By Blake Dowson
As Big Ten leading scorer Peter Jok and his lethal jumper sat on the bench in a pair of khaki pants and blazer, the Iowa basketball team dropped 85 points on Ohio State on Jan. 28 in Carver-Hawkeye while shooting 50 percent from the field.
It was a look into the future of Iowa basketball, as three freshmen and two sophomores started the game for the Hawkeyes, and all 10 guys who played will still have eligibility left next season as well.
Head coach Fran McCaffery said after the game it was his team’s most complete outing of the season.
“There are so many things. Our shooting percentage, our ball movement was better. There’s a reason why you make 50 percent [of your shots],” he said. “If you move the ball, you’re shooting more open shots. I felt we recognized switching, got the ball inside, got in the bonus early; we ran a little bit better, I thought.”
Jok is more valuable to the team when he is in a pair of shorts and sneakers than he is in a collar and tie — there is no debating that. However, there is also no denying the brand of basketball the Hawkeyes played without him was the best of the season.
The matchup against Ohio State was one of the first times all season that Iowa consistently got good looks from offensive sets, moving the ball inside and out and from wing to wing.
It has been easy for this young group to at times stare and watch as Jok did his thing on the offensive end. But without him — as it will be next season and the years after that — McCaffery got his team full of underclassmen to play exceptional team basketball.
“I think we had like four or five guys in double figures today,” freshman Tyler Cook said after the game. “We moved the ball well side to side and trusted each other offensively and defensively … A lot of guys pitched in today.”
What we saw on Jan. 28 was a team that can play 10-deep without a superstar (or even a senior) and still compete in the Big Ten.
That means something, not for this season, but for the years to come, when the wiser-than-their-years underclassmen become more mature, both mentally and physically.
“I do think it is unusual for a group of freshmen,” McCaffery said. “… We’ve all seen freshmen who sort of make that seamless transition from high school to college; they just do the same things that they did when they were in high school …but to have a group that collectively is that way I think is special.”
Jok will have his fingerprints all over games soon enough — as soon as he gets the nagging back issues cleared up — and he will go back to averaging around 20 points per game.
But for one night in late January of his senior year, Iowa fans (and Jok) got to see what life without him will look like next season.
“[Jok] came in and told us we can’t look to him to hit a tough shot or carry the load offensively,” freshman Ryan Kriener said. “So he pretty much just challenged us to have everybody step up, and we all did today.
“We all think Pete’s the best, he’s our leader, and when your leader challenges you, you have to rise to the occasion.”
