Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Stacked: Hawkeyes Running Back DEPTH Creates Fierce Competition for LJ Phillips and Kamari Moulton

Starting point is 00:00:00 As Iowa football searches for a new running back coach, the Hawkeyes might have their deepest running back room in years. But where does transfer L.J. Phillips fill in. Kamari Bolton is back. Plenty of other returning talent behind him. The battle for carries just gets real. We break it down next. Locked on Hawkeyes. You are Locked on Hawkeyes.

Starting point is 00:00:26 Your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. Hey, welcome in. I'm Trent Condon, and this is the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We're available wherever you find podcasts. You can also watch us on YouTube. While you're there, make sure you hit that subscribe button.

Starting point is 00:00:49 I've been covering the Hawkeyes for over 20 years on the radio, including currently on the Iowa Sports Radio Network, each weekday from noon to two with stations in Sioux City, Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, and the Quad Cities, along with our flagship, 106.3 KX&O in Des Moines. Today's episode is brought to you by five-hour energy. Have your cake and drink it too.

Starting point is 00:01:11 Birthday cake flavor is back. No fork needed. Vanilla, cakey flavor, caffeinated kick, and no sugar. It's party time. Order now, 5-hourenergy.com or on Amazon. Today we are going to talk some basketball as the Iowa women get the win last night over Purdue on the road and a big one for them as they face off. against Michigan at home.

Starting point is 00:01:34 It'll be senior day, though it's the second to last game at Carver this season. The Iowa men go on the road to Wisconsin in an incredibly difficult matchup for them. We'll talk basketball. Tom Kaker from hawkeyeor from hawkeye report.com. We'll stop in and join us. We'll get his perspective on all things Hawkeyes. Plus talk little Iowa football with him, including a look inside the running pack job that is open and some potential candidates that could replace Omar Young off to the NFL with the Raiders.

Starting point is 00:02:01 And speaking of that, we mentioned. yesterday about Omar making the decision to move on a fit that just for whatever reason didn't exactly feel great in his one year in Iowa City. He moves on. I will go to the Penn. And we'll see what Kirk Farrants is able to get out of that. We had a little bit more thoughts on that yesterday. But I want to start with just the position that the Hawkeyes are in this season. And as we look back to last year and the running game, that was behind what turned out to be the offensive line in the year in college football, the Joe Moore Award winner from this past season.

Starting point is 00:02:36 You look at what they were able to put together. It was an outstanding year. I mean, there's no two ways about it that that offensive line and that running game again showed what Tim Lester can do. Tim Lester has proven to be elite as a offensive coordinator from what they were before. Now, there's still a ways to go and there's still work that needs to be done in the passing game to get up to even a competent level that we're hoping for. And the hope is with the quarterback, be it Jeremy Hecklinsky or Hank Brown,

Starting point is 00:03:05 whoever wins that job, Hecklinsky, the big favorite, I think going into spring practice, whoever it is, though, that with the spring of being able to go through the system, then August camp being healthy, that we're going to be able to see a big step forward for that, coupled with what we think they're going to have at the wide receiver position and an ability to throw the football. But we go back to the running game. And that's where today's conversation is. We see Kamari Molten this season.

Starting point is 00:03:30 He rushes for 878 yards on the season, has five touchdowns overall. Averages on the season, 5.2 yards per carry. Now, that was a little bit lower than Xavier Williams, who led the way at 5.8. But let's go back to Bolton, a guy that we saw really solid. Here before is a backup to Caleb Johnson, saw a couple of long runs, saw some good things out of him. In fact, a year ago, your previous back in 2024 as that backup, up. He ran for 473 yards, but 5.6 yards per carry. If you also remember back in August, there was, now this was offshore, but there was a

Starting point is 00:04:06 place where you can bet illegally that had him as the betting favorite to win the rushing title in the Big Ten. We know that obviously didn't come to fruition. He had a good year. He had a solid year. He was, yes, just that solid this season. But there were so many of those opportunities where we saw Kamari Moulton felt like he was a step away from breaking a big one. and turning that 7-yard gain into a 25-yard gain. And there just weren't enough of those, not even home runs, but those triples if we're going to use baseball parlance on that. He was injured.

Starting point is 00:04:37 He had the shoulder injury and the number of times he was so close to 100 yards this season. You look through the game log and what he did, though. 68 yards in the Rutgers game, 75 against Indiana, against Wisconsin, 96, 99 against Penn State, 75 against Minnesota, Oregon 87, 90 against USC, 78 against us, 78 against us, 78 against Michigan State, 93 against Nebraska, and finally 95 against Vanderbilt, that shows you the consistency that we saw out of Kamari Moulton, but you're looking for a little bit more. And now the question is, can L.J. Phillips be that guy that does just that, that puts together a huge season and is that game breaker. Now, he is a bigger running back.

Starting point is 00:05:17 Over 1,900 yards rushing this year, 19 touchdowns also on the year, I think shows you guys got a nose for the football, right? a guy that has shown the ability that he can find the end zone. But this was also the first year as a starter. Wichita native 5-9-225, more of a bruiser, some more physicality to him. Going up, though, for the Missouri Valley Football Conference into the Big Ten, is that going to translate? And be able to translate right away for him to put together a big, big season. That's what we wonder about L.J. Phillips and how it's going to look for him this season.

Starting point is 00:05:51 He had, though, a couple of monster performances, including his biggest one and an overtime win against Northern Colorado this year. He ran for 301 yards. That's right, in one game. 35 carries, 301 yards. The other big games against Murray State, he went for 244 against the top level competition that he saw, though, throughout the course of the season, going back to game one. They went to Ames to take on Iowa State.

Starting point is 00:06:15 He just had four carries in that game for 13 yards. Against North Dakota State, when his coyotes got drilled, 11 carries 30. eight yards. Overall, they also took on a team that played in the national championship, Illinois State, out of these high-level games. That was one of his better ones, 129 against them. He ran for 168, two touchdowns against South Dakota State. That was a game that South Dakota did win at 160 yards in the first round of the tournament

Starting point is 00:06:43 against Mercer, only 74 against Montana as they got blown out there for South Dakota. But it's just a question about how it translates. And if it does, I think it is going to be some split. carries, but you also look at the Iowa running back depth. And we saw good things this year out of Xavier Williams. And we saw what he was able to do, certainly this season. You saw those glimpses. Nathan McNeil just looks so smooth.

Starting point is 00:07:06 And he looks different. I think that what we're used to at the running back spot, or at least the guys that are currently on campus, he does have that feel of a Caleb Johnson. We're at times just kind of gliding out there, right, and making those kind of plays. I go through what I look at it this way. Let's say there's 30 carries a game that are available and maybe even a little bit Let's say 35. Let's take it up a notch.

Starting point is 00:07:25 35 carries a game. How does this break down? I mean, it is as simple as about 15 for Moulton, about 15 for Phillips, Williams, Brevindal, McNeil, those then guys are finishing up those final carries, potentially. I'm not sure at this point if somebody's going to emerge. And this is why spring football, I think, is going to be really important to see if LJ Phillips is able to come in unseat Kamari Molton. right away. We also know that it's about trust. And the other components too, the little things

Starting point is 00:07:58 picking up pass blocking. Kamari Bolton was very good at that. Being able to catch the ball out of the backfield, something that Phillips wasn't asked a whole lot during his career at South Dakota. The good news is there's a ton of depth, a ton to be excited about it, the running back room for Iowa this season and with a lot of new pit pieces on that offensive line, though I'm pretty bullish of what they're going to have, even with just two starters back this season. You have to wonder what the running game's going to look like, but eventually who becomes the starter. We get into some basketball talk next time. Kekert from Hawkeye Report.com.

Starting point is 00:08:30 He will join us. The latest on Iowa basketball, the Hawkeyes get ready to face off against Wisconsin in Madison. Michigan comes to town on the women's side. We'll talk about that. When we come back, this is locked on Hawkeyes. Welcome to the five-hour energy flavor draft with 18 different flavors to choose from, including new options like confetti craze, fruity rainbow.

Starting point is 00:08:55 or cotton candy, there's something for everyone. The board is set, the flavors are ready, and I got my number one pick for the five-hour energy flavor draft. I absolutely love something a little fruity, something tasty. How about this, the sweet side of tasty caffeine, make it cotton candy. That's right. That's number one for me. There's other options for you as well.

Starting point is 00:09:17 They got your veteran flavors, right? Cherry, grape, berry. You're a traditionalist that absolutely makes sense. I was away on vacation a couple of weeks ago. This one sounds absolutely delicious. Hawaiian breeze. Oh, how good would it be to be back in Hawaii. Feel the breeze.

Starting point is 00:09:34 Taste the caffeine with Hawaiian freeze made up with passion fruit, orange and guava flavors, sweet yet smooth, tangy yet tart. How about a strawberry watermelon? They got you covered there. Light refreshing. Blue raspberry, always a favorite. And my son's favorite flavor of fruit is pomegranate. That's right.

Starting point is 00:09:54 They got you covered. with five-hour energy and our five-hour energy draft. Find your favorite, new favorite flavor of five-hour energy shots available at five-hour energy.com or on Amazon. Today's episode of Lockdown Hawkeyes is also brought to you by Fanduel. Well, as we make our way through, it is basketball back upon us after the All-Star break. And if you've ever wanted to experience the NBA finals live and in person, here's your chance.

Starting point is 00:10:22 Fandual is giving you the chance to turn that dream into reality with their NBA sweepstakes. Here's how it works. Use your profit boost on any NBA future and you'll automatically be entered for a shot to win. An NBA finals trip for two. That's right. Flights, tickets, the whole experience. It doesn't matter who is there. You're going to get that opportunity.

Starting point is 00:10:42 Now, I'm a Timberwolves fan. I took a shot at them to win the Western Conference on the Fanduel app. But whatever you want to do, you can take that opportunity, maybe pick up some cash, but also that could send you to the finals. Great time of year to get involved. We see teams going the wrong way in the NBA, and we see the teams making that push for the playoffs and that run to the NBA finals.

Starting point is 00:11:03 What you want to do right now, visit fanduel.com to get started. Use your profit boost on an NBA future and get entered for a chance to win a trip to the NBA finals. Play your game with Fandul, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Tom Kaker from hawkeye report.com. Boy, you got to see a really good environment there at Carver earlier this week. Though it wasn't a banged-out building like it was against Purdue,

Starting point is 00:11:31 about as charged up as I can remember and talking to people there that we've seen. And the performance from the Hawkeyes definitely helped getting the win against the Huskers. I think the crowd made the difference in the game. Yeah. Really do. And I think Ben McCollum basically said it after the game, too. I'm not sure I will wins without that crowd. And they were particularly the student section.

Starting point is 00:11:54 Because I wasn't sure that the student, you never know if the students are going to show up or not. And they showed up. They were all wearing black. I think it may have helped that, I think Price Sanford may have had some communication with some online student group thing or something that basically said, hey, we're going to beat you. And they were ready for them coming in, obviously. and it allowed the entire game and Iowa found away. It was, you know, it's remarkable. Iowa has scored 57 points in their last two games, each game.

Starting point is 00:12:35 One of them they lost by 21 and the other they won by five. That's wild to me. Feels a little bit better on the backside of it, no doubt. And the defensive performance that had been, it had been cratering even during the six-game winning streak. And Tom, that's something that I talked about. a fool's gold is probably not the right term because they're still winning games, right? But we saw that defense was taking a pretty significant step back. I know in the month of February before the Nebraska game,

Starting point is 00:13:00 I think Bart Horvick had him 242nd in the country in defensive efficiency. Now, Bennett Sturts defensively was a big part of that and what he was able to do against Price Sanford. But is it just more of a matchup thing? Sam Hoyberg's a tremendous point card. And I never thought I'd utter those words when he began his career. But here we are. That guy is a pest. He's a nuisance, but he is good.

Starting point is 00:13:22 Still, he's not a guy that's going to go to the rim and finish, right? He's not that. We go to Sunday. It is another two guards that can get to the rim. Was it more matchup dependent, or do you think that we're seeing this Iowa defense get back on track? You know what was interesting is it wasn't like it was a game playing thing against Nebraska. It was basically kind of Ben McCollum and the staff just kind of challenging these guys. said, go out and guard people.

Starting point is 00:13:48 There you go. And just go out and do what you know that you can do, guarding people man to man. And they did. And it worked. And credit to Bennett. I mean, you know, not only shouldering a massive load offensively for Iowa,

Starting point is 00:14:08 but also guarding Price. And Price was, you know, how he comes off screens and everything else. He's all over the course. So the amount of mileage that Bennett put on his wheels that day was a lot. And he stayed out there for all 40 minutes. He didn't come off the floor. So credit to him.

Starting point is 00:14:29 But I was just amazed that it wasn't like a game plan thing. It was just basically the staff just challenging these guys, go out and guard somebody. Yeah, Tom, I have a quick question about that win over Nebraska. How big was that for kind of the culture of Iowa basketball, you know, a top 10 win, you know, from an Iowa state band's perspective, going from 2 and 22 to what now OTS has turned the program into.

Starting point is 00:14:50 Is there a lot of hope for what Iowa basketball could look like over the next few years? Yeah, they just, they needed that kind of reaffirming signature win on the resume, especially coming after that ugly loss at Maryland and then just kind of getting drilled by Purdue because I think everybody was kind of jazzed up that maybe they'd get Purdue. but they needed to get kind of a signature win to kind of, I think, solidify themselves in the NCAA tournament. They still got work to do like most teams do, but they just needed this. And I think from a fan perspective, the fans needed to be convinced and seeing that, hey, I can go to a game and I can make a difference and can be loud and Carver can get going. like Hilton always is.

Starting point is 00:15:42 And I think they did that. They gave a good advertisement to those students in particular. Come back here. It's a good time and you can have a lot of fun. And maybe you can get your phone slapped out of your hands by Fred Royberg. If you sneak into the handshake line. I found it interesting. So Iowa comes out with their release on that and says there was a breach in the security.

Starting point is 00:16:06 Okay, that happens. Have we heard anything at all from the Nebraska side? Not really. Fred just saw a video of Fred spoke about it at his press conference today and said he really appreciated that Iowa apologized. And he said he reached out to the Iowa staff members and he ended up hitting accidentally and apologized to them right when that happened and then apologized to him yesterday. And Fred even talked about how, you know, something with his, because he's, you know, obviously had the heart issues over the years that the pacemaker with stuff like that. it could trigger something with him. So he's very kind of cognizant about stuff like that. So you understand why, you know, it happened. And the person didn't need to be there. Yeah. That's just, you know, they came around the opposite side where there was no security.

Starting point is 00:17:00 And that's kind of how it worked. And he got in that line. And they were trying, I saw some of those students trying to go get after price a little bit too. I mean, just leave people alone. I mean, Iowa had to put up with that at Minnesota, too, that kind of got caught in that court storm. And, you know, things were said to the Iowa players too that day. But that's just, again, part of college sports,

Starting point is 00:17:23 but one of the dangers of the court storm is, you know, stupid things can happen. And we saw one of them happen on Tuesday. And Fred Hoyberg for his look, you know, he just looks like the All-American boy, right? That guy is a competitor. and talk to people that played hoops against him back in the day, talked to people that still see him on the golf course.

Starting point is 00:17:42 And they say, yeah, he might look really nice, but there is a competitive drive inside of him. And no surprise, after a tough loss like that, a little frustration definitely bounces out. I have a feeling it's going to be frustrating against Wisconsin, mentioned it a bit earlier with you, Tom, those guards getting downhill. That is incredibly scary.

Starting point is 00:17:59 Wisconsin coming off that ugly performance for them. Iowa coming off an emotional win. It's going to take a lot here. So what is the gameplay? What is it going to take? for Iowa to go in there to Madison and pull off a win. Yeah, they're really dangerous because what's been the thing that's got in Iowa quite a bit this year, especially in this stretch where they haven't had good defense,

Starting point is 00:18:19 it's been downhill driving cards. That's what Nick Boyd and John Blackwell do. They drive hard to the hole. And Boyd's a little different, too, because he's a lefty, so you're just not used to it. So you've got to kind of overplay that left and a little bit. So that's the danger, too. And obviously different coaching staff, different players this year, but Blackwell lit Iowa up last year up in Madison.

Starting point is 00:18:44 Remember that game where he hit six threes and scored 32 points? And so, you know, he's gotten comfortable against shooting against the Iowa jersey. They're going to have their hands full because they've got to score some points. And the other thing that Wisconsin's got is they've got big so they can step out and shoot the ball a little bit too. So I always got to find other options and other players score some points beyond just, okay, let's hold it for 30 seconds and let Bennett create and hopefully something good will happen.

Starting point is 00:19:18 You just can't. You can't live and die by that each game moving forward. I'm going to get into the women here at a moment, a little football talk as well with Tom Kaker from Hawkeye Report. I got a few texts from people at the game. The Sanford's they kept cutting to them on TV. And I'm sure, much like fans of everybody outside of Iowa, got sick of seed and Caitlin Clark's parents, you know, in the stands of them, cutting to them continuously throughout the course of the game. And then wearing the red.

Starting point is 00:19:44 It was, all right, a little bit frustrating there. You mentioned the chance, but how about Shirm Dillard hanging out with the Sainfords? What did you think of that? Yeah, Shurm's been around. Yes. I think he must still be in town, living in Iowa City. And hanging at 30, hop. He was around.

Starting point is 00:19:58 He was probably. He was there at a time. He was around. He was around. Kirk Sparrae was there and Kirk spent a lot of the games too. And they were pretty excited just that mainly Cherm and Kirk were there to kind of spend some time with Aaron White, who was back for the first time since his last game. So it was great to see Whitey and Whitey's the same guy and got four kids now, fifth one on the way. And so he's obviously got a big family, but he's playing over in Japan and doing really well.

Starting point is 00:20:31 Making money and coming back sometime. after his playing career finishes up, you have to assume, and it's going to have a big contingent with him and maybe some future Hawkeye Hoopers there, coveted in Dad's spotlight, as we've obviously seen here recently with Iowa. Want to jump over to the women, great first half out of them,

Starting point is 00:20:47 and then playing with your food, just a workman-like victory in the second half against Purdue. Purdue, I know, was also down one of their better players, one of their better shooters was out of this one. But really, the story continues to be, even playing without Hannah Stulke, it's Taylor Stremlo. And if Taylor Stremlo,

Starting point is 00:21:02 We'd always know. She has never lacked for confidence, right? You can see that right away as a freshman. She is a kind of person that people like to rally around, but her game seems to be catching up. Those turnovers are getting cut down. She's knocking down three-pointers. If they get this Taylor Stremlow,

Starting point is 00:21:17 this is a team that can get to the second weekend, get to a Sweet 16, but on top of it, maybe win an extra game. Yeah, they were, you know, they were wondering where they would go direction-wise with the dark position with Taylor McKay bow for the season, with the ACL and initially tried Addie deal and it just seemed a little bit much for her. And, you know, I thought Addy gave him some good minutes last night too.

Starting point is 00:21:41 But Stremlow, 19 points in the first half, 5-05 from three. She really played well. Turnovers down. She'll throw some crazy passes every once in a while. She likes to, just got a little Pete Marevich to her passing game, real behind the backs and some stuff like that that will wow the course. crowd a little bit and sometimes it works sometimes she wouldn't have thrown

Starting point is 00:22:05 that one but they had Eva Hayden was just the dominant force in the game. They had no answer for Eva the entire game and yeah just played well I thought hopefully Hannah will be back for the game Sunday. I mean as big

Starting point is 00:22:22 as the game is for the men on Sunday it's even bigger probably for the women because Michigan is a nationally ranked team and Iowa can potentially move up in the CD for the Big Ten tournament with a win against the Wolverines who are playing really good basketball. So they, and it probably can't, you know,

Starting point is 00:22:42 it'd be tough to win without Hannah against Michigan. Yeah. Michigan team that is the only team in the Big Ten that's really given UCLA any kind of tussle. They had an opportunity to win that game a couple of weekends ago. So they're playing well, not a great three-point shooting team, but they're athletic, they're quick, and they force turnovers.

Starting point is 00:22:59 And that goes back to kind of where we started the conversation with Taylor Stremlow, but as a whole, we've seen this Iowa team struggle turning the ball over. They turn it over 15, 18 times against Michigan. I think they're going to be cooked. Yeah, they had 19 turnovers the other night, and that second half was just, where they were just struggling even to get it up the court sometimes because they were turning it over so much. And they got to take care of the ball.

Starting point is 00:23:23 Chichette didn't have a great game shooting the ball against Purdue. So hopefully she can bounce back because when she, gets her shot going. Just makes Iowa a better team, I think. Wrap it up with a little football talk with Tom Kaker from Hawkeye Report. Tom Omar Young off to the NFL after one season. I go back to, I know you were there down in Florida when Kamari Moulton was talking about the relationship.

Starting point is 00:23:49 Strain's not the right word. It just seemed off. It's very rare when a question comes up about a coach and the kind of response that Moulton gave. I guess this doesn't come as a shock, but for the second straight here, looking for a new running back coach. Just didn't seem like a great fit.

Starting point is 00:24:05 I don't know if Omar's heart was in it. I think Omar came for a job and not as a destination. So I'm going to be interested this time because one of the finalists for the job was Jason Manson, and it was kind of in an analyst role right now for the offense. And it's working with the offense, but quarterback's a little bit. just wonder if maybe they'll slide him into that position. But I know Kirk's going to open it up. There was somebody else that interviewed for the job,

Starting point is 00:24:36 but I've never been able to figure out who it was. But there were like three candidates at the end. And Omar was one of them. Jason Manson was one of them. And there was somebody else that Tim Lester really liked. And Kirk really kind of lets Tim Lester kind of make the final decision or at least give the final recommendation to him. So it's somebody that Tim Lester,

Starting point is 00:24:56 is going to be comfortable with too. So we'll see what happens. Yeah. Jason Manson would make a lot of sense. You're talking about a destination former Hawkeye player, now with sons on the team. That one obviously would be kind of the easiest one.

Starting point is 00:25:09 He also moved up from the player developmental role into an offensive staff member this last season. So I guess if, you know, I like odds a little bit, he'd be the betting favorite at this point. And I saw, and I get a chuckle, and I've seen on your message boards for 25 years now, is, all right, there's a coaching opening, doesn't matter if it's a head coach or assistant.

Starting point is 00:25:27 Now here comes the slew, former Hawkeyes. But the Albert one young one that was thrown out, I kind of like that one. Yeah, Albert Young would be interesting. I don't know that he has any college experience at this point yet, but that might be the knock on him. But yeah, there's Desmond King and Marvin McNutt. And, you know, it's always, you get the rolydecks out of former.

Starting point is 00:25:56 Iowa players. And I'm sure those guys, you know, I think Y would be interesting, especially because he'd open up some doors maybe in recruiting in New Jersey again, but we'll have to see what direction Kirk goes. You know, there's one time where he went to a high school running backs coach or a high school coach in Florida, and that was Liddell Batts.

Starting point is 00:26:21 Worked out well. Worked out well. And now, but once those guys getting that NFL roulette, they want to stay in that thing because it's a heck of a lot easier than trying to navigate the world today of college sports. One final thing I saw over with your guys' recruiting side of things and some talk about potentially Iowa and some pretty big quarterback targets out of the high school level. You know, is it a real sign that Tim Lester is starting his messaging starting to work? We've seen some improvements in the passing game.

Starting point is 00:26:50 It's also very early in the process for a lot of those guys. some good names, some exciting names out of those quarterbacks that I was in on and has some visits coming up. Are you optimistic that I was going to be able to land a big name out of the high school market for a quarterback next year? I actually am. I think they've gotten in with some good guys. Now, they were really in on the Braille and Warren kid from Omaha West Side, but he committed to Missouri in December. you know, they, but there's, there's a good crop in the Chicago area this year, which, which is going to help.

Starting point is 00:27:27 And Jake Nauron was one of the guys from Hershey High School whose dad was, you know, a former Hawkeye. So there's some ties there with the Iowa program. So he's going to be visiting in April. So we'll see if they can get him. But Israel Abrams is another kid that they're really interested in from Antonini. Catholic up in Chicago. So that's another guy to watch in that group. But they've got some good options.

Starting point is 00:27:56 And I think they feel pretty good about the options that they have right now. Tom Kaker joining us as he does Fridays. Appreciate the time. As always, Tom. And road trip for you up to Mad Time. You leave in Saturday morning or Sunday morning. Are you going to go up a day early? I'm going to go up Sunday morning.

Starting point is 00:28:11 Just going to hang out at home and watch some good college basketball on Saturday with, you know, Duke and Michigan and Arizona. Arizona, Houston. I mean, there's some good college buckets coming up. That'd be fun. Safe travels up to Madison. We'll talk to you next week. Okay.

Starting point is 00:28:26 Thanks. Tom Kaker, Hawkeye Report.com, joining us here today on a Friday. We put a cap on the week, a big weekend ahead. Final thoughts. One big key for Iowa victory. The women against Michigan, the men against Wisconsin. What's it going to take? That's next.

Starting point is 00:28:43 Lockdown Hawkeyes. I'm Clea Butler, host of Lockdown Women's Basketball. And this is Mazda's women's basketball snapshot, celebrating the work no highlight reel can ever capture. It was a heavyweight showdown between number three South Carolina and number seven LSU, and the game cost rose to the occasion. South Carolina secured a hard fought 79 to 72 victory to stay atop the SEC standings, using a balanced offensive attack to outlast the Tigers. Tessa Johnson led the way with 21 points while Raven Johnson added 19.

Starting point is 00:29:18 Medina O'Kott dominated the paint with a double-double, finishing with 12 points and 17 rebounds, while Joyce Edwards chipped in 10 points to round out the scoring. With the statement win, the Gengcocks now turn their attention to a road matchup at number 23, Alabama on Thursday. These moments are earned off the clock, those long before the lights ever come on. The sweat, the fakes, the doubt, the scrapes,

Starting point is 00:29:42 and coming back for more every time. Mazda puts that same drive into every detail. wins define the moment putting in the work that defines you there's more to a Mazda because there's more to you back with you one final time locked on hawkeyes i'm trent condon thanks for being with this and making lockdown hawkeyes your first listen every day and if you haven't already make sure you hit that subscribe button if you're watching us on youtube or a five-star review on the podcast side all that helps us get in front of more hawkeye fans if you never miss an episode of lockdown hawkeyes the everydayer club is built for you get locked down Hawkeyes ad-free plus members-only Discord access and more. Head over to our website, Lackedon hawkeyes. dot supercast.com, or you can find the link in the show notes. One final thing on each of the squads here this evening this weekend to pull off the upsets, the Iowa wrestling team also in action down at Oklahoma State,

Starting point is 00:30:37 currently a nine and a half point underdog in that matchup against the Cowboys to finish up the regular season. Iowa baseball and softball also continues their early portions of the season. For the Hawkeye men, very simply, somebody's got to be lights out. You need an epic offensive performance. And I'm talking about Alvaro Fugaris going off for 20 points. I'm saying that you're going to need Brendan Hassen to come in and knock down four three-threners, three-pointers.

Starting point is 00:31:02 You need somebody else to step up offensively, and then they have to be a whole lot better on ball defensively, as we've talked about throughout the course of the week. I hate this matchup for Iowa. I just don't think it works out well with the way that they are currently prize. On the women's side, very simply, don't turn the ball over. Now, not zero. You're not going to have a zero in the turnover column, but if they can stay under 12 or under in this game, I think I got a real shot. We're talking about a resume builder, a win against this Michigan team. And then what finishes up the season for Iowa, pretty good schedule after that in the

Starting point is 00:31:35 final two regular season games. They get this one. We're talking about potentially, Iowa moving up a number two seed, certainly locked in, I think a number three seed, if that plays out. the importance of this game against the Wolverines. That'll do it for today and for the week. We'll be back with you, though, over the weekend. Full recap of everything happening as we do on your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast, locked on Hawkeyes. We'll talk to you again on Monday.

Starting point is 00:31:59 Have a great weekend. Until then, go Hawks.

Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Stacked: Hawkeyes Running Back DEPTH Creates Fierce Competition for LJ Phillips and Kamari Moulton

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.