Hawkeye Tip Time
Tom Kakert | Editor
Temple Owls (22-11) vs. Iowa Hawkeyes (21-10)
Tip Time: Approximately 2:10 p.m.
TV: TruTV: Verne Lundquist, Jim Sparnakel, and Allie LaForce
Location: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
History: Iowa is 2-0 all-time against Temple. Iowa faced the Owls one time in the NCAA Tournament and that was back in 1956 Final Four where they defeated Temple 83-76. Iowa also beat Temple in the Preseason NIT in 1990, 73-71. Fran McCaffery faced Temple in the NCAA Tournament when he was at Lehigh and lost 87-73. McCaffery’s Siena team lost to Temple in 2009, 73-69. McCaffery is 3-7 in the NCAA Tournament. Fran Dunphy has never faced Iowa.
THE LINE: Iowa is a 7.5 point favorite
THE LINEUPS
TEMPLE
Jaylen Bond – 10.2 ppg
Obi Enechionyia – 11.2 ppg
Quenton DeCosey – 15.6 ppg
Daniel Dingle – 9.5 ppg
Josh Brown – 8.1. ppg
IOWA
Adam Woodbury – 7.7 ppg
Jarrod Uthoff - 18.9 ppg
Peter Jok – 16.2 ppg
Anthony Clemmons – 9.0 ppg
Mike Gesell – 8.3 ppg
Clemmons, Uthoff, and the Hawkeyes face Temple on Friday.
USA Today Sports
PLAYER TO WATCH
Jaylen Bond – At 6-foot-8 and 240 pounds, Bond presents quite a presence in the post. He’s Temple’s best interior player and he’s also been playing his best basketball in recent weeks. In the past four games, he is averaging 15 points and 11 rebounds per game and has dominated the paint. Iowa has the length to combat him, but his bulk and strength could present a problem for the Hawkeyes on Friday. It will be interesting to see how Fran McCaffery and his staff matchup in the front court. With Obi Enechionyia more of a pick and pop type player and Bond more of a back to basket type player and not a threat to shoot from the outside, it seems fairly natural that Iowa would have Adam Woodbury on Bond and Uthoff on Enechionyia.
KEY MATCH-UP
Anthony Clemmons vs Quenton DeCosey – During this season, Clemmons has had his share of tough defensive assignments and this will be another challenging and difficult one. DeCosey is Temple’s top scorer at almost 15 points per game and at 6-foot-5, he will have a size advantage over Clemmons. This won’t be all that different than Clemmons guarding Illinois Kendrick Nunn, who he shut down in Champaign and then struggled against at the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis. DeCousey is a scorer and not a shooter and he has a tendency to be streaky, which means if you can get him off course early, there’s a chance he stays off course for the entire game. He’s also not a player who gets a lot of his points from beyond the arch, so the real challenge for Clemmons will be to stay not let DeCousey’s size impact him when he drives off the ball. For Clemmons, he’s going to want to make him work on the defensive end. Clemmons had his worst game of the year in the last game against Illinois, shooting 0-8 from the floor. He’s going to have to rebound from that dismal performance if the Hawkeyes are going to advance to the next round.
STATS AND NOTES
Iowa is the 7th seed in the South Regional of the NCAA Tournament. The Hawkeyes remain ranked in the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Poll. They were ranked 25th in both this week. Iowa is making their third straight NCAA Tournament appearance for the first time since 1991-93. Jarrod Uthoff is one of the finalist for the John Wooden and Karl Malone Awards. Uthoff has scored 1,259 career points, which is good for 19th on Iowa’s all-time list. He has 83 blocked shots this season, which is the 5th best total by an Iowa player in a single season, tied with Erik Hansen’s total in 2005. Uthoff also has 176 total blocks in his Iowa career, which is the 4th most by any Iowa player. Iowa’s Mike Gesell now has the single season assist record for an Iowa player with 194. He has the 4th most career assists with 546. Peter Jok has made 75 three pointers this season, which is the tied with Matt Gatens total in 2012 for the 6th most by an Iowa player. Iowa is 1-1 this season in game played on Friday this season and 12-9 overall under Fran McCaffery. This will be the first time that Iowa has
THE PICK
One year ago the Hawkeyes were making their second straight NCAA Tournament appearance and as a 7 seed they went out and dismantled a pretty good Davidson team in Seattle, 83-52. Will history repeat itself on Friday when Iowa faces Temple? If Iowa is going to have a chance to continue the trend of taking one more step in post season play under Fran McCaffery it starts with the Owls at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Temple is an interesting team. Their overall stats don’t add up to their overall record and a team that won the AAC regular season title this season. There aren’t many teams that are average to below average shooting the ball from the field and from three and are being outrebounded that end the year with a 22-11 record in a good conference, but that’s exactly what the Owls did this season.
They rely on being smart with the basketball and being disciplined on both ends of the floor. Temple averages just over 9 turnovers a game, which is among the best in the country this season and they generally stick to running their offense and using the shot clock rather than pushing tempo. On defense, they will try to force long possessions and play tough and get into the space of opposing players.
What are the keys for Iowa on in this contest? First, they can’t turn the ball over at a high rate. That will doom their chances of winning this game. In the loss to Illinois, Iowa turned it over 18 times. In their recent string, losing six of their last eight, their turnover total in each of those games was in the low teens or worse. Iowa averaged just under 10 turnovers a game in conference play. If they do that against Temple, they will give themselves a great chance to win. Second, they have to shoot somewhere in the low 40’s from the floor. That’s a very obvious stat, but it’s an important one. In the two wins during this stretch, they shot 42% and 46%. In the losses they failed to shoot over 41% in any of them. Third, as Fran McCaffery said on Thursday, Iowa needs to get stop. The simple fact is this game is about tempo and Iowa will have more opportunities to get out and run if they can get stops and push the basketball off Temple misses.
How will this play out. I think it’s one of two ways. In close games this season decided by five points or less, Iowa is 2-6 and Temple is 9-4. So if this game is close and tight and probably low scoring, then it favors the Owls by a pretty big margin. That bit of news won’t come as a surprise to Iowa fans. So, if this game is played with both teams in the 60’s, the Hawkyes are likely in some trouble. Iowa is 0-5 this season when they score under 70 points, so that is an important number.
But, if this game is played in the 70’s against a team that likes to play in the 60’s, Iowa will be in good shape. The higher the score, the better the tempo will be for the Hawkeyes, so if Iowa gets to 75 points or more, they should win this game and maybe win it comfortably by double figures.
The start will be critical for Iowa. Temple plays with toughness and if they sense Iowa isn’t going to stand up to them, they will smell the blood in the water. The Hawkeyes need a good start and they also need a lead when they go to the halftime break. Iowa is 17-1 when they lead at the half and just 3-9 when they trail. That is what you would call a telling stat.
I think Iowa comes out and plays well in this game. The team seemed pretty loose on Thursday and that is a sign that perhaps they are hitting the reset button for the post season. The Hawkeyes get out and run and score some points and move on to the next round of the NCAA Tournament. IOWA 76 TEMPLE 64
Tom Kakert | Editor
Temple Owls (22-11) vs. Iowa Hawkeyes (21-10)
Tip Time: Approximately 2:10 p.m.
TV: TruTV: Verne Lundquist, Jim Sparnakel, and Allie LaForce
Location: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
History: Iowa is 2-0 all-time against Temple. Iowa faced the Owls one time in the NCAA Tournament and that was back in 1956 Final Four where they defeated Temple 83-76. Iowa also beat Temple in the Preseason NIT in 1990, 73-71. Fran McCaffery faced Temple in the NCAA Tournament when he was at Lehigh and lost 87-73. McCaffery’s Siena team lost to Temple in 2009, 73-69. McCaffery is 3-7 in the NCAA Tournament. Fran Dunphy has never faced Iowa.
THE LINE: Iowa is a 7.5 point favorite
THE LINEUPS
TEMPLE
Jaylen Bond – 10.2 ppg
Obi Enechionyia – 11.2 ppg
Quenton DeCosey – 15.6 ppg
Daniel Dingle – 9.5 ppg
Josh Brown – 8.1. ppg
IOWA
Adam Woodbury – 7.7 ppg
Jarrod Uthoff - 18.9 ppg
Peter Jok – 16.2 ppg
Anthony Clemmons – 9.0 ppg
Mike Gesell – 8.3 ppg
Clemmons, Uthoff, and the Hawkeyes face Temple on Friday.
USA Today Sports
PLAYER TO WATCH
Jaylen Bond – At 6-foot-8 and 240 pounds, Bond presents quite a presence in the post. He’s Temple’s best interior player and he’s also been playing his best basketball in recent weeks. In the past four games, he is averaging 15 points and 11 rebounds per game and has dominated the paint. Iowa has the length to combat him, but his bulk and strength could present a problem for the Hawkeyes on Friday. It will be interesting to see how Fran McCaffery and his staff matchup in the front court. With Obi Enechionyia more of a pick and pop type player and Bond more of a back to basket type player and not a threat to shoot from the outside, it seems fairly natural that Iowa would have Adam Woodbury on Bond and Uthoff on Enechionyia.
KEY MATCH-UP
Anthony Clemmons vs Quenton DeCosey – During this season, Clemmons has had his share of tough defensive assignments and this will be another challenging and difficult one. DeCosey is Temple’s top scorer at almost 15 points per game and at 6-foot-5, he will have a size advantage over Clemmons. This won’t be all that different than Clemmons guarding Illinois Kendrick Nunn, who he shut down in Champaign and then struggled against at the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis. DeCousey is a scorer and not a shooter and he has a tendency to be streaky, which means if you can get him off course early, there’s a chance he stays off course for the entire game. He’s also not a player who gets a lot of his points from beyond the arch, so the real challenge for Clemmons will be to stay not let DeCousey’s size impact him when he drives off the ball. For Clemmons, he’s going to want to make him work on the defensive end. Clemmons had his worst game of the year in the last game against Illinois, shooting 0-8 from the floor. He’s going to have to rebound from that dismal performance if the Hawkeyes are going to advance to the next round.
STATS AND NOTES
Iowa is the 7th seed in the South Regional of the NCAA Tournament. The Hawkeyes remain ranked in the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Poll. They were ranked 25th in both this week. Iowa is making their third straight NCAA Tournament appearance for the first time since 1991-93. Jarrod Uthoff is one of the finalist for the John Wooden and Karl Malone Awards. Uthoff has scored 1,259 career points, which is good for 19th on Iowa’s all-time list. He has 83 blocked shots this season, which is the 5th best total by an Iowa player in a single season, tied with Erik Hansen’s total in 2005. Uthoff also has 176 total blocks in his Iowa career, which is the 4th most by any Iowa player. Iowa’s Mike Gesell now has the single season assist record for an Iowa player with 194. He has the 4th most career assists with 546. Peter Jok has made 75 three pointers this season, which is the tied with Matt Gatens total in 2012 for the 6th most by an Iowa player. Iowa is 1-1 this season in game played on Friday this season and 12-9 overall under Fran McCaffery. This will be the first time that Iowa has
THE PICK
One year ago the Hawkeyes were making their second straight NCAA Tournament appearance and as a 7 seed they went out and dismantled a pretty good Davidson team in Seattle, 83-52. Will history repeat itself on Friday when Iowa faces Temple? If Iowa is going to have a chance to continue the trend of taking one more step in post season play under Fran McCaffery it starts with the Owls at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Temple is an interesting team. Their overall stats don’t add up to their overall record and a team that won the AAC regular season title this season. There aren’t many teams that are average to below average shooting the ball from the field and from three and are being outrebounded that end the year with a 22-11 record in a good conference, but that’s exactly what the Owls did this season.
They rely on being smart with the basketball and being disciplined on both ends of the floor. Temple averages just over 9 turnovers a game, which is among the best in the country this season and they generally stick to running their offense and using the shot clock rather than pushing tempo. On defense, they will try to force long possessions and play tough and get into the space of opposing players.
What are the keys for Iowa on in this contest? First, they can’t turn the ball over at a high rate. That will doom their chances of winning this game. In the loss to Illinois, Iowa turned it over 18 times. In their recent string, losing six of their last eight, their turnover total in each of those games was in the low teens or worse. Iowa averaged just under 10 turnovers a game in conference play. If they do that against Temple, they will give themselves a great chance to win. Second, they have to shoot somewhere in the low 40’s from the floor. That’s a very obvious stat, but it’s an important one. In the two wins during this stretch, they shot 42% and 46%. In the losses they failed to shoot over 41% in any of them. Third, as Fran McCaffery said on Thursday, Iowa needs to get stop. The simple fact is this game is about tempo and Iowa will have more opportunities to get out and run if they can get stops and push the basketball off Temple misses.
How will this play out. I think it’s one of two ways. In close games this season decided by five points or less, Iowa is 2-6 and Temple is 9-4. So if this game is close and tight and probably low scoring, then it favors the Owls by a pretty big margin. That bit of news won’t come as a surprise to Iowa fans. So, if this game is played with both teams in the 60’s, the Hawkyes are likely in some trouble. Iowa is 0-5 this season when they score under 70 points, so that is an important number.
But, if this game is played in the 70’s against a team that likes to play in the 60’s, Iowa will be in good shape. The higher the score, the better the tempo will be for the Hawkeyes, so if Iowa gets to 75 points or more, they should win this game and maybe win it comfortably by double figures.
The start will be critical for Iowa. Temple plays with toughness and if they sense Iowa isn’t going to stand up to them, they will smell the blood in the water. The Hawkeyes need a good start and they also need a lead when they go to the halftime break. Iowa is 17-1 when they lead at the half and just 3-9 when they trail. That is what you would call a telling stat.
I think Iowa comes out and plays well in this game. The team seemed pretty loose on Thursday and that is a sign that perhaps they are hitting the reset button for the post season. The Hawkeyes get out and run and score some points and move on to the next round of the NCAA Tournament. IOWA 76 TEMPLE 64
