were a career high and also a Wells Fargo Arena record.
Iowa has the series lead against Northern Iowa, 34-10. In the most recent matchup, the Panthers came out on top, winning 56-44 in 2014.
