Video: Iowa’s Drew Thelwell on expectations for Massive Ten play
Drew Thelwell discusses a wide range of matters forward of Iowa’s Massive Ten opener towards Northwestern.
IOWA CITY — In what has already grow to be a theme this season, Iowa males’s basketball shall be shorthanded for the Massive Ten opener towards Northwestern on Tuesday.
The Hawkeyes shall be with out Cooper Koch. In the meantime, Seydou Troare is anticipated to be a “game-time resolution,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery stated Monday.
Traore, who went down within the first half of Iowa’s recreation towards USC Upstate final week, was helped off the courtroom and didn’t return to motion. McCaffery stated after the sport that Traore suffered a “unhealthy” ankle sprain.
His standing for Tuesday’s recreation is a big storyline to comply with.
Traore, a switch from Manhattan, has been a key contributor off the bench for the Hawkeyes and helped ignite some encouraging defensive performances. His athleticism helped give Iowa one other dimension, one thing the Hawkeyes may use towards the Wildcats.
Koch, who missed Iowa’s matchup with USC Upstate, shall be out once more towards Northwestern. McCaffery did not additional specify the character of Koch’s state of affairs on Monday.
Not having Koch out there is successful to Iowa’s bench. He has appeared in six video games this season for the Hawkeyes, averaging 4 factors and a couple of.2 rebounds per contest whereas taking pictures 44.4% from deep.
McCaffery stated of reserve huge man Even Brauns, who was additionally out for Iowa’s recreation towards USC Upstate: “He’ll be wonderful.”
Due to Brauns’ absence towards USC Upstate, Riley Mulvey obtained elevated minutes off the bench and carried out properly, scoring a career-high 11 factors and grabbing three rebounds. With Cooper Koch out, Carter Kingsbury additionally obtained significant enjoying time and scored 5 factors.
Payton Sandfort, who has handled bodily limitations of his personal and performed by means of it, offered an encouraging replace Monday, saying, “I really feel snug now. I kinda have all my instruments again. So I’m good to go.”
He added: “There’s most likely been occasions that I shouldn’t have been on the ground that I used to be on the ground. Simply making an attempt to maintain being the chief even when I wasn’t 100%. Outdoors of that, I feel quite a lot of guys on our workforce have accomplished a very good job of stepping up. Riley’s performed actually good. Carter’s a very good participant. He’s been enjoying properly. So quite a lot of guys which were ready their flip for years are prepared. And I’m actually happy with these guys for that.”
Northwestern has a pair of huge scorers
Northwestern will enter the matchup at Carver-Hawkeye Area with a 6-2 general report — its two losses got here to Dayton and Butler. The Wildcats now not have star guard Boo Buie, however a pair of returners, Brooks Barnhizer and Nick Martinelli, are every averaging at the least 20 factors per recreation this season.
In considerably of an uncommon dynamic, McCaffery watched Northwestern play in individual just lately. The Wildcats confronted off towards Butler on Thanksgiving and McCaffery’s son, Patrick, transferred from Iowa to Butler final offseason. With Iowa not enjoying for an prolonged stretch, Fran McCaffery was in a position to watch Patrick play in the course of the Bulldogs’ win over the Wildcats.
“I used to be simply actually locked in on Patrick and what they had been doing,” Fran McCaffery stated. “I’ve watched a variety of tapes on Northwestern, so I knew what they’re going to do. You simply obtained to go cease it. They know what we’re going to do.”
Video: Fran McCaffery updates well being of workforce forward of Massive Ten opener
Fran McCaffery discusses a wide range of matters forward of Iowa’s Massive Ten opener towards Northwestern.
Hawkeyes attempt to reverse development of sluggish begins
With out its full roster out there, Iowa will attempt to keep away from one thing it has been unable to flee the previous couple of seasons: Getting off to a sluggish begin in Massive Ten play.
Iowa’s final three Massive Ten information have began as follows:
- 2023-24: 0-3
- 2022-23: 0-3
- 2021-22: 1-3
The Hawkeyes have accomplished properly to rebound from these sluggish beginnings to convention play. Iowa received the Massive Ten Match title in 2022, completed 11-9 within the Massive Ten in the course of the 2022-23 season and a fair 10-10 final season. However constantly having to play catch-up will not be the perfect system for achievement, particularly given the ambitions this 12 months’s workforce has set.
Sandfort has been part of every of these groups.
“Powerful could be an understatement,” Sandfort stated. “I’ve but to win a December (Massive Ten) recreation in my profession. So it might be clearly an awesome begin. It’s not one thing that we want however it might undoubtedly really feel higher going into the January portion of it if we obtained off to a greater begin.”
Video: Iowa’s Payton Sandfort aiming for quick begin in Massive Ten play
Payton Sandfort discusses a wide range of matters forward of Iowa’s Massive Ten opener towards Northwestern.
The Hawkeyes have an opportunity to vary their fortunes with two Massive Ten video games earlier than the calendar turns to 2025.
That begins with Northwestern on Tuesday, adopted by a street matchup with Michigan on Saturday, providing an opportunity to open Massive Ten play on safer footing for the primary time in a couple of years.
“I feel it’s introduced our workforce nearer collectively,” Payton Sandfort stated of Iowa’s damage state of affairs. “We’ve seen guys which are actually fighting stuff and it’s simply actually introduced all people collectively. Loads of different leaders have emerged from this. And I feel we’re extra collectively due to it.”
Comply with Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact through electronic mail at [email protected]
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