Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball silences the doubters in big time win plus Kirk Ferentz press conference takeaways

Episode Date: December 9, 2020

The #3 Iowa Hawkeyes basketball team takes down North Carolina 93-80 behind a barrage of three-pointers. We break down the good and the bad from that game while also digging into the takeaways from the Kirk Ferentz press conference.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON,” and you’ll get 20% off your next order.BuiltGoVisit BuiltGO.com and use promo code “LOCKED,” and you’ll get 20% off your next order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back, Hawkeye Nation, to another episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes Podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Locked On Sports Network. As always, I am your host, Andrew Wade. Excited to be back for another show today. And we do have a lot of stuff to cover for you. We have the men's basketball game, Iowa versus North Carolina. We'll be breaking that down on segment number three. I'm pre-recording this segment

number one and segment number two. I'm going to record the Iowa UNC talk after that, but we do have that coming up. We also have the Kirk Ferens press conference as it is every single Wednesday. We're going to be breaking that down, talking through what he said and what we learned from that. And then we're also going to be giving you the metrics that matter, breaking down some of the metrics from Iowa versus Illinois. And also breaking down some of the metrics going into this Iowa-Wisconsin game. Just a reminder that tomorrow we have our crossover episode with Asher Lowe, host of Locked On Badgers. So make sure to tune into that as well. And I know I promised you all a little bit of a bowl game talk.

We'll be doing that on Friday, so stay tuned for that. Before we hop into our content, though, just want to give a shout-out and congratulations to Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week for Big Time Women's Basketball, Kaitlyn Clark. She has absolutely been lighting it on fire for the women's basketball team. I knew she was going to be good, right? I mean, five-star recruit, top five in the nation, but team. I knew she was going to be good. Five-star recruit, top five in the nation, but did we really know she was going to be this good this early?

She has been playing phenomenal, awesome stuff there. We also got some Shrine Bowl selections. They're not going to actually be a Shrine Bowl this year, but it was cool of them to come out and say who was selected for the Shrine Bowl. And a couple Iowa players made that list as can be expected. So let's quickly run through that list. We have Nick Neiman, the outside linebacker for the Iowa Hawkeyes. We also have Alaric Jackson.

We have Amir Smith-Marset. And we have Brandon Smith. I'm going to quickly go through and see if I missed any other players but I think that was it for now I'm recording this again before the Iowa basketball game want to make sure that I don't I want to give you the content you deserve right I don't want to be doing this later at night so

I might have missed a player or two who got added on oh wait let me check Jack Heflin as well the transfer is also a part of that. Chauncey Golston is another Iowa football player that's joining that. And I bet we're going to see, looks like that is it for right now for Iowa Hawkeye football players that are selected to the Shrine Bowl that is not actually taking place. They are going to do some virtual things. So stay tuned for that. Awesome stuff though, all around for those guys. It is senior day coming up

this Saturday. So a sad day. We're going to see players like a Keith Duncan, a Nick Neiman, those kind of guys play their last game in an Iowa Hawkeye uniform in Kinnick Stadium. But let's get to the show because we're going to talk about that a little bit with the Kirk Ferens press conference. He was asked about some of these players. And just a reminder that given this year COVID, these players have the opportunity to return. So they have the ability to return to college football. They have a free year of eligibility. And so far, it sounds like no one's going to take Kirk up on that offer at this point.

He said he also hasn't had those conversations. He reminded them that that is an opportunity or an option. But it does sound like at least Nick Neiman and Keith Duncan are not returning. Matt Hankins seemed a little bit more on the fence when talking to the media, but again, probably not returning. And then in addition to all the seniors who are not going to be returning, Davian Nixon and Tyler Linderbaum, I think we might want to start just assuming they are gone because that is also likely going to happen. Now let's get into some of the press conference items outside of that. He did say 22 guys being recognized Saturday, potentially their last day in Kinnick. It's not

going to be a normal senior day on a lot of levels. The virtual world we're living in, nonetheless, it'll be really good for them to get recognized. Again, some of these guys have been in the program for five, six years. They have done a phenomenal job of creating a legacy for the Iowa Hawkeyes. And I have no doubt in my mind they want to leave Kinnick Stadium on a high note with a win over the University of Wisconsin. And speaking about Wisconsin, Kirk had obviously a lot of words of praise for Wisconsin. He said, doesn't change year

to year. A tough physical football team. They're extremely well coached. They have good football players every single year. They have a good coaching staff. Coach Crist and his staff do an amazing job. Probably if you go back to the early 90s, almost the same script each and every year. Some faces have changed, but they just play good football. They make you earn anything you're going to get.

That's the case this year again. And it's true. Wisconsin might be 2-2, but they are a very solid football team. And we're going to get to that when we talk about the metrics. But this is one of the best defensive teams in the nation. They are just dominating the game defensively. They just can't put up points offensively. So there's a lot of opportunity there for Iowa to be able to stop that offense and maybe make a play defensively, maybe make a play on special teams. But this is going to be, I've been saying it all week,

I think this is going to be a lot like that 2015 game, 10-7, that kind of thing, because it is going to be absolutely gross. Kirk also got a question about Julius Brents, the former four-star cornerback who has decided to transfer. He said, I did talk to Julius. He came in Sunday and told me his intentions. We had a fairly thorough conversation. I asked him to sleep on it, come back the next day just to make sure he was sure.

But he'd already given it pretty extensive thought. That was apparent. Long story short, I'm a little perplexed by his reasoning. To your point, the timing is a little bit interesting. That being said, I respect his honesty, his courage, because that's how he's feeling right now. He's going to follow his heart. And I think that's the best you can do.

Seems like he wanted to leave for whatever reason. I don't want to speculate. I really don't think it had to do with a lot of playing time because I do think he was one of the next guys in line there. Lots of talent with Julius Brent, but I do wish him the best. He also got a question Kirk did about whether these transfers as of recent were due to race and due to the racial issues that have been brought up within the program. Kirk said that as far as he knows, no. He's had that conversation with each of these guys and all their answers basically said no, that was not the case.

They just didn't want to be within the program anymore. So that is good to know as far as those players not feeling like there are still issues within the program and that's why they're leaving. Keep in mind, it seems like there is going to be, it's almost kind of moving that way, a free year to transfer, one free transfer. And again, this is a free year of eligibility as well. So there's a little bit less risk in leaving the program at this point. Also in regards to that, and just talking about, you know, the, the coaching style and the, the issues that came up the summer, they were asked about, you know, how, how can you approach coaching by being demanding, but not demeaning? And what are you changing? Kirk said, I checked with the leadership group

weekly about issues, things that we need to be aware of things we need to address, et cetera. Everything has been very positive. I think you're seeing that with the way guys are playing on Saturdays. That's your window. The media interviews you have on Tuesday, then when you see Saturdays, talk to them after the games. Usually to me, that is the best window you have. And I couldn't agree anymore. I mean, this program looks a lot different than it did a year ago. This program has, you know, character and they're excited. Look at the sidelines against Illinois up and going at it. People are showing attitude, showing that they're ready to be there, being excited, yelling, all that stuff. The swag surfing in the locker room. Those are all

indicators that Kirk has changed his approach a little bit. And I love seeing these guys on Twitter. They're fantastic follows, especially obviously bit. And I love seeing these guys on Twitter. They're fantastic followers, especially, obviously, Keith Duncan. I mean, these guys on social media, they're not ruining it, right? They're not doing anything dumb. They are just having fun and being kids. And I think Iowa is starting to embrace that. Or young adults, I should say. But Iowa is starting to embrace that,

and I really respect the turnaround of this program. And obviously, Kirk is doing whatever he can to continue to learn and grow as a coach to be a better coach for these players. The final question, they talked a little bit about whether or not Iowa is going to show up in a 4-4-3 defense. As you might remember last year, to stop the running game, Iowa showed up with basically four defensive linemen, four linebackers, and three defensive backs. Kirk had this to say, I think anything's possible. Probably what we ought to look at as a 12-man defense, that would be better. It worked for Kansas. I alluded to that against Penn State. Whatever it was, 69 Orange Bowl. Worked for a couple plays. They caught it on the third

one. I have a feeling this day and age they'll catch it quicker. Obviously, Kirk just making some jokes there, but it is something to look at. Iowa has, you know, Phil Parker has done a good job of evolving, and last year the 4-4-3 didn't work as well because we had a pretty young linebacker group, a pretty inexperienced linebacker group. But this year, the 4-4-3, if you can get a Seth Benson and a Jack Campbell in there and a Nick Neiman, Barrington Wade, that's huge. That is absolutely huge. These guys have experience now.

I mean, especially Seth Benson and Jack Campbell. I've been really impressed with what they've been doing from that middle linebacker spot while rotating. As a secondary, my guess is we would see... That's a tough one. My guess is we see Matt Hankins and Riley Moss and Dane Belton. I don't know what those three defensive back rotations look like. I know it would be Matt Hankins, and I would be shocked if Dane Belton wasn't out there. Maybe Jack Horner. But that would be interesting to see. I do believe Iowa needs to stop the run. That is the first and fourth. That's the biggest priority for Iowa at this point, is stopping the run. Force Graham

Mertz to pass. Get them in passing situations and lighten up the defense. Go to a 4-3, go to a 4-2-5, whatever it may take. But I do believe Iowa needs to stop the run. And if it takes a 4-4-3, then I'm on board. Obviously, there's always that opportunity to get burnt over top. That is going to be basically putting your cornerbacks on an island, but I do believe they're up to the task. They have shown that they can handle that responsibility, and I believe it's the time to do it, especially if you want to get your first win in many years against Wisconsin. But that's what we learned from Kirk Ferentz's press conference. Coming up, we're going to talk about the metrics that matter and what that means going into Iowa versus Wisconsin.

Before we do that, though, are you always on the go, just constantly moving, nonstop hustle? I mean, I'm recording this just 15 minutes before the Iowa-North Carolina tip-off, and it has been quite a day. I've been working, been working on the podcast, recorded another podcast for the Locked On College Football Show, and my wife bought new appliances, so we've been working on getting those installed as well. Sometimes I just need to take a second and chill.

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And as a reminder, tomorrow, we do have our crossover episode with Asher low host of locked on badgers. We did a, we went through a lot of stuff covering the football team, and then we even got into some basketball talk. And that was a little bit more heated.

I hope you're going to enjoy the show tomorrow. Please make sure to subscribe wherever you downloaded this podcast at so you can get that show downloaded directly to your smart device when you wake up in the morning. Let's get back to our conversation, though, talking this time about the metrics that matter. And I quickly want to go through the metrics from the Iowa-Illinois game because we kind of had a weird schedule.

Our episode with Matt dropped a little bit later on Sunday. Wasn't able to get you a Monday morning episode, but I do want to talk about some of the key players in that game. Offensively, top players for the game, Sam Laporta came in with an 88.1 PFF grade, Sean Byer 81.6, Makai Sargent 75.5. Tyler Goodson, 72.1. And Kyler Schott, 71.2. Awesome stuff all around for those guys. I mean, again, Sam Laporta is an absolute stud. He's a matchup nightmare. Love to see him play. And it's awesome to see two tight ends get into our top two.

On the defensive side, Chauncey Golston, 84.9. Kayvon Merriweather, who's been having a phenomenal underrated season at this point, 78.3. Matt Hankins, 72.8. Jack Campbell, 71.2. And Jack Heflin, 68.5. A Senior Bowl or a Shrine Bowl nominee, Jack Heflin. Again, Chauncey Golston, also a Shrine Bowl nominee. Awesome stuff for those guys.

Let's get into some of the other metrics, though. A couple things I noticed, and we talked about it on the show with Matt Vandenberg that you need to definitely check out. You're not checking those out. You're missing out because we do some fantastic stuff. Illinois did a good job of getting pressure on us, especially at the right tackle position. And Jack Plum has struggled a little bit. He allowed two of the seven pressures in this past game. He allowed four of the eight in the previous game. Mark Kallenberger is back on the two deeps. That's something I'm watching. Coy Kronk was also dressed. That is also something I'm watching as well. We need to get better

production at the right tackle position. When I say production, better protection. Also, Alaric Jackson had his worst game of the season, a 44.1 pass blocking grade. So that was a bit of a struggle. Illinois brought some pressure. Wisconsin is going to do the same thing. They don't have the same sack numbers that they've had in the past, but they do bring a lot of pressure. And we're going to get to that right now, specifically with the pressure. So their sack percentage has gone down significantly.

Last year, it was at 10.75. This year, 4.96. They're 95th in the nation. They lost two fantastic players who were both playing in the NFL. They replaced them with Jack Sanborn and Leo Chennai. Jack Sanborn has 14 pressures. Leo Chennai has 13. Wisconsin, and I'm drawing a blank on the defensive coordinator's name right now.

Jim Leonard. Sorry. Excuse me there. They like to bring pressure with the outside linebackers. They play a 3-4. They like to bring pressure with those linebackers, and that's what they've been doing, but they haven't been as effective at getting sack numbers. Now, if you remember, Nebraska also came out in a 3-4, and that was a little bit confusing. It changes up your blocking assignments, and it's a little bit tough for a newer quarterback to identify that, so that is something to watch out for, especially early in the game. But I do think this is going to be

a defensive battle. When I look at Wisconsin's numbers, it kind of worries me. Rushing yards defense, sixth in the nation for Wisconsin, allowing 72.2. Passing yard defense, fifth in the nation. That is phenomenal. They are just doing a great job there. So that is concerning. The one thing, like I said, is sack percentage. They are just not getting it done and getting to the quarterback, but that doesn't seem to be really bothering them. Takeaways are also not as strong of a suit for Wisconsin. They're 64th in the nation, right in the middle of the pack at one and a half

turnovers or takeaways per game. So the good thing is they're not taking the ball away as much. They're not getting to the quarterback, but they also are stopping the run and stopping the pass. So it's going to be a huge test for our offense, especially with Spencer Petras having struggled so much this season. See if he can get it going, especially because the running game might not be there and we're going to need to throw the ball. Now going on to how we're going to stop them. It's going to be tough. They're not a great passing team, despite what Graham Mertz did against Illinois early in the season.

He has struggled. His production has really dropped off the last couple of weeks. He's holding onto the ball too long. He is struggling mightily under pressure. And so that bodes well for Iowa. Passing yards per game, Wisconsin 201, 87th in the nation. Rushing yards per game, though, Wisconsin typically a strong team, 199.8. Where I do get a

little bit you know excited about Wisconsin is their rushing yards per attempt though has dropped significantly last year around that 5.5 yards per carry range right now it's down to 4.4 now that being said they are starting to really rely on Jalen Berger a true freshman out of New Jersey to run the ball and he has been producing quite a. So look to see Jalen Berger get the ball more. He hasn't had more than 15 carries in the last two games. I think if Wisconsin wants to win, they got to get that running game going. And I think it starts with Jalen Berger getting 20 to 22 carries. That being said, when you listen to our show tomorrow with Asher Lowe, you're going to know that one of the things he struggles with right now is pass blocking. So when he's in the game, he's like he getting the ball. And that is a good opportunity for Iowa to either bring pressure to stop the run or bring pressure. And

hopefully you can get past him and sack Graham Mertz, who, like I said, has struggled with holding onto the ball. One of the interesting stats that you can get on pro football focus is the amount of pressures allowed. And what I find interesting about that is they also attribute pressures to the quarterback, which I think is a fair assessment. Sometimes the blocking's fantastic. The quarterback just didn't get the ball out when they should have. And Grant Mertz right now leads the team with six pressures, the most on the team in four games, six pressures due to him holding onto the ball too long or not making the right throw. So that is very interesting to me. The other thing I noticed when looking at this running attack that is again, not as good as

we've typically seen for Wisconsin is that they're a little bit weaker running the ball to the right side. On the left side of the field, they're averaging 7 yards, 5.1 and 5.4 yards per carry, going all the way to the left side of the tackle through to almost the middle left. When you go from the middle left over, it's 2.8 yards when they go through the middle left, 2.9 behind the right tackle, 4.4 on the outside of the tackle there. That is something to watch out for as well because we're going to see Chauncey Golsan on that left side. I expect that to be solid.

We need Jack Heflin, Zach Van Valkenburg, those guys to really step up on that right side if we want to stop this Wisconsin running game, force them to throw the ball, and possibly have an opportunistic defense who makes a big-time play because I really, truly think this game is going to come down to special teams and a big defensive play. And if we can make them make more mistakes than we do, obviously that's a very good recipe for success. Now we talk about, you know, Graham Mertz, again, he struggles under pressure. His passer rating has dropped from 100 when not under pressure to 40 when under pressure. He's completing just 35% of his passes. Now, that being said, a lot of his mistakes have actually come when he's not under pressure, to 40 when under pressure. He's completing just 35% of his passes. That being said, a lot of his mistakes have actually come

when he's not under pressure, when he has too much time. Four interceptions when he's not under pressure. So I'm very curious as to how that actually plays out. My guess is he's just getting a little bit lucky with some of the throws he's making when he is under pressure. Now, let's get one more thing in about Iowa's offense before we focus on the special teams where Iowa has a clear advantage. Wisconsin, I do think we want to get the running game going, but we also want to spread it out a little bit,

mix it up, because Wisconsin's top two corners allowing a 35.3% completion percentage and a 46.2% completion percentage. When you get to their third and fourth corners, it's over 50%. Still not great, but that bodes well for Iowa to maybe take advantage of that. Again, they've been really successful using the two-tied end approach lately, but maybe they can do something to get going with that. So that is something I'm also watching out for to see if we maybe put 3-4 wide in there or if we split out the tight ends, try to get mismatches on those linebackers

to see if maybe they try to bring one of their edge backers over or a middle linebacker I think would be a fantastic matchup for Iowa to win with their tight end. So that is something that I do think Iowa has an advantage in, just like special teams, which I'm going to wrap up in just a few short seconds. We have the advantage here. Amir Smith-Narset is one of the best returners in the nation. Charlie Jones is one of the best punt returners in the nation. Torrey Taylor is a Ray Guy Award semifinalist. And Keith Duncan, he's the GOAT. The Wisconsin kicker has only kicked one field goal. Colin Larch, one field goal all year. The only thing I do think is actually pretty solid is Wisconsin's punter. He's averaging 4.3 second hang time. That's pretty solid. You want to get in that 4.5 range. That is superb. But 4.03 is better than Torrey Taylor. And he's only

allowed two returns this year, or two returns on 14 attempts. So that's pretty darn solid. However, Charlie Jones is a daredevil out there. I don't doubt that he's going to try to catch every ball and take off with it. So that'll be fun to watch. Again, this game comes down to defense and special teams, without a doubt. We're going to break that game down more with Asher Lowe on tomorrow's show and get more into it on Friday's show as well.

Before we do that, though, we do have a couple of messages from our sponsors, and then we'll get back into segment number three, breaking down this game, Iowa versus North Carolina. All right, y'all. Tomorrow is Crossover Thursday across the Locked On NFL Networker podcast and across the College Networker podcast. So make sure you are tuning in. We have our crossover episode with Asher Lowe.

There's crossover episodes across the NFL landscape. If you love the Vikings, Bears, Rams, Chiefs, whoever it may be, they are breaking down that upcoming game as well. Crossover Thursday is a great way to get a quick breakdown of every game for your fantasy team or for your parlay. Crossover Thursday is only on the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Let's hop into that breakdown of what went right, what went wrong in the Iowa vs. North Carolina basketball game. First and foremost, y'all, Iowa wins 93-80 over No. 16 North Carolina. Let's get into the good, the bad, the ugly of that game and what needs to improve going

forward. The first thing I really loved was the three-point shooting. It's hard to miss how well Iowa is shooting the ball from behind the arc. Jordan Bohannon, 7 of 16 for 3. CJ Frederick, 5 of 7. Joe Wieskamp, 5 of 7 as well. Those guys were catalyst for Iowa shooting over 40% from behind the arc. And that was the difference maker in the game.

Iowa made 17 three-pointers on 42.5% shooting. UNC made 6 on 40% shooting. That is a huge difference. Now, not everyone was shooting the ball well. Jack Nunji, 0 of 5 from behind the arc. Patrick McCaffrey, 0 for 3. Joe Toussaint, 0 for 1. Luka Garza, 0 for 1.

So, you know, some guys were struggling, but when we came into this game, when we talked to Candace Cooper on yesterday's show, I said, to win this game, you need to have two of the three guys, Joe Weiskamp, TJ Frederick, or Jordan Bohannon shooting the ball. Well, it couldn't come all down to Luka Garza and Luka Garza had a bit of a struggle. He went six of 20. If you look at the box score, Luka Garza struggle in this game. If you look at what was actually happening, he was getting his looks and he just, they just

weren't falling. The ball was not rolling. Sometimes it happens when you go six to 20, it happened. There's a lot of shots. I thought, you know, in a normal game, in a normal situation or most times that is going to roll in, he's going to get that point, but it just wasn't happening last night, which is unfortunate. But I think that the key here, the good thing you can see is that Iowa won this game without Luka Garza having to score a significant amount of points. He was the fourth leading scorer on this team. How often did you say that last year? Luka Garza only scored 16 points.

Iowa wins the game against a ranked Tar Heels team by 13 points. That's huge. Luka Garza didn't score the last 10 minutes of the game. That's huge. Another good thing I thought was Luka Garza getting involved on the, you know, getting the boards. 14 rebounds, 7 offensive rebounds, 7 defensive rebounds. I really liked what I saw from him, you know, on the boards. That was something he wanted to improve on, and I thought he did a phenomenal job of extending, you know, possessions by getting those offensive rebounds. Great job there. Two assists as well for the big man, and again,

a great job of, you know, perfecting that inside-out game, hitting Jordan Bohannon for two wide-open three-pointers as people tried to double him. I also thought the guards did mostly a good job of ball handling throughout the game. UNC was putting a lot of pressure on Iowa's guards and wings in general. And Iowa did a solid job of not turning the ball over until partway through the second half.

I wanted to get into some of the bad and we'll wrap up with obviously the things I think need to improve and probably some more good stuff as well. But Jordan Bohannon really struggled from about the 8-minute stretch to the 5-minute stretch, some really sloppy passing all around. But then he goes and makes that momentum-changing 3-pointer and you forget all about it. That was a little bit concerning to see some of that play. Jack Nunji struggled in this game, 2-9.

You need to get better production from some of those bench players as well. Iowa only had 13 points off the bench. That's okay. Iowa has a very strong starting five, but you want to get more production out of a guy like Jack Nunji. Patrick McCaffrey, who's looked so great early in the season, and Joe Toussaint. Joe Toussaint only played 12 minutes and didn't really bring as much early on really struggled early on in the game

playing a little bit reckless again only only had one turnover which isn't bad but again a little bit reckless there which I thought you know was the reason why he got yanked so quickly and didn't really get that many minutes a lot of of these starters played big-time minutes. 35 minutes for Luka Garza, 32 minutes for Joe Wieskamp, 34 for TJ Frederick, and 31 for Jordan Bohannon. You know, and as far as fouls, they didn't get North Carolina into much foul trouble as you typically have seen them do, but they did get some of the big men in, Luka Garza specifically.

He wasn't getting the rolls he wanted, but he was getting them into foul trouble, which is fantastic. I also really liked seeing Joe Wieskamp and CJ Frederick drive to the basket later in the game. There was also a play Joe Toussaint, you know, in this limited time in the second half, drove to the basket, got the, you know, got the layup and got the foul call as well. Those were, those are things I want to see. I want to see them drive a little bit more. The three-point shooting, obviously something we can focus on and something they did phenomenally, but it was great to see some of our perimeter type of guys driving into the basket and getting those easy looks, those easy layups. And again, Luka Garza is not going

to always have a six for 29 and they still won by 13. So that is something to not hang your hats on. He did a fantastic job of making an impact where he could. And he did a good job in the early part of the second half when North Carolina was making a run and Iowa was not hitting their three-pointers at all. Luka Garza was what kept Iowa in that game. And that goes to show you the depth of this team. And that's one of the things I really appreciated about Iowa in this game was it came from so many different angles throughout the game.

The three-point shooting was so hot early on. Iowa's defense was electric. They were playing fantastic. Jordan Bohannon, I mean, he was on top of his guy when they were playing man defense for a bit. I really like to see that. The energy went away early in that second half, but Luka Garza brought it and kept the team back in, and that's what a national player of the year does. He kept his team in the game until his guys could get hot shooting the ball again. he kept his team in the game until his guys could get hot shooting the ball again. Also, can we talk about Keegan Murray?

The guy is an animal. A true freshman, he is a breath of fresh air off the bench. Two plays in particular, the soaring rebound and putback on a Luke, I think it was a Luka Garza miss, was huge. He also had a great block later on down in the second half. Only finished with six minutes played, three points, one rebound. I mean, but one steal, one block. That's a Nicholas Bayer type of line right there. We have our Nicholas Bayer, and that is Keegan Murray,

a guy who people probably didn't expect to be playing as much key minutes. But he got six minutes in this game, and he looked every bit as he belonged in that game. This is going to be a special player going forward and he's going to be a huge catalyst to this team doing the dirty work as he has been doing early on in his Iowa career. Those are a couple of things I really enjoyed. Again, I think Iowa's going to struggle with athletic perimeter players. They clearly did when North Carolina was putting a lot of pressure on them. You also don't want to have to rely on shooting that many three-pointers that often, but it worked.

And again, Luka Garza is not going to always have a night like that. He's not always going to be off like that and not be getting those rolls. Those are things you have to be excited about. The fact that Luka Garza didn't play his best game and Iowa still won by that much, that's huge. You also want to see Joe Toussaint get a little bit better. You need a guy like Joe Toussaint. He's a playmaker. You need to see him perform better in these key situations, not play out of control, and really be a catalyst on the defensive side of the ball. He's probably our best on-ball defender. You want to see him, you know, be able to perform like that and get the game going when he is in the game. And then finally, you know, overall, I thought Iowa did a

good job of not letting North Carolina build momentum when they did have a little bit of a run there. They were able to come back. That's why you see a Jordan Bohannon is going to be such a big-time player. He struggled a little bit for a couple minutes that game, but he was the guy draining those big shots when you needed them. And TJ Frederick, I mean, this guy's a baller. He cannot miss sometimes. And it is fantastic to see him get out there, score 21 points. He was really carrying the team in that first half.

He was the big guy out there shooting all the deep threes and really keeping the team going when they got up to a 10, 16-point lead, that kind of thing. So again, a big win all around. and really keeping the team going when they got up to a 10, 16-point lead, that kind of thing. So, again, a big win all around. There's definitely some things to improve, especially as we prepare for an Iowa State and a Gonzaga. Iowa State, not so much. We can kind of work on a few things there, get into that Gonzaga game.

That'll be a huge matchup for Iowa if Gonzaga can go. They're having some COVID issues, so we'll see what happens there. But overall, the big takeaway, Iowa wins 93-80, and it wasn't because of Luka. I think he did a great job, but it was really on the backs of a great three-point shooting and some clutch shots that really helped change the momentum of that game. That does it for our recap of the Iowa-North Carolina game. Remember to stay tuned for tomorrow's episode. We're doing our crossover episode, breaking down the Iowa vs. Wisconsin football game, so stay tuned for that. If you love the content we're providing, please make sure to give us that five-star review and subscribe wherever you

downloaded this podcast at and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. As always, folks, I appreciate you tuning in. Have a fantastic Wednesday and let's go Hawks.