Tip Time: Ohio State at Iowa
Tyler Cook should be back on Saturday for the Hawkeyes against the Buckeyes.
Tom Kakert • HawkeyeReport.com
@hawkeyereport
OHIO STATE (12-3, 2-2) at IOWA (13-3, 2-3)
TIME: 1:30 p.m.
TV: BTN – Brandon Gaudin and Shon Morris on the call.
SERIES: Ohio State holds a narrow 80-79 edge in the all-time series between the two schools. The Hawkeyes have a 49-28 advantage in games played in Iowa City and a 19-13 record against the Buckeyes in games played at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Last year, Ohio State won both meetings with Iowa.
THE LINE: Iowa is a two point favorite.
THE NUMBERS
OFFENSE: OHIO STATE– 76.8 PPG, 47.1% FG, 36.7% 3 PT FG, IOWA – 82.3 PPG, 46.7% FG, 35.5% 3 PT FG.
DEFENSE: OHIO STATE– 63.7 PPG, 39.3% FG, 29.6% 3 PT FG. IOWA – 72.3 PPG, 43.8% FG, 29.5% 3 PT FG.
THE LINEUPS
OHIO STATE
6-3 guard Luther Muhammad – 9.7 points, 3.0 rebounds per game
6-1 guard C.J. Jackson – 13.1 points, 3.9 assists per game
6-6 forward Andre Wesson – 7.3 points, 4.5 rebounds per game
6-8 forward Kyle Young – 7.5 points, 4.9 rebounds per game
6-9 forward Kaleb Wesson – 17.1 points, 6.9 rebounds per game
IOWA(starters from last game)
6-1 guard Jordan Bohannon – 11.1 points, 2.9 assists per game
6-5 guard Isaiah Moss – 9.3 points, 2.7 rebounds per game
6-6 guard Joe Wieskamp – 11.4 points, 4.9 rebounds per game
6-7 forward Nicholas Baer – 6.9 points, 4.7 rebounds per game
6-9 center Ryan Kriener – 5.1 points, and 3.0 rebounds per game
PLAYER TO WATCH – Kaleb Wesson – The Buckeye big man is one of the tougher match-up’s in the Big Ten this year. He’s very good at using his size to navigate around the basket and has a soft shooting touch. This season he’s shooting 54% from the floor and he’s already been to the foul line 110 times, making 73% from the charity stripe. Wesson can also step out and knock down three point field goals, making 11 this season. Last year he scored 18 points against the Hawkeyes, so Iowa will have to try and limit him as much as possible.
KEY MATCHUP – C.J. Jackson vs. Jordan Bohannon – This will be an interesting head to head battle. Bohannon had a relatively quiet game overall on Wednesday, but he came up with big shots down the stretch to help Iowa to the win over Northwestern. Overall, his game is rounding into shape and he’s shooting better from three in the last two weeks. Jackson is a quicker point guard and the type of player that has given Iowa trouble. He can get hot from the outside and cause problems and he is a good driver of the basketball. It will be very important for Iowa to keep him in check late in shot clock situations and in transition. For Bohannon, he needs to continue to play aggressive and take shots with confidence.
STATS AND NOTES
Tyler Cook missed the previous game with a sore knee. He will be a game time decision on Saturday.
It’s Star Wars Day at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Characters from the Star Wars movies will be there for the game.
Iowa will recognize Prime Time League founder Randy Larsen before the game.
Fran McCaffery has 164 wins as Iowa’s head coach and third on the win list for the Hawkeyes.
KenPom.com has Ohio State rated 26th in the country and Iowa at 36th. The new NCAA selection committee tool, NET, which has replaced the RPI, has Iowa rated 34th in the country and Ohio State rated 35th. KenPom.com projects Iowa winning 74-73 in this game.
The Hawkeyes return 90.5% of their minutes played last season, including their top nine scorers. That is the fourth most returning minutes in D1 basketball.
Jordan Bohannon and Tyler Cook were honorable mention All-Big Ten last season. Bohannon is one of three players from a major conference with more than 300 assists and 150 three pointers thru their sophomore season. He is the only player nationally in the past 25 years to have 150 assists and more than 80 three pointers in his freshman and sophomore season. In Saturday’s win over UNI, the junior point guard made his 200th career three point field goal. Bohannon is 5 points and 102 assists from becoming the 6th Hawkeye to score 1,000 points and dish out 500 assists.
Cook had 60 dunks last season and shot 56.6% from the floor and 6.8 rebounds per game. He led Iowa with 121 free throws attempted last season. The junior forward went over the 1,000 point mark in his career in last Saturday’s win over UNI. Cook is 9 rebounds away from becoming the 26th Iowa player to score 1,000 points and have 500 rebounds.
Senior forward Nicholas Baer is 9 rebounds from being the fifth player in program history to have 500 points, 500 rebounds, 100 blocks, and 100 steals. Baer is now 9th all-time at Iowa with 105 career blocked shots.
Iowa is first the country in free throws made per game (22.0) and second in free throws attempted per game (28.9).
Freshman wing Joe Wieskamp led the Hawkeyes in scoring in the first game of his college career and posted his first career double-double against Pitt in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. He led Iowa in scoring on Wednesday night with 19 points in the win over Northwestern.
Iowa will have three players redshirting this year. True freshman guard C.J. Fredrick and sophomore forward Jack Nunge has opted to redshirt in the 2018-19 season. After returning to action against Iowa State, junior forward Cordell Pemsl decided to have surgery to remove hardware from his knee and will now redshirt.
Iowa is 3-0 this season in games played on a Saturday. Under Fran McCaffery, Iowa is 38-21 in games played on a Saturday. Iowa is 5-2 this season in games played on the Big Ten Network. The Hawkeyes are 67-62 under Fran McCaffery in games on the Big Ten Network.
THE PICK
After starting 0-3 in Big Ten play, the Hawkeyes have weathered a bit of a storm with injuries and they have won two in a row, including a much needed road victory on Wednesday night at Northwestern.
Could this be the start of a bit of a run for the Iowa basketball team?
Saturday’s meeting with Ohio State will determine that when the Buckeyes come to Iowa City. Ohio State suffered their second straight conference loss on Wednesday evening when they were upset at Rutgers.
Having said that, the Buckeyes are once again overachieving this year at 12-3. They beat Cincinnati and Creighton on the road and UCLA in a neutral site game.
The Buckeyes probably go about nine deep in their rotation. Kaleb Wesson and C.J. Jackson are the leaders of the team this year. Wesson is a true low post threat who can create fouls with his size and strength. Jackson is solid point guard who leads the team in assists and can get hot from the outside. They have also gotten a very solid contribution this year from graduate transfer Keyshawn Woods, who is second on the team in assists.
Ohio State is also getting solid contributions this year from a pair of freshmen, Duane Washington Jr. and Luther Muhammad. Washington is an excellent defensive player and Muhammad has had some very good scoring games early in his career.
The keys for Iowa will be following the path that they did on Wednesday night. They need to keep their turnovers down and be patient on the offensive end of the floor. One of the issues that Fran McCaffery has pointed out this year when the Hawkeyes have had bad stretches in games has been because of lack of patience on the offensive end of the floor. When Iowa works for a good shot, they have had good results and they are one of the top teams in the country at getting to the foul line.
Having Cook back will certainly help because he would be a good match-up against Kaleb Wesson. Having said that, Iowa’s big men will have to be wary of not letting Wesson get them in foul trouble.
It feels like coming off the loss this week, Ohio State is going to come in with a lot on the line. After a really strong start to the season, they don’t want to suffer a third straight loss. Iowa has been making good decisions in their zone defense, which has included a 3-2 zone in the last two games that have been very effective.
With an expected sellout crowd on Saturday afternoon, it feel like Iowa should be in good position to pick up their third straight win. IOWA 78 OHIO STATE 73
Tyler Cook should be back on Saturday for the Hawkeyes against the Buckeyes.
Tom Kakert • HawkeyeReport.com
@hawkeyereport
OHIO STATE (12-3, 2-2) at IOWA (13-3, 2-3)
TIME: 1:30 p.m.
TV: BTN – Brandon Gaudin and Shon Morris on the call.
SERIES: Ohio State holds a narrow 80-79 edge in the all-time series between the two schools. The Hawkeyes have a 49-28 advantage in games played in Iowa City and a 19-13 record against the Buckeyes in games played at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Last year, Ohio State won both meetings with Iowa.
THE LINE: Iowa is a two point favorite.
THE NUMBERS
OFFENSE: OHIO STATE– 76.8 PPG, 47.1% FG, 36.7% 3 PT FG, IOWA – 82.3 PPG, 46.7% FG, 35.5% 3 PT FG.
DEFENSE: OHIO STATE– 63.7 PPG, 39.3% FG, 29.6% 3 PT FG. IOWA – 72.3 PPG, 43.8% FG, 29.5% 3 PT FG.
THE LINEUPS
OHIO STATE
6-3 guard Luther Muhammad – 9.7 points, 3.0 rebounds per game
6-1 guard C.J. Jackson – 13.1 points, 3.9 assists per game
6-6 forward Andre Wesson – 7.3 points, 4.5 rebounds per game
6-8 forward Kyle Young – 7.5 points, 4.9 rebounds per game
6-9 forward Kaleb Wesson – 17.1 points, 6.9 rebounds per game
IOWA(starters from last game)
6-1 guard Jordan Bohannon – 11.1 points, 2.9 assists per game
6-5 guard Isaiah Moss – 9.3 points, 2.7 rebounds per game
6-6 guard Joe Wieskamp – 11.4 points, 4.9 rebounds per game
6-7 forward Nicholas Baer – 6.9 points, 4.7 rebounds per game
6-9 center Ryan Kriener – 5.1 points, and 3.0 rebounds per game
PLAYER TO WATCH – Kaleb Wesson – The Buckeye big man is one of the tougher match-up’s in the Big Ten this year. He’s very good at using his size to navigate around the basket and has a soft shooting touch. This season he’s shooting 54% from the floor and he’s already been to the foul line 110 times, making 73% from the charity stripe. Wesson can also step out and knock down three point field goals, making 11 this season. Last year he scored 18 points against the Hawkeyes, so Iowa will have to try and limit him as much as possible.
KEY MATCHUP – C.J. Jackson vs. Jordan Bohannon – This will be an interesting head to head battle. Bohannon had a relatively quiet game overall on Wednesday, but he came up with big shots down the stretch to help Iowa to the win over Northwestern. Overall, his game is rounding into shape and he’s shooting better from three in the last two weeks. Jackson is a quicker point guard and the type of player that has given Iowa trouble. He can get hot from the outside and cause problems and he is a good driver of the basketball. It will be very important for Iowa to keep him in check late in shot clock situations and in transition. For Bohannon, he needs to continue to play aggressive and take shots with confidence.
STATS AND NOTES
Tyler Cook missed the previous game with a sore knee. He will be a game time decision on Saturday.
It’s Star Wars Day at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Characters from the Star Wars movies will be there for the game.
Iowa will recognize Prime Time League founder Randy Larsen before the game.
Fran McCaffery has 164 wins as Iowa’s head coach and third on the win list for the Hawkeyes.
KenPom.com has Ohio State rated 26th in the country and Iowa at 36th. The new NCAA selection committee tool, NET, which has replaced the RPI, has Iowa rated 34th in the country and Ohio State rated 35th. KenPom.com projects Iowa winning 74-73 in this game.
The Hawkeyes return 90.5% of their minutes played last season, including their top nine scorers. That is the fourth most returning minutes in D1 basketball.
Jordan Bohannon and Tyler Cook were honorable mention All-Big Ten last season. Bohannon is one of three players from a major conference with more than 300 assists and 150 three pointers thru their sophomore season. He is the only player nationally in the past 25 years to have 150 assists and more than 80 three pointers in his freshman and sophomore season. In Saturday’s win over UNI, the junior point guard made his 200th career three point field goal. Bohannon is 5 points and 102 assists from becoming the 6th Hawkeye to score 1,000 points and dish out 500 assists.
Cook had 60 dunks last season and shot 56.6% from the floor and 6.8 rebounds per game. He led Iowa with 121 free throws attempted last season. The junior forward went over the 1,000 point mark in his career in last Saturday’s win over UNI. Cook is 9 rebounds away from becoming the 26th Iowa player to score 1,000 points and have 500 rebounds.
Senior forward Nicholas Baer is 9 rebounds from being the fifth player in program history to have 500 points, 500 rebounds, 100 blocks, and 100 steals. Baer is now 9th all-time at Iowa with 105 career blocked shots.
Iowa is first the country in free throws made per game (22.0) and second in free throws attempted per game (28.9).
Freshman wing Joe Wieskamp led the Hawkeyes in scoring in the first game of his college career and posted his first career double-double against Pitt in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. He led Iowa in scoring on Wednesday night with 19 points in the win over Northwestern.
Iowa will have three players redshirting this year. True freshman guard C.J. Fredrick and sophomore forward Jack Nunge has opted to redshirt in the 2018-19 season. After returning to action against Iowa State, junior forward Cordell Pemsl decided to have surgery to remove hardware from his knee and will now redshirt.
Iowa is 3-0 this season in games played on a Saturday. Under Fran McCaffery, Iowa is 38-21 in games played on a Saturday. Iowa is 5-2 this season in games played on the Big Ten Network. The Hawkeyes are 67-62 under Fran McCaffery in games on the Big Ten Network.
THE PICK
After starting 0-3 in Big Ten play, the Hawkeyes have weathered a bit of a storm with injuries and they have won two in a row, including a much needed road victory on Wednesday night at Northwestern.
Could this be the start of a bit of a run for the Iowa basketball team?
Saturday’s meeting with Ohio State will determine that when the Buckeyes come to Iowa City. Ohio State suffered their second straight conference loss on Wednesday evening when they were upset at Rutgers.
Having said that, the Buckeyes are once again overachieving this year at 12-3. They beat Cincinnati and Creighton on the road and UCLA in a neutral site game.
The Buckeyes probably go about nine deep in their rotation. Kaleb Wesson and C.J. Jackson are the leaders of the team this year. Wesson is a true low post threat who can create fouls with his size and strength. Jackson is solid point guard who leads the team in assists and can get hot from the outside. They have also gotten a very solid contribution this year from graduate transfer Keyshawn Woods, who is second on the team in assists.
Ohio State is also getting solid contributions this year from a pair of freshmen, Duane Washington Jr. and Luther Muhammad. Washington is an excellent defensive player and Muhammad has had some very good scoring games early in his career.
The keys for Iowa will be following the path that they did on Wednesday night. They need to keep their turnovers down and be patient on the offensive end of the floor. One of the issues that Fran McCaffery has pointed out this year when the Hawkeyes have had bad stretches in games has been because of lack of patience on the offensive end of the floor. When Iowa works for a good shot, they have had good results and they are one of the top teams in the country at getting to the foul line.
Having Cook back will certainly help because he would be a good match-up against Kaleb Wesson. Having said that, Iowa’s big men will have to be wary of not letting Wesson get them in foul trouble.
It feels like coming off the loss this week, Ohio State is going to come in with a lot on the line. After a really strong start to the season, they don’t want to suffer a third straight loss. Iowa has been making good decisions in their zone defense, which has included a 3-2 zone in the last two games that have been very effective.
With an expected sellout crowd on Saturday afternoon, it feel like Iowa should be in good position to pick up their third straight win. IOWA 78 OHIO STATE 73
