Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Instant Reaction: Iowa Hoops shocks Michigan State, can they make the Big Dance?

Episode Date: February 21, 2024

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The Hawkeyes pull off the shocker in East Lansing, Iowa with the win over Michigan State. Can this team make the NCAA tournament? We break it down today. Locked on Hawkeyes. You are locked on Hawkeyes. Your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team, every day.

Hey, welcome in. I'm Trent Condon, and this is the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We're available wherever you find podcasts. You can also find us on YouTube. While you're there, make sure you hit that subscribe button. Helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. Today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Surprise, Eddie? If I woke up tomorrow with my head sewn to the carpet, I wouldn't be more surprised than I am right now. That is exactly my take from the great Chevy Chase in Christmas Vacation after watching what we saw

Iowa going on the road and beating Michigan State. Now, over the last couple of years, the Hawkeyes have played incredibly well against the Spartans. Now, winners of five of their last six. We talked earlier in the week when we had Matt from Lockdown Spartans on about the game. Of course, the epic comeback win a season ago in Carver Hawkeye Arena. The game, though, earlier that season against Michigan State, Iowa had an opportunity to win that one, too. Had a shot from the corner by Peyton Sanford, and if he didn't have that little bobble in there, I think he knocks down that shot, and we're talking about the Hawkeyes now with six consecutive victories. That aside, five out of six, and against the Spartan program, that's incredible.

We've talked about historically how poorly Iowa has played in this building. The wins have been very few and far between. There's been good Iowa teams that have gone in and got absolutely run out of the gym. Against even for Michigan State standards, okay Michigan State teams. Not the case here lately. And credit to Frey McCaffrey. Whatever he has figured out going up against Tom Izzo's team

has been absolutely incredible. Put 78 on the board. A great offensive game. Love to see that. 45 in the first half, and it was incredibly impactful watching this team. They're hanging around.

You know, they were not playing well in the opening. We get Owen Freeman getting a couple fouls early on, doesn't play hardly at all in this game because of foul trouble. You have that component. And just, you look at the scoreboard, it's 24-23. You're down a point. And then Iowa goes on their first run and then maintained it.

And every time Michigan State would have even a mini run, Iowa would have a response every single time. It was an incredible game. And if you would have told me that Iowa coming into this one would get eight minutes from Owen Freeman, they would hit four three-pointers in the game and they would win. I'd tell you you're crazy. Yet here we are. And now the equation changes. We're going to talk about the tournament resume and still what needs to come. But over this last week, it goes from an absolutely hopeless feeling with this team being able to make the tournament for the sixth consecutive year. It just, it seems so unlikely that that was going to happen. You beat Wisconsin. You find a way in Carver to get that overtime win. Then you go on the road to Michigan State. And of the remaining road games, we talked about this on Monday. Every day, as you remember this, we said this is probably the most likely road game that they were going to get, which is crazy, but it is. They get it.

You still got Illinois. You still got Northwestern. Now Northwestern's playing without Ty Berry. That's impactful. Boo Booey's still a stud. But still, it's not an unbelievable if Iowa could win there. The Illinois game Saturday is going to be tough. We get Penn State at home, and then you get Illinois to wrap things up.

The path is there. You still likely probably have to win three out of four to feel real good going into the Big Ten tournament and still can't afford to lose a game against a bad team in the opening round in your first game that you're going to play there. If you get one of the single buys, not the double buy for the top four, but at least a single buy being in the top ten, you can't afford to lose that first game. And we'll see. There's still a lot to be said. But let's dig a little bit deeper into this game. And just so many angles you want to go. And start with the play of Ben Kricke. Ben Crickey over the last month, much

maligned. He's not been playing well. You know, we saw that soft jumper earlier this season. I think we got enamored with it at times, just how good he looked at what he was able to do on the offensive end. We know he wasn't a great rebounder. We knew that going back to when he committed to Iowa. You look at his numbers in the Missouri Valley Conference and obviously a conference that doesn't have the same kind of bigs that you see in the Big Ten, and the rebound numbers weren't very good. And you look at advanced metrics, and you look at some of the defensive numbers for him, we knew that wasn't very good. But he's still six foot nine.

You got to have more than a rebound a game. And Fran told him just that. You can't play 34 minutes and get one rebound. He goes out there and has 14 rebounds in the game. 18 and 14 for Ben Kricke, doing it against a couple of talented bigs. He has had this season just three games where he's had double figures and rebounds. One was against UMBC, the other against Rutgers, and then this one. He has started to round back into form.

A little bit of a lull, maybe tired, going through the Big Ten grind for the first time. Whatever it was, that's what they need. Ben Kricke to play at this level and certainly needed it last night with Owen Freeman. Now, when we talk about Owen, we know the talent and still gets eight points, two rebounds, and two assists in eight minutes of playing time. I mean, you get him 32, you take that, right?

32, eight, and 8. Yeah, yeah, definitely sign up for that. But he was impactful when he was on the floor right away. They went to him right away, got a couple of buckets, and they got the fouls. The second one, and this is what you see with Owen Freeman. You love his aggressiveness. You love that he doesn't back down,

that he's going to be out there and be aggressive and do those kind of things. But you have to be smart. And part of that's being a young post player. I understand that angle to it. But the other component, you just can't dive into a guy and undercut him and get a foul. Those are just the silly ones, especially when you already have a foul in the game. Those are the ones that I think it was his fourth foul. If memory serves, he gets his fourth foul. He goes straight up and down. He makes it incredibly difficult for the Michigan State player.

And then he swipes down at it. And those are, again, maybe it will come with experience, but you can't afford it because those are just bad basketball IQ times. You can't afford it. He's too important to this team, yet they found a way. Peyton Sanford had a couple of big, big shots throughout the course of this one. Of course, hit a couple of three-pointers, but love the ability now for Peyton Sanford that he's not just an outside shooter, that he has added more to his game.

And Fran talked about this a couple of years ago as a freshman, and it's another one where you kind of roll your eyes. Well, Peyton can do a lot more than just that, and I didn't see it a ton at the high school level. Called a bunch of his games in Waukee. I didn't see that this was going to be a guy in the Big Ten that was going to be able to do these things. He's showing up on NBA draft boards. There was one yesterday. I think I've had him go in 48th overall in the second round. He can shoot lights out. He's got

an incredibly quick release. That quick release is something that is difficult. And though he's not an uber athlete, though he doesn't have the lateral quickness of most anybody, hey, you shoot the ball like that, and if you just have an okay skill set, he's a good rebounder, certainly for his size, and that's something that he's been able to do throughout the course of his career. A great game out of him.

Tony Perkins didn't shoot the ball well and missed a couple of free throws down the stretch. That was odd. I mean, felt like Iowa. Come on, two missed free throws from Perkins, a missed free throw from and missed a couple of free throws down the stretch. That was odd. I mean, it felt like Iowa. Come on. Two missed free throws from Perkins. A missed free throw from Zaffer. What are you doing here?

But eventually hold on. And then Patrick McCaffrey. And making plays again. And this is the kind of Patrick McCaffrey that you got to have. Knock down that open shot. We know he can shoot it from the outside. But also use that length. Use that size.

And get to the 10 and do some different things. And we saw now Patrick certainly feels like he is figuring things out. A team-only meeting after the Maryland loss. And what has it turned into? Two consecutive victories, two quad one victories in the NCAA tournament resume. We're going to talk about that resume. What is it still going to take for the Iowa Hawkeyes to beat an NCAA tournament team? We'll do that as we continue. This is the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast.

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Right now, users, you can get $20 off your first purchase by using the code locked on again locked on is the code l-o-c-k-e-d-o-n for $20 off your first purchase with game time download game time today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed trying kind of back with you here again on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Instant reaction after Iowa pulls off the big victory. Let's take a deeper look now at the resume. As we've talked about the remaining schedule, two with Illinois, starting with the road trip coming up to Champaign on Saturday.

115 tip time for that one against the Illini. on Saturday. 1-15 tip time for that one against the Illini. Then they get the matchup that of the remaining schedule certainly is the most winnable at home against Penn State. Let one slip away up in Happy Valley the first time you saw them. Revenge. All right. Put that one in the win column at Northwestern and Illinois. Now, I believe that I was going to have to win three of these last four, at least to feel good going into the tournament. Incredibly difficult to do. Easier said than done in order for that to play out. But it's something that definitely can happen. I think we've seen now enough from this team that know that they're going to have a chance. And we can lament the losses that they had. The home loss to Michigan and Maryland, both of those not devastating,

but certainly impactful. We're talking about a team that you win those two home games, 10-6 in the Big Ten, and likely solidly in the tournament at this point in time. So you have that component to it. From there, the tournament chances. We mentioned on Monday, after the win against wisconsin even with that bart torvik an analytically based site bart torvik had iowa with a 3.2 percent chance of making the ncaa tournament now that's gone up up to 13.6 percent chance of making the tournament

still there now what are you going to do if you get in? Could it be in Dayton? Could it be potentially 11 seed, maybe a 10 seed, and you're in the main bracket, if you will, the bracket of 64 with the 10 seed, something like that. There's still work to be done. You got the Big Ten tournament. You want to stay away from, certainly, Purdue. We'll see Illinois. Illinois is an 11-point favorite according to the analytic sites. Ken Palm has an 11. Mark Torvik has an 11.9. So the Illini are going to be a big favorite coming up on Saturday. If it goes awry, if you don't get the win against the Illini, you probably got to win those final three games. I will put themselves in this situation, but there is a path. And then you get to the Big Ten tournament. Now, if you're a seven seed, that seems something that could be pretty likely,

even if they go two and two, say, down the stretch here. Sitting at a seven seed, all right, you're on the right side of the bracket. You're away from Purdue. Maybe have to play Illinois again, though, as the two seed, something like that. Maybe even Northwestern as the two of those, excuse me, some potentials that you're going to see. It's been a great week. It really has. It's been a great week. It really has.

It's been exciting, but there's still a lot of work to be done. And in a game where you don't play real well, in a game where you're not playing at your best, that's when I think certainly people, you got to be excited about what they have been able to do. And, you know, Fran McCaffrey taking this group. There's no Luka Garza. Murrays are gone. You've lost a lot of players and lost both Murrays early from where you thought they were going to be a part of the program. You thought these were going to be four-year guys,

right? And it didn't play out in that fashion. However, to have this team that we saw back in November, you know, and we got a little excited after the great game and they hung around in that one, but eventually lost 92-84. But losing to Oklahoma, just getting bludgeoned that week by Purdue and Iowa State, and then losing that game against Michigan. To get them back to this point, or going back to losing that game against Maryland. After getting pummeled again by Purdue, you lose at home to Maryland, and yet they bounce back.

And they have put themselves, as we sit here on February 21st, with a chance to make the NCAA tournament. It's crazy. And credit to Fran McCaffrey. We found out earlier this week, it wasn't questioned by Fran, but Fran said, plans to be here for a very long time.

He's still got four years left on his contract. And there's still an opportunity here that you look at the recruiting class next season. Cooper Koch comes in. Tajio comes in. You get two impactful forwards. You got to figure out the backcourt. Is it Brock Harding? I don't know.

As a sophomore, Brock Harding quite is ready to be a full-time starting point guard. Josh Dix, what do you do with him? You put him back at the two, is at Sanford at the three. Has Tony Perkins come back for another season? I still maintain, you've got to get a real point guard. And a point guard, a transfer impactful point guard. A guy off the bounce, a guy that can knock down a shot. A good offensive point guard, I think is incredibly key.

Because you look at the front court, and they are in such good shape. Dembale, Owen Freeman. You mentioned the two young guys coming in next season with Koch and with Taj. Taj, I mean, you get, that's a pretty good starter set right there, a freshman and sophomores up front. Riley Mulvey, is he going to have anything when he comes back off his red shirt here? What a weird thing that was.

Anyway, you're set in the frontcourt. You're in really good shape, I should say, in the frontcourt. However, that backcourt, getting somebody impactful. Josh Dix is fine, right? Sanford is what he is, and he's continued to improve his game, and he's a good, solid player.

And a guy that can be either number two or number three option on an NCAA tournament team. But if you can find that right point guard, look out. I think this team really has a chance. The good news is, we don't have to worry about the offseason right now. We're in the here and now. Credit to Fran. Top half of the league.

If he gets this squad to the top half of the league, even in a Big Ten that is down this season. Incredible. Incredible work out of him and the whole staff with Iowa. Wrapping things up the week ahead, Iowa women with a huge matchup. The wrestling team takes on Oklahoma State. And I teased it and didn't get to it.

Some craziness. Some crazy thoughts out there about Kaitlyn Clark potentially coming back for her fifth season. We'll talk about that as we continue Lockdown Hawkeyes. Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. Get buckets with your first bet on FanDuel. It's America's number one sportsbook. Because right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet.

That's $150 if your team wins. Bet on all your favorite players in the NBA and teams with quick bets. They have live same-game parlays, exclusive props, and a whole lot more. Just visit fanduel.com slash locked on and shoot your shot. That is fanduel.com slash Locked On. Fanduel, official partner of the NBA. Trent Conant back with you one final time on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every single day.

And we got you covered across the Locked On Network, your favorite MLB team. That's right, spring training is here. Baseball right around the corner. They got you covered with all the teams in MLB, NBA, NHL, NFL, plus our national shows. Locked On Big Ten, Craig doing great work over there too. Just so much going on. So as we turn the page over back to the women's team,

after the Thursday night victory last week against Michigan, Kaitlyn Clark breaking the scoring record. That was absolutely huge. The performance, yes, was ridiculous. The environment was absolutely nuts. But now some time to decompress. And I think that was really important because over the last two, three, four weeks, it wasn't about the Iowa Hawkeyes. It was about Kaitlyn Clark. And though it's always in a way about Kaitlyn because of just what a box office draw that she is, the traveling circus that comes along with it, how fun she is to watch, all those things. But it's been about her. It's about her breaking the scoring record. And now it's time to get back to the team. Get back to what's it going to take for this team to make another run. Can they win the regular season crown? Can they track down Ohio State? They get them in the finale in Carver to wrap up the regular season. Is that something that they can do? And is there going to be a path to get the number one seed in the Big Ten tournament? Ohio State still has to lose a game in order for that to happen. And Iowa has to win out. That starts on Thursday. Now, Indiana earlier this week, we know about

Mackenzie Holmes and just how good she is, an incredible post player. They got drubbed by Illinois. I remember a year ago, Iowa also got dropped by Illinois in one of the weirdest games a season ago on the women's side, as they just looked terrible in that game. And you kind of wondered about this squad and what they were going to be. That was a turning point for them. We'll see if the same for Indiana here, but this is a talented team. I had that Fox game earlier this season with Gus on the call against them. I had the NFL game that they're going head to head with on Peacock with

the Dolphins and the Chiefs in that cold weather game. And yet with that, they got really good numbers and people, yes, they were tuning in to watch women's basketball, myself included, over watching an NFL playoff game. If you would have told me that just a couple of years ago, I would have told you crazy. But again, that's the Caitlin Clark effect. And we see the impact there. But now it's about getting Gabby Marshall, figuring out that shot, getting her on the right frame. Because a year ago, she had a lull shooting the basketball, was able to shoot herself out of it and get her going. Getting everybody healthy, figuring out that post-presence. You know, Sharon Goodman, we didn't see at all against Michigan. Yet we saw a little bit of Addison O'Grady,

and I thought O'Grady had some really good moments. Had a big block shot, a couple of buckets in there. And we know that there's going to be matchups this season and come tournament time that you're going to need those post players that are going to be able to play. And if it's no more bigger kind of lumbering post, you're probably going to see more Goodman. Now, if it's another player with height but some athleticism,

then you're probably going to see more O'Grady, but you're going to need both of those players to go out there and getting Molly Davis. Great. I'm working with both the illness and the injury as she's been banged up, getting her back out there because we know what an important piece Molly Davis is. And again, a week to heal, to get right. That's going to be big for this basketball team. Incredibly fun. Looking forward to it Thursday. If you got that Peacock subscription, well, don't turn it off because the game against Indiana also on Peacock after the game last night against Michigan State was also there. Wrestling team, they get Oklahoma State. Oh, I got to mention this. So there's this post up on the South Carolina board. And I teased it and I forgot to get to it earlier in this week. So they're talking about that Fox is paying upwards of $2 million

for Kaitlyn Clark and for Paige Beckers of UConn to come back for another season because they created the Women's Champions event. Now with the Champions Classic that they've had now for a decade plus with Kansas and Duke and Michigan State and Kentucky, the four teams that comprise that every year, they're doing it with the women's game. UConn will be an annual participant, and then they'll rotate the other three players. Next year, it is Iowa, Louisville, UConn, and Tennessee are the four teams that will

comprise it. And there's this post on a message board. And again, look at message board geniuses on Twitter, and you'll get a kick out of some of the ridiculous things that come out of there. I said that, yes, that's going to be paid. Now, it doesn't pass the sniff test because of this. You don't pay each of those players $2 million. Paige Becker's a great player and worked her way back from injury and maybe not the player

that she once was because of that injury. We'll see if she can get back to that level. But incredibly talented player. But people are not buying tickets at the same level to watch Paige Becker compared to Kaitlin Clark. I mean, come on. If you got $4 million that you're throwing around, you better give three to Kaitlin and maybe a million to Paige Becker.

It's silly. The truthfulness behind it can't be very high. But there are going to be plenty of people that are going to do everything possible to keep Kaitlin in Iowa City for another season. Yes, obviously Lisa Bluter and company would love to have her for another season. I just can't see it. I really can't.

Could there be a devastating loss that propels her to come back for another season? Could, but she'll have to do it without Gabby Marshall, without Kate Martin. Those two players have exhausted their eligibility. You're looking at retooling a roster, doing it with a much younger group than the players that she has obviously gone through the battles with. It'd be a different look. And I just, I don't think it's something

that is very realistic. Iowa takes on Oklahoma State in wrestling coming up this weekend. That'll be the final duel of the regular season on Sunday. That one will be televised by FS1. You can catch them for the final time in the tune-up before Big Tens and, of course, the NCAA tournament. Iowa baseball bounces back after a loss to Lehigh over the weekend.

They get a win against Loras, put 20 up on the board as they cruise. And how about that? Getting a home opener on February 20th, the earliest in Iowa baseball history getting that one. Good team. Even with the two-in-one one week you wonder that lost to Lehigh you know were they going to drop in the rankings not the case not the case at all in fact they

moved up in the baseball America poll to number I believe 16 it was if I can remember off the top of my head baseball is going to be fun we'll be talking some softball spring sports are here we're going to get into those more and more but we still got plenty of basketball. We got a little wrestling to wrap things up on the winter side,

and we got you covered each and every day. Plus, we are now a month away from the start of spring practice, and we have plenty of football for you as well. This is the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Make sure you hit that subscribe button. Again, helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. Thanks for being with us here today. We'll be back with you tomorrow.

Get ready for Iowa, Indiana, and get ready for the weekend. We'll do that tomorrow. Your team every day here on the Lockdown Network.