Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Instant Reaction: Iowa runs past Maryland

Episode Date: January 16, 2023

The Iowa basketball team makes it 4 in a row after they knock off Maryland 81-67.Trent Condon returns for an instant reaction podcast. Talk about the play of Tony Perkins and what he did after some rough performances.Iowa played with foul trouble, yet still found a way to get the win.A look at what is next with Northwestern on Wednesday before a two game road trip to Ohio State and Michigan State.Thoughts on the honoring of Chris Street with the game on Wednesday and whole lot more.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!LinkedInLinkedIn jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at Linkedin.com/lockedoncollege Terms and conditions apply.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, that's four. Four in a row. Iowa basketball does it again. And this one kind of easy. We break things down here in an instant reaction podcast on Locked On Hawkeyes. Locked On Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. This is Trent Condon.

Welcome back in on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen each and every day. Available wherever you get podcasts and you can also watch us on YouTube. Just hit that subscribe button while you're there. It helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. Today's episode is brought to you by LinkedIn jobs. LinkedIn jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to faster. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on college.

That's linkedin.com slash locked on college to post your job for free at linkedin.com slash lockedoncollege. That's linkedin.com slash lockedoncollege to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. Well, the Hawkeyes found a way once again to pick up the victory, this time at home again over Maryland 81-67. Another great performance out of this squad. They just keep finding ways to do it in a day where there were foul trouble early on in the basketball game. Chris Murray, excuse me, he goes to the bench with a couple of fouls. Of course, we also saw the same thing for Phillip Robracha in the first half.

Iowa ultimately just kept grinding away, and a big part of that was the play out of Tony Perkins. So we've talked about Tony Perkins a lot and Tony Perkins. Maybe I have a little bit of, I guess, an issue with TP because I've had big expectations for him from going back to his high school career, watching a lot of the film on him at the high school level, playing in Indianapolis. There was just something about a guy. He is so different than the guard that Iowa has got during the Fran McCaffrey era. But even going back before that, they haven't had that thick, that strong guard, that 6'4 guy. Every time you watch the NCAA tournament, you're

watching some mid-major out there that is able to just get to the rim and use a physicality to be that strong guy. It was, in fact, a guy that, Brad McCaffrey had a lot of these type of guys going back in the day when he was at Siena and you saw a lot of these kind of guards and you're just wondering, Ronald Moore was one of those guys. When is he going to get that tough guy out there, that strong guard that's going to be able to play

at this level and play consistently? Well, the consistency hasn't been there. Early on in Tony Perkins' tenure, a lot of frustration when he got out there. It felt like he was trying to do a little bit too much, right? We saw him put his head down just trying to get to the rim, not playing within the confines of the offense, and that was an issue for him. But dating back to last year, Iowa made the move to put Jordan Bohannon back as a starter at the point guard position we talked about certainly that a ton on my radio show you heard about here on Lockdown Hawkeyes and you

you really heard all kinds of Iowa people break that down and it was the conversation was not about Tony Perkins also being inserted lineup moving Bohannon from the two guard to the point guard it was about that it was about Bo being the guy at the point guard position. But when you look at last year, when Iowa was playing their best, when they're playing their best basketball, yes, it was that starting lineup. It was Bohannon at the one, Perkins at the two. But I think something that a lot of people missed

throughout that tenure and that time was that Iowa was playing him at the point guard position a lot. And though he's not your prototypical point guard, he doesn't have the tightest handles. He is good with the rock in his hands. He is a guy that certainly has that ability. And first four, maybe five games this year, we saw what he did last season. Continue on. I was a big proponent of Tony Perkins being the starting point guard coming into the year. I thought he was going to be a guy along with Peyton Sanford at the two with him.

He had Patrick McCaffrey along with, of course, Chris Murray and Phillip Robrach. And that's starting five. I thought that was going to be the best combo for this team. He had an injury. And we heard hip. We heard some kind of leg injury. There's ankle. There's knee.

There's all kinds of things that were thrown out, but we know he's banged up. And for him to bounce back in this fashion, he finishes the game with 22 points. And the thing that I love, he's 10 of 13 from the floor. Didn't take a three-point shot. That's when Tony Perkins is at his best. Getting to the rim, putting his head down, that soft floater in the lane, the jump stop bucket. He is so good, and that is his game.

Still had three turnovers, but he filled it up. Three assists, couple of blocks, had a steal. He was so impactful in this game. And seemingly every single time that Maryland would make a run, he'd be ready for them. Iowa holds Maryland to 67 points in the game, just over one point per possession, 1.05 in the matchup. Iowa on the plus side once again, 1.27 points per possession in the 81 points.

But in a day where you only hit six three-pointers, six of 14. Yeah, you're going to take 43% from downtown every single time. Slow start right away, though, after a 4-0 run out of Maryland. Iowa comes roaring back, eight straight after that to command it. And for all intents and purposes, they were on cruise control from there. It wasn't just Tony Perkins, though. How about also the play of Aaron Uless? Aaron Uless in the night where he finishes with nine points.

He overall goes four of eight from the field, hits a three-pointer, hit the open three, four assists, four rebounds. This was a malign backboard. We talked about these starters. And you go back to the last game. We didn't see them basically in the second half of the game. And the comeback victory against Michigan, it was going with Josh Dix and Peyton Sanford out there,

and really that was it. But a night like this, they're able to get it done. Really impressive out of those two guys, and hopeful going forward that they're going to be able to do things. Now, you couple that with the foul trouble that I went through. And you mentioned the foul trouble. This is something that I argued with frame a little bit. I, in fact, last time I had frame McCaffrey on my radio show,

I asked him about it, the two foul rule. And the problem that I have with it is not that it's a hard and fast rule. Look, most coaches across the country, they do the exact same thing. Guy gets two fouls, you're going to sit on the bench. But there are also circumstances. And the thing that in the past had really bothered me with France teams is if things are getting away, if you're losing the game, if a team is making some kind of run, you got to come back and you got to push that button, right?

You got to come back and say, we have to find a way to stay in this game even with somebody with two fouls. Now, for Iowa, it didn't matter in this one. But I get rules. I get understanding. But the way that I look at it is this, and especially like we had with Chris, right? Chris goes out there.

He finishes his game, ultimately playing 28 minutes. You're following out your own guy. I mean, that's the theory that I have behind it. You're putting your best players, when they pick up that second foul, you're putting your team behind the eight ball. If you're able to play a little bit more loose, are you going to give up Buckhead on the other end? Sure.

There's going to be a guy going in. He's got good position, and you've got to play a little bit more loose, are you going to give up Buckhead on the other end? Sure. Yeah, there's going to be a guy going in. He's got good position, and you've got to be straight up and down or just not even react to a shot going up because you have that two fouls. I get that component. But the way Iowa plays defensively, we'll see. Hey, Braves won a lot of games. Over.500 in his career, he knows a lot more about basketball than me. It's something that we've talked about in the past.

I've gone back and forth with him. Ultimately, we know one thing. Bray's not going to change. The good news is Iowa finds a way and finds a way with foul trouble, not just to Chris Murray, but also we saw the exact same thing happen late in the half with Phillip Fabraggio with about four minutes left, and yet they were able to battle back. That is good news.

Iowa gets it done here tonight. Now, we got more news coming. It sounds like Patrick McCaffrey is going to be rejoining the team. We'll talk about that when we come back here on Locked on Hawkeyes. Today's episode of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast is brought to you by LinkedIn. As a small business owner or a hiring manager, you know that success in 2023 all depends on the team members you surround yourself with. That's why you have to check out LinkedIn Jobs.

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all on one platform. That's why small businesses rate LinkedIn Jobs number one in delivering quality hires. First leading competitors. LinkedIn jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to faster. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on college. That's linkedin.com slash locked on college to post your job for free. Terms and conditions may apply. Trey Cotter back with you again here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making

Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen each and every day. For your second listen, make sure you check out our brand new podcast. It's linked. It's Lockdown College Basketball. Everything you need to know about college basketball all in one place. Hear from the big name experts, insiders, coaches, and the players. Lockdown College Hoops available on YouTube and wherever you get podcasts. So, one of the stories of this game, when really over this winning streak for Iowa basketball as they run into 4-0, is what's going on with Patrick McCaffrey. Now, this is a very difficult and can be uncomfortable conversation, right? He's going through a mental health situation.

And I said this at the top. It's important for us to have these conversations. It's important for people like me. I'm on the radio, talk to you guys on podcasts every day. It's important to have these conversations. I don't feel comfortable. I don't feel comfortable. I don't feel comfortable because I don't believe that it's something that needs to be talked about.

That can be from the truth. I believe these conversations need to happen. What I struggle with is, it's something that I don't know. It's not a world that I've been involved with. It's something that I don't deal with on a daily basis. And because of that, yes, I'm a provocateur. Yes, I'm somebody that needs to talk. And because of that, it's a conversation that needs to happen. I just don't know. And I see so much of this. People saying from, you know,

the old knuckle-dragger conversation, just tough it up and figure it out. Well, we know that's not reality. We know there's a whole lot more that's going on and a whole lot more that needs to be understood when somebody's going through that. So you have that part of it. But the second point is everybody's different. Everybody that's battling a mental health situation has to deal with it differently. And it could be as simple as going away from the game. And it doesn't matter the sport that we're talking about.

It doesn't matter if it's baseball, football, basketball, whatever it is, field hockey, soccer, on and on and on. It doesn't matter the sport. What matters is for each individuals, they have to find what makes them right. It was interesting to see that Patrick McCaffrey has been a part of this team. He's been there on the bench every single game. When they went out to Rutgers last week, he was part of that. Now, timing works right.

He come back, and it sounds like he's going to make it a go. He's going to come back, and he's going to do that home game against Northwestern. Now, Northwestern's improved, and we got to say that. Wildcats are a better team than what we've seen the last couple of years. You know, when Iowa was out there just putting up monster scores as they've done a couple of times in the past, that definitely is a different squad than what we saw out of this year's Northwestern team.

We go back last year, game one of the Big Ten tournament. Remember, Iowa came in playing really good basketball. They lost a tight one in the last game of the regular season, but they had lost, they had won five out of the last six going into the big 10 tournament. Northwestern weren't very good. What did I would do? They put 112 on the board. They put 64 up in the first half of that one, an absolute cruise and five guys in double figures. Keegan had 26 in that one. Patrick, he had 10. It was double figures. Well, everybody playing at a high level. And they cruise, which ultimately turned into four wins in four days

in a Big Ten championship. Northwestern's better than that squad. And the one thing you look at this Northwestern team, though they fell today against Michigan, they have improved immensely on the defensive end of the floor. A year ago, they were the 73rd best team in the country in defense. It's not good. That's what we're kind of hoping for Iowa ultimately gets to.

But this year, completely different. 15th in the country in defensive efficiency. Boo-Booey, he's been around. He's a part of that. Ty Perry in the backcourt, he's been a part of that. We've seen plenty of that out of this squad, but they're defending on the other end. So if you think there's just going to be another game against Northwestern, this is going to be an easy one.

Walk in there again and pick up the easy victory. No problem. Slow down. Much improved. We also know Iowa is much improved from the team that we saw back at the end of December into the first game of January. From the second half of the Penn State game to today, just how different this team was and how fun it was today to see the squad go out there and just take care of business, right?

They're better than Maryland. Maryland's experienced, but they're frankly not very good. I believe Kevin Willard is going to do a good job, and he's ultimately going to get that program turned around. Did such a good job at Seton Hall. It took them the NCAA tournament six of the last seven years. He had built that program back up, put them at a very, very high level. You go back to the COVID year, and that was going to be a team

that was probably going to be a top four seed in the NCAA tournament. We didn't get to see that one. But Willard ultimately is going to get Maryland turned around, and they're going to be a team that was probably going to be a top four seed in the NCAA tournament. We didn't get to see that one. But Willard ultimately is going to get Maryland turned around. They're going to get dudes. I mean, you look at the recruiting base that they have. That's rarely a problem for Maryland basketball. And after down 4-0, and even at the beginning of the second half, as Maryland made that run, got it back within two.

Just the calm, cool, collected nature that we saw out of this Iowa team. Incredibly impressive. I'm able to win the game and win it in that kind of fashion. 81-67 the final. Northwestern on deck next. And if Iowa can find a way to get this victory, we can start dreaming a little bit more about what this team can be and not just being a tournament team,

maybe going up the seed line a little bit more. In fact, that we remember, right? Right now, there's going to be a regional in our state. Right here where I'm at, in Des Moines. Downtown Des Moines, Wells Fargo Arena, there is going to be a first and second round regional. On my radio show, we talk both Iowa and Iowa State. We talked about a lot here recently, really over the last week,

about the possibility of Iowa State being a top four seed and getting there. What are the chances of Iowa being able to play close to home? We'll get into that when we come back here on Locked on Hawkeyes. Today's episode of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast is brought to you by bet online your number one source for sports betting information stats news and analysis get the latest odds and trends for every professional and amateur league out there pro football playoffs continue boy what a start to the day today with that miami buffalo game of course last night the huge comeback from jacksonville you'll be firing at those games in a whole lot more we got college basketball we got the nba and the australian open effect well it

starts as you're probably listening to this right now all online at bet online if you love sports podcasts and if you're hanging out with me today, you're listening, you, I'm sure, like sports podcasts. They also have those over at BetOnline. Always the fastest and easiest way to get your sports betting information. Head to the website today or hop on your mobile phone,

your tablet, and you can learn more there. BetOnline, where the game starts. As we wrap things up on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Now we've talked a little bit about, of course, what's coming up next for Iowa. The next matchup

on Wednesday as they will take on Northwestern. But another component of this that certainly needs to be talked about is not just the game. Not just what we're going to see from Iowa playing Northwestern is what's also going to be happening both before and after the game. It's going to be another anniversary of the passing of Chris Street and haven't talked a ton about this here on the podcast side of things but I think if you've been

listening for a while you have an overview of what I am and who I am. So I grew up like many of you in the state of Iowa and for somebody like me me, 42 years old, so my earliest memories, I remember a little bit of Georgia Rattling's final season, but it came full circle for me and where it felt like I was there, involved every single game for the rest of my childhood, was Iowa basketball back then in the 80s on Thursday nights and into Saturdays as they played those double dips. And Iowa basketball, more than Iowa football, more than the Bears.

Yeah, I'm a Bears fan. I'm a Twins fan. I was 7-11 when they won World Series. I was in kindergarten, won the Bears, won the World Championship in the Super Bowl. But Iowa basketball, there was just something about the sport, about knowing that it was the only sport that I was going to be able to see during the week growing up. I didn't have a ESPN.

We didn't have a satellite dish. I lived out in the country. Well, a small town, New Haven. Right next to Osage, eight miles away. We didn't have cable. There was none of that. So the only time that I got to really see sports growing up during the week, I know youngsters are probably absolutely baffled about this,

but you old guys know like me, the only time that we could watch sports, if you didn't have cable, was on Thursday nights with Iowa basketball. So that's where my connection came for Iowa basketball. There was just something about it and watching those teams and watch B.J. Armstrong and Roy Marble and Ed Horton and Kevin Gamble and on and on and on. Brad Lohaus. We can play this game.

Jeff Moe. I absolutely love Jeff Moe. Just these guys, they were the superstars. It wasn't Michael Jordan. It wasn't Walton Payton. It was the guys wearing the Iowa jersey. And that continued. So the passing of Chris Street, an Iowa kid that lived out the dream that all of us hoped for,

to wear the black and gold, to be that hometown kid, to be the guy that went out there and played for Dr. Tom and was able to bring the effort every single time, to go out there, and every time he was on the hardwood, he was going to give his most. And his passing, just how devastating it was. So they'll be honoring Chris Street again. And a bunch of his teammates and former Hawkeye alumni are going to be there. Wade Lookingbill, in fact, going to try to get Wade here on the podcast sometime before or after the game next week.

Wade was a teammate of him. Wade was the one that was inserted into the starting lineup after Chris' passing. And just, you know, what a tough situation that was for him. I've heard the, after the game, after the game on Wednesday night against Northwestern, they're going to be playing for the first time

the documentary that the Big Ten Network has done. Now, Andy Garman, formerly KCCI here in Central Iowa, he put together a great 30-minute piece about him. There's been other things done, but I have heard this one is going to be excellent again, and I'm looking forward to it. He's a special person. He was a special person, I think, to all Iowans and all Hawkeye fans. And I'm excited for young people.

I told you guys the story a couple weeks ago. Took my daughter. She'd been to a game before, but she was a lot younger. It was the first time she was really involved and into the game. And I want to show her that. And I want to bring that connection. That connection, if you're younger, maybe you don't get it. Watch this piece. If you're older, you got younger people in your life, watch that piece. Or

you just want to remember. You get old, you forget things, right? You forget some of the big aspects and the big moments and what he meant and what Iowa basketball meant at that time. The free throw record, what, of course, Jordan Bohannon did at the end of that one. I'm looking forward to it more than anything in a while as it pertains to sports, getting those memories back and memories that you lose, memories that you forget. So you have that coupled with, obviously, the game. Iowa now looking at a great chance of getting to 5-0 here during this five-game stretch.

So after the loss to Penn State, we talked about it. Yeah, it was tough. You battled all the way back. You didn't get it done. Played so terribly, obviously in the loss against Eastern Illinois and then the performance right after that against Nebraska. But since then, what this Iowa team has done, the back-to-back comebacks at home against Indiana and Michigan,

going to Rutgers and controlling that game. Same thing here. Just really being in cruise control against Maryland. Find a way to get to Northwest. We said get to 4-1. Well, now they've got a chance at 5-0 through this stretch. It's going to get more difficult. You've got to go to Ohio State then after the Northwestern game next weekend

on Saturday and then a road trip the following Thursday against Michigan State. It's going to get more difficult. They come home for Rutgers. You know, they're going to be certainly ready. Then it's Illinois, and that's always a slugfest. So that's what's in front of this team here over the next couple of weeks. Wednesday, home for Northwestern. Saturday at Ohio State.

Back on the road to Michigan State on Thursday, the 26th. Sunday, the 29th against Rutgers back at home, then Illinois. It's another difficult spot. They're all difficult. There isn't an easy stretch left of this schedule. But if you would have told me after the Penn State game that this team was going to rip off five in a row, I would have said no shot.

It says a lot about this. Kids, what they're doing, but also says a lot about Fran McCaffrey. As I said at the top, there are things about Fran that frustrate you. Absolutely. There's things that you look at, the two-foul rule, you can get upset with,

but who knows how to coach? And if Fran could get this team to the NCAA tournament, think of this. He'll have taken now this Iowa squad to the NCAA tournament eight of the last ten years. Lute Olsen never did that. Dr. Tom never did that. Alford never did that. Thank God Licklider never had an opportunity

to do that. We've never seen a run like this. Yeah, we want more. We want to get to that second weekend. Get to a sweet 16. The buildup, the leadup, the anticipation after the games conclude on Sunday, leading up to when the games start again on Thursday. There are just 16 teams left, and nationally, everybody's talking about those squads and finding stories and on and on and on.

And it's great. And we want that for this Iowa basketball program but realize yes there's been frustrations not getting over that hump I get it there's been a whole lot of good and the coaching job that he has done with this squad it bears commending we'll see what it means for Patrick McCaffrey is he inserted back in the starting lineup. What do you do? We're going to speculate that. We're going to talk about that a whole lot more here in the coming days on Lockdown Hawkeyes.

We got a lot more coming your way as well. Plenty of football talk. A couple of new names in the transfer portal. Possibility of Iowa getting involved with them. And it's not over. Though classes start on Tuesday, doesn't mean that it's over for Iowa football. They're still going to be working inside that portal.

Looking forward to spring football. What comes afterwards, still more names out there. Yes, Iowa's picked up a few in the portal, but it doesn't mean that it's done. Still a chance to figure out what they're going to do. Plenty of football talk. Women's basketball, we got to talk about that. What a performance against Penn State on Saturday.

Kaitlyn Clark was excellent once again, but she was not alone. Just one of the more dominating performances you're going to see on the Hawkeye women's team. Iowa wrestling gets it done

against Northwestern. There is so much going on and we got you covered. Your team every day. Hawkeyes every day here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. That's what we do for you. Thanks for making

Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen today. For your second listen, check out our brand new podcast. It's Locked On College Basketball. Our experts, Isaac Schottie and Andy Patton, bring you everything you need to know on and off the court, plus hear from the big-name experts, coaches, players throughout the basketball landscape. It's Locked On College Basketball, available on YouTube and wherever you get podcasts.

If you're still here, hit that subscribe button. It helps us out and gets us in front of more Hawkeye fans. This is Trent Conant. Thanks for joining us. We'll talk to you again tomorrow on Locked On Hawkeyes. Go Hawks!