Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Shooting woes crush Iowa basketball's Final Four dreams and injuries derailing Iowa wrestling

Episode Date: March 19, 2022

It's been a tough weekend in Iowa Hawkeye athletics with the men's Iowa basketball team dropping their first game of the 2022 NCAA Tournament to the Richmond Spiders and the Iowa wrestling team struggling at the National Championships. We discuss both of those developments as well as the women's Iowa basketball team getting off to a hot start in the women's NCAA Tournament with a big victory over Illinois State.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.StatHeroStatHero is reshaping the way the way you play fantasy sports. Dozens of house based games to play daily. No sharks, no funky props, just your skill vs the lineups you choose. Sign-up today at StatHero.com/LockedOn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team, every day. What is going on, Hawkeye Nation? And welcome back to another episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes Podcast. your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Lockdown Podcast Network. As always, I am your host, Andrew Wade. I wish I was here under better circumstances, but obviously it has been a rough weekend for most of the Iowa Hawkeye athletic teams that we have been keeping close track of, right? The men's, women's, and wrestling side, Men's basketball, wrestling, struggling over this weekend.

So we're going to be talking about both those things. The men's basketball team falling in the round of 64 to Richmond. What went wrong in that game? We're going to be talking about that and several of the pieces of thought that have come out of that game. We're also going to be talking about the women's basketball game, giving a review of that Illinois State match, and then talking about their upcoming match versus Creighton tomorrow, and then talking about the wrestling side as well.

Not a good showing at the national championships. I'm going to talk a little bit about that and Austin DeSanto, who unfortunately did lose another consecutive match to Roman Bravo Young. So that's all coming up on today's show. But first, I want to thank you all for making the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast your first listen every single day. another consecutive match to Roman Bravo Young. So that's all coming up on today's show. But first, I want to thank you all for making the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast your first listen every single day. You can find the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast for free wherever you get podcasts at and also on YouTube by searching Lockdown Hawkeyes.

So I posted a lockdown now on Thursday and I did post on Twitter that I wasn't going to be posting a show yesterday. I was going to be posting it today. There's a couple reasons for that. First and foremost, I wanted to make sure I took some time to kind of think a little bit more about this game and kind of my thoughts on it. I wanted to make sure I was providing the right content and not just pissed off content about that game. It was disappointing, right? It stunk it it leaves a hole in your stomach uh after watching this team grow throughout the season uh becoming a formidable contender for a final four or an elite eight and then have the worst shooting performance we've seen from them all season just completely

bottom fell out of them and the worst possible time for the Iowa Hawkeyes. So it's, it's, it's unfortunate. It's, uh, it's something that stinks for us fans and you got to believe it stinks way

more for the players. Uh, I've talked to a few of the players and you know, it stings, it hurts. It really hurts. You can see the emotion, uh,

from Jordan Bohannon and Connor McCaffrey and Keegan Murray when they had to do the postgame press conferences, the emotion was real. The emotion was real. The emotion was raw. The pain is real. It wasn't like they went out there and tried to lose that game, right? They gave 100% effort in that game. Just things were not clicking.

And credit to Richmond, they took advantage of that. Richmond wasn't playing their best basketball either, but Richmond played well enough to beat the Iowa Hawkeyes. So in this game, Iowa obviously struggled quite a bit. Again, one of the worst shooting performances we've seen from the Hawks. They shot 20% from three. They did shoot 48% from the field, only averaging 9.91 points per possession, which is pretty below their season average. Rebounding wise,

they did win the rebounding battle 14 offensive rebounds compared to Richmond's eight, but they could not capitalize on that. Richmond shooting 29% from three and 47% from the field on three more shot attempts from the field. The issue here was Iowa took 29 threes, made six. Richmond took 17, made five. There's going to be a lot of issues there. Free throws, another thing that a lot of people had some concerns about as well. Iowa only shot 12 free throws, two in the second half. Richmond shot 16.

Going to be kind of a disparity there when you lose by four, and you shot four less free throws in that game overall turnovers wise not an issue there really not an issue from a steals perspective but just a very frustrating game Iowa could not hit the broad side of a barn right they couldn't hit water they fell out of a boat they had a lot of wide open looks in this game a lot of I thought very good shots that were just not falling, just a little bit short of the rim. They just couldn't finish the execution there. The only guy who really got going was Patrick McCaffrey. Keegan ultimately did finish with a solid performance, 8 of 12 for 21 points, 9 rebounds, a block, a steal, and 2 assists in

what may be his final game as an Iowa Hawkeye. Patrick McCaffrey, I thought, played really well. 18 points, 4 of 7 from 3. Kind of being a catalyst for Iowa to get kind of back into things. At least making the game interesting later on. Keeping it close in that first 10 minutes of that second half. But man, no one could get anything going. Chris Murray was 0-5 from three. Connor was 0-2.

Tony Perkins was 0-2. Peyton Sanford was 0-3. Keegan was 0-3 from three. You're not going to win a lot of games when every single player goes cold at the worst time at what you are the best at. That's not going to win a lot of games. So just a frustrating performance all around. I thought defensively, this Iowa team did not do nearly as well as they have in the past

couple of months. I thought backdoor cuts were just eating them alive. A lot of, a lot of, oh my gosh, my guy's right there as he scored on us, right? A lot of bad inbounds possessions or opportunities defensively from Iowa. So not the best, not the cleanest defensive performance, but and not the best officiating late in that game either. I don't know how you missed that three point foul call on Chris Murray, clearly hitting his arm. Chris Murray misses that shot by a mile. I don't know how you don't call that, but Iowa at the end of the day, it was Iowa who lost that game, right? Iowa could not shoot the ball worth a lick and Richmond it wasn't I hate to you know Richmond is a good team right Richmond is a a veteran-led squad they

are a solid program all around uh kudos to them again for winning this game Richmond did not do anything overly impressive defensively they were very physical not a lot of fouls called there but Iowa still got open looks. They just couldn't hit. That's the story of the day. And it stinks. It really does stink. It's not fun to see your team that you had a lot of high hopes for fall out in the round of 64.

But that's why they play the games. That's why this is called March Madness. And I know a lot of people were really disappointed about this game. A lot of people were very frustrated from what I saw on social media. I even saw some people, you know, people that I respect their opinion say, you know, because I think I had even tweeted, Iowa, you know, great season all around, right? And I heard some people say that's a loser's mentality.

What this team accomplished this year far exceeded our expectations. So I understand the expectations changed over the last month of the season. But this is not what we expected them to be at when you looked at this team in November. You lose two NBA players. You lose four overall key contributors out of your top six. And you make the NCAA tournament as a five seed. You make the NCAA tournament and people are projecting you to go to the final four. Things happen.

That's why you play the game. That's why Kentucky plays the game and they lose to St. Peter's, right? It's why Iowa State coming in as 11 seed beats a six seed in LSU. These things happen. It's why we play the game in March. It's a bad time to get cold, but that doesn't take away from the accomplishments of this team. They had a phenomenal season. It did not end the way they wanted to, and you better believe they're going to come back hungrier next

year. Interestingly enough, some interesting comments by Keegan Murray and his father, Kenyon, in regards to Keegan's potential jump to the NBA. It doesn't sound like that is such a foregone conclusion. Connor McCaffrey still hasn't made his decision yet. So we're going to be talking about some of those things as well over the course of the next week, whether or not we think Keegan could go and why would he stay, right? You have a lot of money on the table, but it sounds like that's not a factor for him. We're also going to talk about Connor McCaffrey and what he brings to the table and why hopefully he does come back, but why he may not injuries have been a big issue.

He has a future in coaching, in my opinion, soon, very soon. You want to talk about nepotism, right? That's the big thing in Iowa sports. I really think it would make sense for Connor to maybe come in and be an assistant coach, be a grad assistant under his dad. I think that'd be a really interesting transition, giving you some stability long-term potentially. Who knows? I think Connor McCaffrey would be a fantastic coach, a good steward of the program. We're going to be talking about that as well. Again, it was an unfortunate day for the Iowa Hawkeyes. It was an unfortunate day for the men's basketball team. And I'm trying to enjoy the ride, right?

The big 10 tournament winning that, that does not diminish their accomplishments in winning the big 10 tournament. They did a phenomenal job getting there and winning that thing. It stinks that they lost in the round of 64. It absolutely stinks, but that will happen someday. We'll make a run someday.

We will see this Iowa team make a run. Um, and, uh, hopefully I'll be on social media talking all about it. Really excited. Um, but nevertheless, it happened where we are. So coming up this upcoming week, we're going to be talking more about this team and kind of what to expect over the coming weeks and what to expect next year. There was a big time recruit that Iowa was definitely pursuing that just decommitted from Missouri and Aiden Shaw. Could I will be looking at him as a potential guy. Should I will enter the transfer portal. What does this team look like next year?

What are the possible lineup combinations? That is all coming up next week on the lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Before we get to talking about the women's team, I do want to remind you that I know new year's resolutions are, are tough, right? It's tough to stick to those almost three months into the year, just past St. Paddy's Day during March Madness, right? Sticking to your New Year's resolutions to either eat right or be healthy

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Your first listen every single day. I appreciate you all tuning in. I appreciate your love, your listenership, and your support. And you can find us wherever you get podcasts at and also on YouTube by searching Locked On Hawkeyes. On the flip side of the men's side, the women's team dominated the competition yesterday, taking down 15-seeded Illinois 98-58. Started off a little slow. seeded Illinois 98-58. Started off a little slow.

Iowa only up 6 after the first quarter, but slowly building that lead. 22-14 in the second quarter. 31-18 in the third quarter. 24-11 in the fourth quarter for a win of 98-58. For those of you betting on the Iowa Hawkeyes at BetOnline.net, you made some money on yesterday's

game because you probably bet the team total over, which is what I suggested. You probably bet Iowa to cover the spread, which is also what I would have suggested. I did both of those and I won money there. It's lots of fun there. Iowa did pretty well in this game, as we could expect. They shot 46% from three, which is probably unnecessary against an Illinois State team, which was solid, but not really that big of a competition. against an Illinois State team, which was solid, but not really that big of a competition. Rebounding-wise, they did a solid job.

Out-rebounded Illinois State by one. Offensively, Illinois State dominated Iowa on the glass, which is a little bit concerning. 17 offensive rebounds to Iowa's three. That also happens when Iowa's hitting 60% of their shots from the field and 46% from three. There's going to be a lot less opportunities. Versus Illinois State, who shot 29% from the field, 16% from three. There's going to be a lot less opportunities versus Illinois State who shot 29% from the field, 16% from three. Iowa now gets to face Creighton who beat Colorado just before Iowa played. They beat them 84 to 74, 10th seeded Creighton, which is 21 and nine.

In that game, Creighton shot really well from the field, 42.1% from three, 50.9% from the field, 90% from the charity stripe. Out-rebounded Colorado pretty significantly as well, 27-35, actually I should say, to 32. Overall, there shouldn't be a lot of concerns here playing the Creighton Blue Jays squad. lot of concerns here playing the Creighton Blue Jays squad. Iowa should have not too much of a problem taking care of business against a pretty undersized Creighton squad that plays and starts a lot of guards. They have four guards. The only female they play at kind of a big position is Emma Ronsick, who's a six foot one sophomore, so a little bit of a younger team for Creighton as well. Iowa should be able to do pretty easy work of Creighton. A couple of things that I also want to quickly cover is first of all,

Monica Sinano, truly phenomenal forward. She is putting together one of the most impressive last couple of games you'll ever see almost shooting 80% from the field in her last, I think eight or nine games. I almost want to go as far to say scoring wise. She rivals Megan Gustafson from a scoring perspective on the season. She's shooting 68.3% from the field. It feels like anytime she touches the ball, it's going to go in the basket.

That is such an advantage to have. That is your number two option, right? Your number two option. After Kaitlyn Clark, you have Monica Sinano, who is doing a phenomenal job of getting the ball into the basket. She is not at that Megan Gustafson level yet, right? She's not accumulating rebounds the way Megan did. She is not getting blocks the way Megan did.

But scoring-wise, she is up there at that Megan Gustafson territory with her ability to score the basketball around the hoop. Currently averaging 21 points per game, 6.2 rebounds, 0.3 blocks, again on 68.3% shooting overall on the season. And in the last couple of games, I mean, up in that 90 percentile, 100 percent shooting against Illinois State, 18.7 rebounds, one assist against Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament Championship game, 72 percent against Nebraska, 81.8 percent in that big win over Michigan, 81.8 percent. So Monica Sinano coming on at the right time for the Hawkeyes. And that makes this team even more lethal and more dangerous as they get set to play

Iowa state, hopefully in this week 16, as long as they can take care of business tomorrow against Creighton again, 21 and nine Creighton. They are playing Creighton on ABC. This is a nationally televised game on ABC at noon, another sold out arena at Carver Hawkeye arena. It's going to be a lot of fun to watch Iowa there. I also got a question about why play Caitlin Clark. I want to make sure I cover this as well. Why play Caitlin Clark so late into the game? I'll be honest, I don't have a good answer for that. I've also

wondered that as well. It seems like Caitlin Clark stays in the game a bit longer than may be necessary for such a pivotal player to your ability to win games. When you're up by 25 or 30 with five minutes left, six minutes left, probably a good time to maybe not play Kaitlyn Clark. I do think there's one aspect to this and that Kaitlyn Clark is kind of the leader of the team. She is the leader of the team and she does a great job of bringing the ball up. We don't really have a real reliable option behind her at that guard spot. You have Tommy who could kind of play that guard spot, but really Caitlin is the only one who they can feel comfortable with bringing that ball up.

So that's kind of a concern. But overall, I would agree. I don't know why we're playing Caitlin Clark late into the game. We've seen her do that in other games as well. Sometimes it is to, you know, maybe it is to get that triple-double, right? Maybe it is to just get that extra rebound or the extra assist. Plus, Kaitlin Clark's a competitor. She doesn't want to go out of the game.

So I can't imagine saying you're sitting on the bench the rest of the game. It's very easy for Lisa Bluter to do. But otherwise, I have no response that I got that question as well on Twitter about why was Kaitlin Clark still in that game. Obviously, we're going to be breaking down the results of that game, Iowa versus Creighton, on Monday's episode of the show. I will also be talking about Iowa versus Iowa State, if that does come to fruition. I don't want to jump too far ahead of myself, but if that comes to fruition, we'll be talking about that all next week as well.

That is all coming up on the show in a couple of days. I do want to talk about the Iowa wrestling team and what could be considered a pretty disappointing performance at nationals. Before we get to that though, it is that time of the year. March Madness is in full effect. As I'm recording this, it is Saturday morning. We're about ready to start the round of 32 games and you can place all of your bets at betonline.net. From all the latest odds, contests, and player props, betonline.net is the number one source for all of your sports betting needs and info. BetOnline remains the best spot for all of your sports scores, podcasts, and news this season.

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All right. So we've talked a lot about basketball. It is time to turn our attention to Iowa wrestling and a very disappointing performance for the wrestling team. I think the big takeaway here is injuries have absolutely annihilated this wrestling team. Currently going into today's final rounds, Iowa is sitting at fourth. They have the ability to potentially jump up into third over Arizona State,

but they're going to need some people to have some clutch performances. Going into this, I talked about the fact that Iowa was probably not going to win a national title. We kind of knew that going into this, but there was still an outside chance. It was going to require a Drake Ayala to make a run. It was going to require Alex Marinelli and Michael Kramer to be able to wrestle up to the standards they have set in previous years. It was going to require Austin DeSanto to get over that Roman Bravo young hump. And then you have guys like a Tony Cassiope.

You needed them to just hit par, right? Like just, just finish with what you're seated at. It didn't happen. It just didn't happen across the board. There have been injuries across where Drake, I all out with a separated shoulder. Jaden Ironman had a medically forfeit in his final match of his collegiate career

with a torn ACL. Michael Kramer obviously has lots of issues. Alex Marinelli has some injuries as well. Couldn't get it done against Cam at Michigan in the quarterfinals with a 3-1 loss there. Michael Kimmerer lost 5-3 to Hayden Hidley from NC State. Not great, right? That's kind of when you knew Iowa was not going to be able to get things done. Tony Cassiope, you thought he was going to be able to go far, probably end up getting second place.

Unfortunately, he's battling for seventh place now after losing to Jordan Wood of Lehigh and then also losing to Mason Paris of Michigan in the quarterfinal Russellbacks. It's been a disappointing weekend for the Iowa Hawkeye wrestling squad. Now, what we can take away from this, obviously injuries have been a huge thing

and you cannot control injuries, right? This has been an Iowa team that has battled through a ton of adversity throughout this season. It would have been great for them to be able to go in and claim a back-to-back NCAA title. And probably, if COVID doesn't shut down the National Wrestling Championships, a back-to-back-to-back National Wrestling title. It just couldn't happen.

It's not everyone's year. Now, the two things i want to quickly call out is we're going to see several wrestlers wrestle for the last time today it's alex marinelli michael hammer we're not seeing them wrestle again in an iowa hawkeye singlet um what an incredible austin desanto as well but what an incredible career for those guys and appreciate everything they have done in the i Hawkeye singlet. I want to touch on Austin DeSanto. The emotion he showed after that loss to Roman Bravo Young legitimately broke my heart. Austin DeSanto has had such a journey

in this program and has battled so many things to get to where he is and to lose in the way he did in the final 20 seconds to Roman Bravo Young, the guy who he has consistently lost to. I think it's up to five consecutive matches and they're really, really close matches. The way he did was so incredibly unfortunate. You could see the emotion from him when he realized he is not going to get this win. And for any of you talking crap about Austin DeSanto, just shut the heck up.

Just stop it. What is the point? This kid has battled more than you'll ever realize. Not just physically, but mentally. more than you'll ever realize. Not just physically, but mentally. He has given his heart and soul to the Iowa Hawkeye wrestling program. Yeah, sometimes he gets a little overzealous.

Sometimes he's a bit too emotional. But you don't know what he's going through. You haven't walked a day in his life. And what he has done for this program has been nothing short of amazing. He has been a constant threat at that 133 weight to everyone except for Roman Bravo Young. And Roman Bravo Young even said in his post-match press conference, Austin DeSanto is the reason he is better.

Austin has pushed him to become a better wrestler. Austin DeSanto deserves all the love from all the Iowa Hawkeye fans out there. I don't care what you say. That kid deserves all the love. And it's unfortunate to see it end like this. I would have loved to see a storybook ending where he's able to walk away a national champion for the first time. But that isn't the case for everyone. It just isn't always going to happen for every single wrestler.

But that's kind of my soapbox here. A disappointing weekend for men's basketball. Overall, a disappointing weekend for Iowa wrestling. Jacob Warner, the only Iowa wrestler to make a final. So rooting him on as he goes up against Penn State's Max Dean. Again, in action today, we have Austin DeSanto should be able to get third against Illinois' Lucas Bird. We have Alex Marinelli going up against Evan Wick out of Cal Poly.

We have Michael Kemmerer going up against Logan Massa out of Michigan, and Tony Cassiope going up against Christian Lance out of Nebraska. That is who is on deck, and obviously Jacob Horner going up against Max Nebraska. That is who is on deck. And then obviously Jacob Horner going up against Max Dean. That is who is on deck today. Five wrestlers wrestling today. And we'll be breaking down the results of that on Monday's episode as well. Again, I appreciate you all tuning in to today's episode of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. As always, I appreciate your love, your listenership,

and thank you for making the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast your first listen every single day. Now go make your second listen to Locked On NFL Draft podcast hosted by Ryan Tracy and former NFL cornerback Eric Crocker. They bring the NFL draft to life every single day with insight and analysis on college football prospects and NFL front offices. It's free and available

wherever you get your podcasts at. So tune into that. And again, thank you all for tuning in to today's interesting Saturday episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Have a fantastic weekend. And as always, Hawkeye Nation, let's go Hawks.