Hoops Preview: Iowa vs. Minnesota-Duluth

Last Saturday the Iowa basketball team held their annual ‘secret’ scrimmage against Southern Illinois. On Friday night the public will be invited as the Hawkeyes play an exhibition game against Minnesota-Duluth.

Iowa is coming off a 19-15 season that saw them fall in the second round of the National Invitational Tournament at Utah. The Hawkeyes will return three starters from that squad and hope that they can make their return to the NCAA Tournament in March.

First there is an exhibition game against Minnesota-Duluth. We will get to the Bulldogs in a moment. First the particulars for this game in general.

TIP TIME: 7 p.m.

TV: BTN+

Expected Iowa Starters (stats from last season)

PG – Brock Harding – 3.4 points and 3.0 assists

SG: Josh Dix – 8.9 points and 2.2 rebounds

SF: Payton Sandfort – 16.4 points and 6.6 rebounds

PF: Ladji Dembele – 2.2 points and 2.0 rebounds

C: Owen Freeman – 10.6 points and 6.6 rebounds

Minnesota-Duluth is coached by former Hawkeye Justin Wieck. He played at Iowa during the Alford era and then as a graduate assistant and video coordinator for Steve Alford and Todd Lickliter. He is in his seventh year leading the Bulldogs program. The last three years he has led that program to the NCAA Tournament at the Division II level. In the 2022-23 season his squad reached the Elite Eight. Last year they were 26-7 overall and finished second in their conference, making a trip to the NCAA regional semifinals.

They return three starters from that team and three other key contributors. Those three starters who will be returning were also three of their top four scorers. Charlie Katona, a 6-foot-7 forward, averaged 12.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Austin Andrews, a 6-foot-6 forward, averaged 9.7 points and 4.9 rebounds. Joshua Brown, a 6-foot-4 guard, averaged 9.3 points and 4.2 rebounds. They did lose leading scorer Drew Blair, who averaged 22.8 points per game, to graduation.

THREE THINGS TO WATCH

WE KNOW THE STARTERS, WHAT ABOUT THE ROTATION?

We are pretty sure who the starters will be for the Iowa basketball team on Friday evening. If they continue with the same starters it will be Freeman, Dembele, Payton Sandfort, Dix, and Harding

One of the interesting things to watch will be who are the first players off the bench on Friday night?

Three players that I expect to see relatively quickly will be second year player Pryce Sandfort, true freshman Cooper Koch, and sophomore transfer Seydou Traore. Sandfort is a player that I expect will make a pretty significant leap in his second season with the Hawkeyes. He’s stronger and certainly more confident. I am really intrigued by Koch and his potential. It was interesting to hear Fran McCaffery say at media day that he could play the four position. I think a player with his skill set at that spot is intriguing. With Traore, the thing that I have heard from a few folks is he’s really good when his motor is running hot. I want to see what that looks like on Friday night.

Then I expect we will also see Drew Thelwell, the graduate transfer who will backup Harding at point guard. I also think there might be times where McCaffery plays him with Harding, but that will depend on the size of the opposing guards. One final player I look forward to seeing is Chris Tadjo. He’s pretty raw, but my sense is he will develop pretty quickly. He has a very high ceiling.

DEFENSE AND RIM PROTECTION

As most Iowa fans know, defense has tended to be a shortcoming for the Hawkeye basketball team under Fran McCaffery. Last year it was particularly poor, allowing 79.4 points per game and teams shot 45.8% against them from the field and 35.8% from three point range. Also, Iowa was outrebounded by opponents last year by 1.5 boards per game.

If the Hawkeyes are going to make it back to the NCAA Tournament, then it will start with defense. McCaffery’s teams always score points. But, can Freeman, who blocked 61 shots last year, get more help protecting the rim? Beyond Freeman and Payton Sandfort averaging 6.6 rebounds per game, there are a lot of unproven players on the glass that will have to step up. We heard that Iowa got beat by four on the glass in the secret scrimmage. They need to get better there quickly.

FINDING THE SHOOTERS

On paper, I think this team can be an excellent shooting team. But, paper needs to become reality in front of fans on Friday night. In the secret scrimmage, Iowa made only eight three point field goals and connected on 25% of their shots from deep.

Josh Dix shot 42% from three last year. Payton Sandfort hit 38% from deep. I think Cooper Koch will be a 35+% shooter from three this season and I suspect Pryce Sandfort will as well. What will be interesting to see is how Owen Freeman and Brock Harding shoot from beyond the arch. Harding shot 38% last year from three in limited opportunities. He has changed his shot and it looks better. Freeman has the green light to open up his jumper. He is very capable of making shots from beyond the arch.