Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa women's basketball blows out Michigan to become B1G Champions! | Iowa Hawkeyes podcast

Episode Date: February 28, 2022

The Iowa women's basketball team put on a clinic yesterday against a top-10 ranked Michigan Wolverines squad to claim the honor of regular-season Big Ten Champions. Lisa Bluder's Iowa Hawkeye squad, playing in front of a sold-out Carver-Hawkeye arena put on one heck of a show led by National Player of the Year candidate Caitlin Clark's absurd performance. We break that all down right here before diving into Friday's win for the men's basketball team over Nebraska and a look ahead to tonight's matchup against Northwestern.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 “LOCKED15,” 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!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.RunYourPoolIf you want to play against us for a shot at a cash prize join us at RunYourPool.com/LockedOn. And while you’re there, create your own pool for your friends and family. Enter ‘PUREMADNESS’ at checkout for $10 off your custom pool. 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 a Monday morning episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Locked On Podcast Network. As always, I am your host, Andrew Wade, and we have a very, very exciting guest to bring on the show today, which I'm going to introduce here in a few short moments. We're going to be breaking down the amazing win yesterday over the Michigan Wolverines. Kaitlin Clark had a phenomenal day, as did many of the women's Iowa Hawkeye players

to claim the Big Ten Championship. We're also going to be talking about the win Friday night from the men's team and giving you a preview of tonight's upcoming matchup, Iowa versus Northwestern in the men's basketball side. That's all coming up on today's show. But first, I want to thank you all for making the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast

your first listen every single day. You can find the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast for free wherever you get podcasts at and also on YouTube by searching Locked On Hawkeyes podcast, your first listen every single day. You can find the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast for free wherever you get podcast at and also on YouTube by searching Locked on Hawkeyes. And today's episode is brought to you by BetOnline. BetOnline has you covered this season with more props, odds, and lines than ever before. BetOnline.net, where the game starts. And as I tease, we have a very special guest. I've had a lot of amazing guests on, Super Bowl winners.

We have a very special guest. I've had a lot of amazing guests on, Super Bowl winners. I've had people who, you know, won all American awards, NFL players, NBA players, you name it. But today is very special because I'm joined by my nephew, Wright Hillpiper. Wright, man, it is an honor to have you on. How are you doing today? I'm doing great. It's great to be here. You know, I may not be the most talented guest you've had on, athletics-wise, but this is my passion. This is what I love to do, so it's great to be here. You know, I may not be the most talented guest you've had on athletics-wise, but this is my passion. This is what I love to do, so it's great to be here. Absolutely, man. Just because you're not exactly an NFL superstar does not mean you can't talk about football. You have a ton of experience in that world, and you've done a lot of play-by-play announcing as well, so really excited

to have you on the show. We're going to cover a lot in the Iowa Hawkeye realm. Let's kick it off this women's team, man. I mean, what an amazing game. The Iowa women's team taking down Michigan 104-80 to claim the Big Ten Championship, a co-Big Ten Championship, but nevertheless a Big Ten Championship, and the number two seed in the upcoming women's basketball tournament. Very exciting stuff. Kaitlin Clark had a phenomenal, phenomenal game. But first, Wright, what are your thoughts on the game this afternoon

that we just watched from the Iowa women's basketball squad you know I'll be honest with you going into that game I did not think that Iowa was going to put up the numbers that they did you know Caitlin Clark went into that game dropped 38 points 11 assists and six rebounds just had an absolute hell of a night you know dropping a double double and she's been great all year but I mean the first time these two teams met up February 6th Iowa went over to Michigan and played, lost 8-8, 98-90, and you know, after seeing the highlights from that game, I just, I didn't know, I mean, I figured Iowa had it in them to go out and pull this game off, especially at home, but I definitely did not think that they were going to end up, you know, leading by 24 points at the end of the game.

So it's great to see that they went out there and competed as hard as they could. And I mean, several of them had, you know, double digit games, but Caitlin Clark definitely had a standout game. Absolutely. Caitlin Clark has been getting a lot of not hate, but not a lot of love from ESPN. A lot of people claiming Elijah Boston from South Carolina should be the national player of the year. I would say, look at this game.

In the biggest moment on the biggest stage, Kaitlin Clark puts in 38 points on 11 of 18 shooting, eight of 11 from three, just hitting literally everything. Six rebounds, 11 assists. You talked about as well, several other players had fantastic games. Monica had 19. We saw Gabby Marshall have 14.

You know, it just across the board, this team played really, really well. Kate Martin putting an eight, some really great moments from Addison O'Grady as well. One of the things when you look at that Michigan game, they did not have, I don't believe McKenna Warnock was in that game at the time. A lot of injuries. I think Gabby Marshall might've been out as well. So Iowa definitely down a couple of players against Michigan, the previous game and coming into this game, you can see the value of the entire team, right? Caitlin Clark is going to carry this team, but she needs her supporting pieces.

And Carver was absolutely bumping the first sellout crowd and decades for the Carver Hawkeye area. So pretty awesome stuff there. As far as you're concerned goes, so Iowa now, they're going into the Big Ten tournament, the number two seed. Would you say at this point they are the odds-on favorite to win the Big Ten tournament? Or do you feel like there's other teams there that, you know,

they kind of have to worry about at this point? You know, obviously they're very high out there, but they still have to worry about teams like Ohio State and Maryland and obviously Michigan. I mean, I wouldn't necessarily say, and I mean no hate to the Hawkeyes. I love them just as much as the next guy. But they haven't necessarily proven that they're necessarily a better team overall than Michigan. They did have that one loss earlier in the season. But like you said, they have had injuries going into

this game and still managed to put up a 24-point win. So I think that they may not be necessarily the favorites to win at this point, but they are definitely very high up there and they have a very good chance of taking this. Absolutely, man. When you look at, especially again, Kaitlin Clark just having a truly phenomenal game, when you shoot 55% from three, there's not a lot of teams you're going to lose to, right? When you shoot 55% from three, and it felt like that second half, Iowa was literally draining every single shot. They're actually outscoring Iowa 25 to 20 in that first quarter, putting together some nice moments. I think they got 13 to four at one point to start the game off. And you start thinking, oh gosh, is this going to be bad? Is this going to be a massive letdown in a big time spot? Iowa figures out a way to get it going. And personally, I want to take some pride in the fact that I not only bet on Iowa prior to the game to win and to cover

and to score the team total points over 77, which they crushed. I then took Iowa down 13 to four and got them at plus 230. So I won a lot of money on the Iowa women's squad, which was pretty fun to see. Any other takeaways from you from this women's basketball squad in this game? Well, now that you mentioned it, I think my biggest takeaway is me regretting the fact that I didn't bet on the over on total points. But no, I think Iowa went out there, they, they played a very, very solid game.

And I think that a lot of people out there were expecting them to come in with injuries and maybe lose to this Michigan team again at Carver-Hawkeye, which Iowa, obviously, men's and women's are both very, very talented, especially when they're at Carver at home with that Iowa City crowd behind them, rallying behind them. But, I mean, obviously they didn't listen to anybody that had doubted them coming into this game today, and they were just able to completely take over the game, especially going second half and into the fourth quarter.

But, I mean, like I said, I really regret not taking a bet today on their over for total score. Absolutely, man. It's always nice to make a little money after Iowa wins. Iowa reeling off three straight ranked victories, Indiana, Indiana, and Michigan. So pretty impressive all around for the Iowa women's basketball squad. We're going to be covering that all throughout the week as the Big Ten tournament takes place this week for the women's side,

giving you all the news and action you need to know to cover this Iowa women's squad. Coming up, we're going to talk about the men's victory on Friday night. Yes, we buried the lead. Normally, we talk about the men's game first, but it was such a big game with the women's squad taking down a Michigan, a top 10 ranked team at home. We want to talk about that first. Coming up, we're going to talk about the men's squad and what they did against Nebraska and why Iowa

fans should not be worried about a sluggish first half start. So first, I want to tell you about BetOnline.net. Football season might be over, but basketball is in full steam for both pro and college hoops. From all the latest odds, totals, player performance props to where the next fired coach is going to land, BetOnline.net is the number one spot for all of your sports betting needs. BetOnline remains the best spot for all of your sports scores, podcasts, and news this season.

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also on YouTube by searching Locked On Hawkeyes podcast for free wherever you get podcasts at and also on YouTube by searching Locked On Hawkeyes. So we talked a lot about the women's basketball team and how amazing of a win that was. The crowd was absolutely electric. They were fired up. It was a ton of fun on senior night even. And honestly, I think at this point, this women's squad now has the ability to possibly get

a top four seed in the NCAA tournament, which would allow them to also get some more home games at Carver, which we'll be covering later on this week. But let's turn our attention to the men's squad, taking down Nebraska 88-78 in a game that did not start off that well for the men's team. Nebraska came out hot. It was their senior night, and Iowa was making a lot of uncharacteristic turnovers. However, they still ended up in that first half up by a point going into the second half.

But first, what did you see from this men's squad in that first half that maybe changed in the first and second half? And why should Iowa fans not be as worried about this? I think what I mostly noticed was just the pace of their play. It didn't seem like in the first half that they were really up and around yet. It didn't seem like in the first half that they were really up and around yet. It didn't seem like they had the same pace and same sort of fire that they have when they go out in the first half against teams. And especially against a Nebraska team that came into this game 7-20 overall and just 1-14 in the conference. I mean, after watching the first half, I sat down and talked to my dad.

We were both pretty upset about it. We didn't, we didn't see any reason why Iowa should be, I mean, yes, they were up going into the second half, but 36 to 35 didn't, didn't really quite make sense to us. But, you know, going into that second half, they were able to drop 52 going into the second half. And they really just were able to take things away from Nebraska and go out and get that win but it was it was definitely very uncharacteristic of Iowa and especially the last time Nebraska played Iowa it was at Carver and they won 98 to 75 and that was mid-February but it just it was it was very weird to see them you know not necessarily playing at a at a bad level but just to see them be um sort of like kind of down on themselves and um have a sort of slow pace in that first half it was very uncharacteristic of them yeah couldn't agree more definitely a sluggish start

to that first half uh Nebraska came out swinging one of the things about Nebraska they do when they're at home against Iowa, they have historically done pretty well. Iowa has not done well in that arena. The first half struggles. You'll take that at times. Iowa did not get their thing going really well early on. Keegan Murray was struggling when your national player of the year candidate is not hitting his shots early on. That is always going to be a problem. But I think what made me happy about this game was that Iowa did come out in the second half and they did take care of business and they did finish the

game off and we got production from other areas. Tony Perkins had a career game, basically setting career highs and literally everything he did had a 188 offensive rating. According to Kempom, 20 points on six of eight shooting two or two from three, five rebounds and one block in 26 minutes of action.

And that was arguably the difference in this game. Tony Perkins having a fantastic game. Plus Nebraska has come out strong in other first halves against teams. They just usually die off in the second half. So for Iowa fans out there that are thinking, what the heck is going on? Iowa figured it out.

All that matters, they came away with a win. They got a 10-point W on the road, and now they're taking on Northwestern tomorrow. One of the things, and I want to get your thoughts on this as well, Connor McCaffrey, he has been an interesting figure, I guess you could say, in Iowa basketball. Fans have struggled to love Iowa's Connor McCaffrey. He doesn't put up a lot of points.

When he does shoot, it hasn't always been pretty, especially early on in his career. But in his senior year, he's starting to come together. He's at 36% of his threes this year, 39.4% in conference play, and he added an 11 point on three or three shooting. What have you seen from Connor McCaffrey? And to those fans out there who are maybe a little bit frustrated by Connor McCaffrey at times, what have you noticed from Connor McCaffrey that kind of gets this team going? I think, you know, like you said, he doesn't

really go out there and necessarily put up a whole bunch of points every game. Like, I mean, versus Nebraska, he had 11 points, one rebound and one assist, which isn't exactly high numbers in any of those categories. But he really is able to kind of build team morale and not necessarily in a bench player sort of way. But on the court, he's not necessarily a first ballot player. He's more of a supporting type player, especially in that Nebraska game. But he's not necessarily out on the court to put up huge numbers. As I said, he only had 11 points against Nebraska, but he's been a great supporting player so far this season. And, you know, obviously haters are going to say that he's

not, you know, he's not where he should be and he should be way better than this, but it's, it's not necessarily always about offensive output and putting up, you know, 38 points a game and, you know, having a triple double every game. But I, I really see him more as a, as a supporting, not necessarily a supporting cast member, but he's definitely, you know, not out there putting up the points that you'd like him to see, but that doesn't necessarily make him as bad as everybody is saying. Yeah, couldn't agree more. He's a fantastic role player. The passing is there. He does a great job of getting the defense positioned.

Just overall, a phenomenal support player for the Iowa Hawkeyes. And when you look at his Kempom rating, he's put up some of the most impressive offensive ratings in the last couple of weeks. And with Conor McCaffrey being able to hit his three, I think going forward, this is going to really help the spacing of this team as well as he is arguably the best passer on the team. Now the teams have to respect his ability to shoot the three. That is going to make the spacing even better for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Now towards the end of the game, Nebraska was getting a little dirty. I thought there's a couple of situations on Jordan Bohannon where I felt like maybe a little grabby there. I thought Jordan Bohannon held his cool

about as good as he could. I also thought the officials, despite being pretty atrocious throughout this entire Big Ten season, did a good job of maybe simmering things down. Wanted to get your thoughts on some of the late game spectacles with that. to get your thoughts on some of the late game spectacles with that. You know, and I tell you, I'm a big supporter of sportsmanship, and I think everybody should be. But, you know, sometimes, especially when you get a team like or a rivalry like Iowa versus Nebraska, and obviously Iowa is overall a better team than Nebraska is, but being neighboring states and rivals in football and stuff like that, it's going to get chippy at some points.

And like you said, closer to the second half, it was starting to get a little more chippy, and I noticed that too. But it's going to happen, and there's not necessarily anything that you can do to prevent that from happening before it happens. But I think that, like you said, overall, the refs have not been, you know, all that stellar throughout the Big Ten. But it's, it's just one of those things that's going to happen out on a court, whether you want to see it or not. And it's not necessarily, you know, players going after each other for specific

reasons. But if you, you know, you accidentally catch an elbow to the chest from somebody who didn't mean to do it, you know, you're going to have words back and forth and you might have even some shoving and stuff like that and some pals called. But at the end of the day, that's just, that's just how it is. Basketball is not necessarily a full contact sport, but you are going to have dirty contact like that every once in a while. Absolutely. The last thing I want to talk about this game, and let me know if there's anything

else you want to do from a takeaway perspective, but Keegan Murray obviously having a little bit of a down game. One thing, though, there's one thing I have to criticize Keegan Murray for, and it's been a phenomenal season. It is his free throw shooting. He has struggled from the line, in this game, three of seven from the free throw line in losses to Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan. He shot four, seven,

five, and nine and four, nine this month. He's had some struggles as well. Three, seven, four, nine,

four, seven, and four of seven, not an ideal situation for him. He needs to be able to hit those free throws before we wrap it up though. What any other takeaways from you from this Iowa basketball teams win win over Nebraska on Friday? I think from the game, the most exciting thing I saw was just the way that Tony Perkins played. The fact that he was able to go out there and get 20 points, he's not exactly, you know, like you said, he had a breakout game, and it's not like

he's, you know, been able to go out there and do that every game, but really, really hoping to see that happen again versus Northwestern. And, um, you know, other than that, it's, it was, it was a, I wouldn't say a tough win for Iowa, but it, I don't think it necessarily went exactly the way they would have liked to. Definitely. Yeah. I think you go on the road, you'd like to close that game out a lot earlier. Uh, but a win is a win and Iowa now moves on to Northwestern, which we're going to move on to here in a few short moments. But first it is that time of the year. We're almost rolling into March where new year's resolutions are starting to come unraveled. It is tough to stick to all of your resolutions, especially if they are about eating healthy or staying fit. But thankfully

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And they really need to win the games they're supposed to win, which is basically the only remaining one is Northwestern, followed by Michigan, followed by Illinois, and they really need to win the games they're supposed to win, which is basically the only remaining one is Northwestern. So to kick it off right, what are you hoping to see in this game from Iowa taking on Northwestern on the road versus the Wildcats? Obviously coming off of that slightly poorer performance against them, we'd like to see Keegan Murray come in and have a little bit better of a game. And obviously, I mean, we'd love to see Tony Perkins come in and have another great game like he did versus Nebraska. But, you know, coming into this game, Northwestern being 12th

in the Big Ten with a conference record of only 6-12, I don't think necessarily Iowa is going to have a very large problem with putting points up on the board and being able to dominate throughout this game. But we may see another game like we did versus Nebraska where they come out and they're kind of lacking in the first half and kind of bringing it back in the second half. But I expect from this Northwestern game that Iowa is able to come out and you know show who they are as a team right away um and i mean the only thing that i see iowa having a problem with would maybe be pete nance uh coming into that game he's averaging 15 points a game on the season 6.3 rebounds a game and 2.6 assists per game which which aren't exactly big numbers overall. But, you know, playing in that forward position,

he's not going to have, you know, all of those points per game that you want to see or stuff like that. So, I mean, that's the only problem that I really see Iowa having. But if they have a sort of lackluster first half like they did against Nebraska, that may come up as an issue. Yeah, Pete Nance has played at Northwestern for four seasons, a senior on this roster. He's always done a pretty good job of putting it together when need be. I would agree with you. I think Iowa shouldn't have a problem with Northwestern,

but that's why they play the game, right? Northwestern this season, 13 and 14, they've only won five games since the start of the year, with two of those being Nebraska, which I would count as not really that difficult of a challenge. They also beat Rutgers and Indiana at home in Michigan State on the road. Ken Palm is predicting this to be an 82 to 71 win for Iowa, which will be hopefully where we're at, if not greater than that. And as you mentioned, Pete Nance is a guy to definitely watch out for. He's shooting 45% from three. In addition to him shooting 45% from three, you have Ty Berry, a sophomore, shooting 39%. Boy Boy shooting 34%.

Ryan Greer shooting 42%. And Robbie Brand shooting 35%. If you can't figure it out by now, folks, if you're listening to this, Northwestern does have some capable three-point shooters. On the flip side, Iowa does as well. And Northwestern is one of the worst teams in the nation at defending the three. 295th, according to Kempom, at defending the three.

So definitely something to watch out for in this game. Now, you talked about Tony Perkins. You talked about Keegan Murray. What are your thoughts on seeing Chris Murray and what you want to see out of him with the Keegan and Chris combo, which has been pretty lethal to this point? What are your thoughts on seeing Ke Murray and what you want to see out of him with the Keegan and Chris combo, which has been pretty lethal to this point? What are your thoughts on seeing Keegan and Chris in this game, especially against a lineup that is a little bit undersized in Northwestern? I think that as long as Chris can come out and have, you know, a game like we would expect him to, where he's not necessarily the hottest guy on the court all the time. him to, where he's not necessarily the hottest guy on the court all the time. But we really love to see him come out and have dropped 15, 16 points and some rebounds and obviously some assists as

well. But I think that if Iowa can get him incorporated more, maybe get him some more minutes out on the court versus Northwestern, he'll, he'll really be able to, um, support this Iowa team in the way that they're going to need. Um, but as you said, it's, it's a lethal combination, um, with those two being out on the court at the same time. Um, but like I said, as long as, as long as Chris can come out and have, you know, an average to above average game, I think that, I think that this Iowa team is going to have no problem putting away Northwestern before the first half is over. Yeah.

Chris has been a phenomenal role player on this team and a guy who I think, and we're going to talk about this later in the week, can Chris step up and become Keegan Murray next year? I've talked to Kenya Murray, Keegan and Chris's dad. He has always talked about how good Chris is and how they are literally neck and neck. I think we're going to see Chris's development accelerate next year as Keegan will more than likely leave for the NBA draft. When you talk about the minutes, that is a key thing. I think when you look at Iowa versus Michigan on February 17th, they lose to Michigan.

Keegan or Chris only plays 14 minutes and losses to Rutgers on the road. Chris only played 11 minutes and losses to Iowa State, 16 minutes, losses to Illinois, 17 minutes. So when Chris can go above that 21 minute mark, we're seeing a lot of success on the Iowa team. Now it becomes difficult from a rotation perspective, trying to get Patrick McCaffrey, Keegan, Chris, Philip Rocha, all playing time for those three spots. But you're absolutely right. Seeing Chris on the court with Keegan would be huge for this Iowa squad. Now, as Iowa looks ahead to Michigan, what are some issues you see with Iowa against Northwestern where they could actually maybe have a slip-up game on the road versus Northwestern? Well, you know, basketball is one of those sports where it can go either way, no matter who the

opponents are. You could have, I mean, and we just saw that all six of the top six teams in the nation went out and lost to teams that none of them should have lost to. And it's basketball is a very game by game sort of game. You know what I mean? And it's, it's never a guarantee who's going to go out there and put up a win. guarantee who's going to go out there and put up a win. So, you know, on the off chance that Iowa does have an off game versus Northwestern, I really hope that it's not going to get them down going into Michigan and Illinois, like you said. I just, I don't see that happening. I don't see Iowa having a down game versus a team like Northwestern, once again, with an overall record of 13 and 14, being 12th in the Big Ten. I don't see that happening.

But as I said, it's basketball is a very, you know, it goes game by game. There's never a guarantee of who's going to win. And I think that happens more so in basketball than any other sport. And I've learned that throughout, you know, doing play by play for teams up in Fort Dodge. It's never a guaranteed win. I've seen the team that I cover go up to the number six team in the state and lead them throughout the entire game. Granted, they did end up losing that game by nine. But throughout the first, second and third period, they were not down a single time throughout the entire game. And then But throughout the first, second and third period, they were not down a single time throughout the entire game. And then in that fourth period, they gave up three threes

in a row going down the court. And, you know, the team, number 16 in the state went on a 14 and 0 run to end the game and ended up winning by nine. So like I said, if Iowa does have an off game versus Northwestern and, you know, they drop a win into Northwestern's lap. I'm really hoping that that doesn't get them going down on the morale going into the last couple games of the season and into the tournaments. Definitely. The biggest thing here is at this point you want to have positive momentum going forward.

You want to be able to take care of Northwestern, go into Michigan with some high hopes, and Illinois going into the Big Ten tournament after that. Iowa trying to position themselves for a good seat in the NCAA tournament. As we will do every single time, we'll make sure to cover this Iowa-Northwestern game on tomorrow's episode of the show. But first, I want to thank you all for making the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast your first listen every single day.

Now it's time to make your second listen, the Lockdown NFL Draft podcast. Ryan Tracy and former NFL cornerback Eric Crocker bring the NFL draft to life every single day with insight and analysis on college football prospects and NFL front offices. It's also free and available wherever you get podcast app. So, Wright, your first episode here on the show, how was it and what do you want to say to Hawkeye fans out there listening before we close it out?

It was great. I'd love to sit down and talk with you again about Iowa Hoops. And I think that this might end up being a great opportunity for me to sort of expand my career into the world of media in any way that I can. Absolutely, man. It was a blast having you on. Hawkeye Nation, we appreciate you listening in. Have a fantastic Monday and even better weekend as always, Hawkeye Nation. Let's go Hawks.