By Adam Hensley
Home-court advantage is a real thing in college basketball,
especially during conference play — just ask the Hawkeye basketball
team.
When Carver is rocking, so are the Hawkeyes.
Iowa is 3-0 in the Big Ten playing at home but an abysmal 0-3 when
playing on the road.
Wins against Rutgers, a competitive Michigan team, and heavyweight
Purdue gave Iowa fans reason for optimism. The good, quality wins
weren’t easy; they came in the form of shootouts or comebacks.
At home in Big Ten play, Iowa averages 79 points per contest, shoots
a hair over 49 percent from the field, and knocks down 3-pointers at a
43.3 percent clip.
“I think everybody plays better at home,” head coach Fran McCaffery
said. “I don’t think it’s anything more than that. The numbers bear
that out.”
Peter Jok, Iowa’s go-to scorer, nets 24 points per game while playing
at home. In Iowa’s home game against Purdue, the senior scored 29
points and was on fire from downtown, hitting 4-of-7 3-point shots to
rally from a 9-point deficit.
Ball movement and security also thrive when games are played in
Carver — Iowa dishes out 17.6 assists and only commits a little more
than 12 turnovers.
“We’ve had some good road teams here, and we’ve played well at home,”
McCaffery said. “Our best wins have been at home, obviously. So
hopefully, we’ll play well again.”
All season long, defense has been a deal breaker for the Hawkeyes.
Iowa has played in six games so far in which both teams have scored
more than 80 points. Two of those games were in conference play, both
at home.
McCaffery credits the hot shooting to familiarity.
“Yeah, familiarity with your pregame routine, the baskets, the floor,
the ball,” he said. “As you know, the ball changes, so that affects
people sometimes. They’re all pretty much the same, but just every
little thing adds up.”
Defense at home has been shaky at times, but the Hawkeyes have gotten
the job done, especially in the conference schedule. Big Ten opponents
average 74.3 points per game in Carver, shoot 42.5-percent, and hit
their 3-pointers at a 34.6 percent rate.
Playing on the road, however, is a different story.
Purdue, Nebraska, and Northwestern ripped the Hawkeye defense to
shreds. Those three teams put up an average of 90.3 points a game,
making more than half their shots (not to mention 43.4 percent of
their 3-pointers) and dishing out an average of 24.6 assists.
The attack has come in many forms against the Hawkeyes. At Purdue,
four Boilermakers scored at least 15 points. Nebraska’s Glynn Watson
and Tai Webster scored 34 and 23 points, respectively. In Iowa’s
latest road loss to Northwestern, Scottie Lindsey scored 22 points,
and teammate Bryant McIntosh netted 20.
Shots just haven’t been falling away from Carver.
Example A: Jok scored 4 points against Northwestern.
“[Teams] top-block him, and get physical with him, and rotate guys on
him,” McCaffery said. “So other people have to just step up.”
The Hawkeyes only make a lackluster 39.4 percent of their shots from
the field on the road. Three-pointers (26.9 percent) and assists (13
per game) drop at an even worse rate, while turnovers (15.6 per game)
rise.
The Hawkeyes are 10-2 when playing at home this season, averaging 88
points per game. They have yet to win a true road game (not counting
Iowa’s two losses in the Emerald Coast Classic, a neutral site).
Iowa hasn’t been able to match scoring when on the road, especially
with a porous defense allowing easy buckets. Opponents average more
than 90 points while playing Iowa on their own courts.
Unfortunately for Iowa, not every game can be played at home.
Iowa hasn’t traveled well this season, and it needs to in order to
make a run in the Big Ten standings.