Iowa Basketball Tip Time Preview
IOWA (8-5, 0-2) at PENN STATE (10-3, 1-1)
TIME: 4:30 p.m.
TV: BTN – Wayne Randazzo and Shon Morris on the call.
SERIES: Iowa holds a 33-19 advantage in the series versus Penn State. The Hawkeyes have won 13 of the last 21 overall meetings. Each team won on its home floor in the two meetings in 2022. Penn State holds a slim 13-10 edge in games played at University Park. The Nittany Lions edged the Hawkeyes, 90-86, in double overtime last year. Iowa’s last victory in the Bryce Jordan Center was on Jan. 16, 2019 (89-82).
THE LINE: Penn State is a 4-point favorite.
THE NUMBERS
OFFENSE: PENN STATE – 75.5 PPG, 46.0% FG, 38.4% 3 PT FG. IOWA – 81.2 PPG, 44.6% FG, 32.0% 3 PT FG.
DEFENSE: PENN STATE – 65.0 PPG, 39.4% FG, 32.9% 3 PT FG. IOWA – 70.5 PPG, 43.7% FG, 30.7% 3 PT FG.
PENN STATE
6-6 guard Seth Lundy -13.8 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.
6-4 guard Jalen Pickett – 16.1 points and 7.6 assists per game.
6-5 guard Andrew Funk – 11.8 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.
6-2 guard Camren Wynter – 9.5 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.
6-10 forward Kebba Njie – 5.0 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.
IOWA
6-3 guard Ahron Ulis – 5.8 points and 2.6 assists per game.
6-4 guard Tony Perkins – 10.8 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.
6-9 forward Patrick McCaffery – 13.4 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.
6-8 forward Kris Murray – 19.1 points and 9.9 rebounds per game.
6-9 forward Filip Rebraca – 14.2 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.
PLAYER TO WATCH – Kris Murray – In his first game back from injury, Murray was solid, but his shooting was a touch off, finishing 6-15 from the field. In this second game he should be more comfortable and have a better feel in this one. Iowa needs him to have a big game if they are going to pick up a road win.
KEY MATCH-UP – Tony Perkins vs Jalen Pickett – There might not be a hotter player in the conference in the last month than Pickett. He has been scoring, dishing, and rebounding at a high level. Perkins is Iowa’s best man to man defensive player and he will likely be tasked with not only slowing down Pickett, but getting his scoring back on track.
STATS AND NOTES
The Hawkeyes have played on New Year’s Day 10 previous times, most recently in 2017, versus Michigan in Iowa City. Prior to 2017, Iowa’s last New Year’s Day appearance was in 1946 versus Saint Louis. The last time the Hawkeyes played a road game on New Year’s Day was at Toledo in 1940.
Kris Murray and Patrick McCaffery were voted to the Emerald Coast Classic All-Tournament Team. Murray averaged a double-double (10.5 points, 11 rebounds), while McCaffery led the team with a career-high 21 points in Iowa’s three-point victory over Clemson.
Fran McCaffery enters his 27th season as a head coach. He achieved his 500th career victory as a head coach. This is his 13th season leading the Iowa program. He has had a record of 250-165 as Iowa’s head coach. He has led the Hawkeyes to the NCAA Tournament in six of the last seven seasons, including the last two years.
Fran McCaffery has a couple changes to his staff following last season. Assistant Coach Kirk Speraw retired and Assistant Coach Billy Taylor left for a head coaching position at Elon. Replacing Speraw and Taylor are Courtney Eldridge and Matt Gatens. Eldridge was on staff the previous six seasons, most recently as director of player development and recruiting director. Gatens is a former Hawkeye and most recently was an assistant coach at Drake. Tristan Spurlock, who played basketball at UCF, is the new Director of Player Development. Al Seibert’s title changed to Chief of Staff, while Kyle Denning is now Director of Basketball Operations.
Graduate student Connor McCaffery and redshirt Junior Patrick McCaffery are one of 22 father/coach and son/player duos in Division I in 2022-23. Of the 22 schools, the McCaffery’s are the only program with a father/coach and two sons on the roster.
Junior Ahron Ulis, who wore No. 4 the last two years, will wear No. 1 in 2022-23.
Iowa won four games in four days to capture the 2022 Big Ten Tournament Championship, its third tournament title in program history and first since 2006.
Six Hawkeyes are Iowa natives, two hail from Illinois, two are international (Serbia and England), and one each from New York, Nebraska, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Indiana. Iowa’s average height is 6-foot-5.
Junior Kris Murray was named to the 2023 Big Ten Preseason All-Big Ten Team and one of 20 candidates for the 2023 Karl Malone Award, which recognizes the top power forward in college basketball. He was also named to the Wooden Award Watch List this week.
Kris Murray is the only Division I player over the last 25 years to have scored 95+ points, grabbed 30+ rebounds, had five or fewer turnovers, shot 60 percent from the field, and 100 percent from the foul line over any four-game span during a season. Murray posted 31 points and 20 rebounds in a game this year. He is the first Iowa player to accomplish that since Bruce King in 1977.
Iowa welcomes a pair of freshman to the team this year. One is in-state wing Josh Dix and the other is point guard Desonte Bowen. They also added a pair of walk-on’s to the program in Dante Eldridge, who is the son of Iowa assistant coach Courtney Eldridge and Amarion Nimmers. Fran McCaffery announced that Nimmers would be redshirting this season.
Iowa is 0-1 this season in games played on Sunday. The Hawkeyes are 46-27 during the McCaffery era in games played on a Sunday. The Hawkeyes are 2-1 this season in games played on the BTN. Iowa is 105-81 on the BTN during the McCaffery era.
KenPom.com has Iowa ranked as the 46th best team in the country and Penn State is at 41st in the country. KenPom.com predicts Iowa to win by the score of 76-72.
THE PICK
It’s been a frustrating couple of games for the Hawkeyes. First there was the ugly loss to Eastern Illinois before the holidays followed by the loss on Thursday night at Nebraska.
The Hawkeyes will stay on the road and look to try and pick up a win at usually sleepy Happy Valley against a pretty hot and certainly improved Penn State team.
Iowa and Penn State have one common opponent this season and that’s Clemson. Iowa beat them 74-71 on a neutral court and Penn State lost to the Tigers at Clemson. But, Penn State has won four in a row, including a double figure victory at Illinois.
They are playing very well and shooting the ball from deep with a lot of success. In fact, they have three key players who are making over 40% of their three point field goal attempts. Meanwhile, Iowa has been struggling from deep. Really they have been struggling from everywhere. On Thursday night they missed 54 shots, which feels next to impossible to do.
The tough part of this game is it’s short rest and then on the road. Iowa got back late on Thursday and then they are off to Penn State on Saturday for the game Sunday afternoon. The Hawkeyes are going to have to do a quick flush of the bad performance and that seems like a reach the way this team is shooting the ball right now. PENN STATE 72 IOWA 70
