Tom's preview
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The Iowa Basketball team will be making their first true road trip of the season on Thursday night when they head to Milwaukee to face a young and talented Marquette team, led by a talented freshman in Henry Ellenson. We break down the game from all the angles and offer up our prediction. Will the Hawkeyes remain undefeated this season?
Iowa Hawkeyes (2-0) vs. Marquette Golden Eagles (1-1)
Tip Time: 8:00 p.m.
TV: FS1 - Brian Anderson and Steven Bardo on the call
History: The last time these two schools met was in December of 1982. Iowa won the meeting 87-66 in Iowa City. Iowa leads the overall series between the two schools 10-7. The last time the two schools played in Milwaukee was in 1981 with Iowa winning 86-65. 12 of the 17 games between the two schools have been played in Milwaukee, 4 have been played in Iowa City, and one meeting took place in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament in 1955 with Iowa winning that contest.
THE LINE: Iowa -2
THE LINEUPS
IOWA
Adam Woodbury - 6.5 ppg
Jarrod Uthoff - 17 ppg
Peter Jok - 8 ppg
Anthony Clemmons - 7.5 ppg
Mike Gesell - 3.5 ppg
MARQUETTE
Henry Ellenson - 19.5 ppg
Luke Fisher -14.5 ppg
Hannif Cheatham - 7.5 ppg
Jajuan Johnson - 6.0 ppg
Duane Wilson - 14.5 ppg
PLAYER TO WATCH
Luke Fisher - Iowa was one of the many schools that recruited the Wisconsin native out of high school before he committed to Indiana. Fisher didn't stay long in Bloomington and transferred to Marquette after a semester. This season he has posted a double-double in both contests averaging 14.5 points and 10 rebounds per game. Fisher plays the post and is very active around the rim. Iowa hasn't rebounded the ball particularly well in early on this year and they have been vulnerable to offensive rebounding and over half of Fisher's rebounds have come on the offensive end.
KEY MATCH-UP
Jarrod Uthoff vs. Henry Ellenson - Assuming that Peter Jok returns to the starting lineup, Jarrod Uthoff will be matched up on the potential first round draft pick in Ellenson. This will be a great test for both players and you can be sure that a few NBA scouts will be paying close attention to this one. Ellenson has shown early on that he is living up to the hype and he can run the floor in transition and has a good game around the rim and can step out and knock down jump shots. Uthoff had a 21 point first half in the season opening win over Gardner-Webb on Friday evening and possess a similar skill set. This will be a great match-up to watch as both players are very skilled and for Uthoff it's a great opportunity to use raise his possible draft stock early in the season.
STATS AND NOTES
This contest is part of the Gavitt Games, named after Big East founder, Dave Gavitt. The series is between schools from the current version of the Big East and the Big Ten Conference. The series is set to take place for eight years and games will be played on the home courts of teams from both leagues and will be played during the opening week of the college basketball season. Iowa is 38-32 against teams that are currently members of the Big East Conference. The game will be played at the BMO Harris Bradley Center, which is also home to the Milwaukee Bucks. This will be a homecoming game for Iowa guard Brady Ellingson, who is from Sussex, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee. Iowa was 7-3 last season in true road games. This is Iowa's earliest true road game since 1990 when they played at Notre Dame in the preseason NIT. Fran McCaffery was an assistant coach on that Notre Dame team. McCaffery will be looking for win #350 in his coaching career on Thursday evening and he is two wins away from 100 career wins at Iowa. Mike Gesell has posted 21 assists in two games this season, including 12 in Sunday's win over Coppin State in just 19 minutes. Gesell is currently 7th on Iowa's all-time assist list with 373 helpers.
THE PICK
This is a really interesting game for a lot of reasons. Marquette is a fairly young team that will be looking to get a bit of a statement win against a team from a major conference that went to the NCAA Tournament the last two years. The Golden Eagles have the talent. I've gushed enough about Henry Ellenson and his potential to be a high NBA pick and they have other very skilled players, including Luke Fisher and Duane Wilson.
It's also a very interesting game for Iowa. The Hawkeyes have experience in the starting five and then a whole lot of youth that's going to have to develop and develop fast and they will be facing their first hostile environment. How will they handle that sort of atmosphere?
It's probably easy for Iowa fans to look at Marquette with their performance in the first two games and discount them a bit. Belmont and IUPUI aren't giants of college hoops, but Belmont is a regular visitor to the NCAA Tournament from their conference and IUPUI has added several D1 transfers this season. Make no mistake, Marquette has talent and they also have the quickness that could cause Iowa problems, along with the size to combat Iowa. More importantly, they have two very good rebounders who will attack the glass in Ellenson and Fisher and Iowa hasn't rebounded as well as they have in the past few years.
I think this one comes down to a couple of areas. Can Iowa stop dribble penetration on the defensive end and also rebound? Can Iowa shoot the ball at the level they did on Sunday from the outside? I think Iowa can shoot it and will be ok on the offensive end. I'm not sure Marquette is all that good of a defensive team. But, I am interested to see if Iowa can guard at the level they are going to need to, particularly when they have to go to the bench.
I think the key here will be Iowa's veterans. The experience will matter quite a bit in this game and I think Mike Gesell and Anthony Clemmons will play very well and Uthoff will equal what Ellenson does offensively, so that will end up being a wash. One of the big keys will be keeping Adam Woodbury on the floor to combat Fisher on the glass. Iowa doesn't play again for a week, so look for the starters to log quite a few minutes.IOWA 75 MARQUETTE 70
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The Iowa Basketball team will be making their first true road trip of the season on Thursday night when they head to Milwaukee to face a young and talented Marquette team, led by a talented freshman in Henry Ellenson. We break down the game from all the angles and offer up our prediction. Will the Hawkeyes remain undefeated this season?
Iowa Hawkeyes (2-0) vs. Marquette Golden Eagles (1-1)
Tip Time: 8:00 p.m.
TV: FS1 - Brian Anderson and Steven Bardo on the call
History: The last time these two schools met was in December of 1982. Iowa won the meeting 87-66 in Iowa City. Iowa leads the overall series between the two schools 10-7. The last time the two schools played in Milwaukee was in 1981 with Iowa winning 86-65. 12 of the 17 games between the two schools have been played in Milwaukee, 4 have been played in Iowa City, and one meeting took place in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament in 1955 with Iowa winning that contest.
THE LINE: Iowa -2
THE LINEUPS
IOWA
Adam Woodbury - 6.5 ppg
Jarrod Uthoff - 17 ppg
Peter Jok - 8 ppg
Anthony Clemmons - 7.5 ppg
Mike Gesell - 3.5 ppg
MARQUETTE
Henry Ellenson - 19.5 ppg
Luke Fisher -14.5 ppg
Hannif Cheatham - 7.5 ppg
Jajuan Johnson - 6.0 ppg
Duane Wilson - 14.5 ppg
PLAYER TO WATCH
Luke Fisher - Iowa was one of the many schools that recruited the Wisconsin native out of high school before he committed to Indiana. Fisher didn't stay long in Bloomington and transferred to Marquette after a semester. This season he has posted a double-double in both contests averaging 14.5 points and 10 rebounds per game. Fisher plays the post and is very active around the rim. Iowa hasn't rebounded the ball particularly well in early on this year and they have been vulnerable to offensive rebounding and over half of Fisher's rebounds have come on the offensive end.
KEY MATCH-UP
Jarrod Uthoff vs. Henry Ellenson - Assuming that Peter Jok returns to the starting lineup, Jarrod Uthoff will be matched up on the potential first round draft pick in Ellenson. This will be a great test for both players and you can be sure that a few NBA scouts will be paying close attention to this one. Ellenson has shown early on that he is living up to the hype and he can run the floor in transition and has a good game around the rim and can step out and knock down jump shots. Uthoff had a 21 point first half in the season opening win over Gardner-Webb on Friday evening and possess a similar skill set. This will be a great match-up to watch as both players are very skilled and for Uthoff it's a great opportunity to use raise his possible draft stock early in the season.
STATS AND NOTES
This contest is part of the Gavitt Games, named after Big East founder, Dave Gavitt. The series is between schools from the current version of the Big East and the Big Ten Conference. The series is set to take place for eight years and games will be played on the home courts of teams from both leagues and will be played during the opening week of the college basketball season. Iowa is 38-32 against teams that are currently members of the Big East Conference. The game will be played at the BMO Harris Bradley Center, which is also home to the Milwaukee Bucks. This will be a homecoming game for Iowa guard Brady Ellingson, who is from Sussex, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee. Iowa was 7-3 last season in true road games. This is Iowa's earliest true road game since 1990 when they played at Notre Dame in the preseason NIT. Fran McCaffery was an assistant coach on that Notre Dame team. McCaffery will be looking for win #350 in his coaching career on Thursday evening and he is two wins away from 100 career wins at Iowa. Mike Gesell has posted 21 assists in two games this season, including 12 in Sunday's win over Coppin State in just 19 minutes. Gesell is currently 7th on Iowa's all-time assist list with 373 helpers.
THE PICK
This is a really interesting game for a lot of reasons. Marquette is a fairly young team that will be looking to get a bit of a statement win against a team from a major conference that went to the NCAA Tournament the last two years. The Golden Eagles have the talent. I've gushed enough about Henry Ellenson and his potential to be a high NBA pick and they have other very skilled players, including Luke Fisher and Duane Wilson.
It's also a very interesting game for Iowa. The Hawkeyes have experience in the starting five and then a whole lot of youth that's going to have to develop and develop fast and they will be facing their first hostile environment. How will they handle that sort of atmosphere?
It's probably easy for Iowa fans to look at Marquette with their performance in the first two games and discount them a bit. Belmont and IUPUI aren't giants of college hoops, but Belmont is a regular visitor to the NCAA Tournament from their conference and IUPUI has added several D1 transfers this season. Make no mistake, Marquette has talent and they also have the quickness that could cause Iowa problems, along with the size to combat Iowa. More importantly, they have two very good rebounders who will attack the glass in Ellenson and Fisher and Iowa hasn't rebounded as well as they have in the past few years.
I think this one comes down to a couple of areas. Can Iowa stop dribble penetration on the defensive end and also rebound? Can Iowa shoot the ball at the level they did on Sunday from the outside? I think Iowa can shoot it and will be ok on the offensive end. I'm not sure Marquette is all that good of a defensive team. But, I am interested to see if Iowa can guard at the level they are going to need to, particularly when they have to go to the bench.
I think the key here will be Iowa's veterans. The experience will matter quite a bit in this game and I think Mike Gesell and Anthony Clemmons will play very well and Uthoff will equal what Ellenson does offensively, so that will end up being a wash. One of the big keys will be keeping Adam Woodbury on the floor to combat Fisher on the glass. Iowa doesn't play again for a week, so look for the starters to log quite a few minutes.IOWA 75 MARQUETTE 70
