Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - TURNAROUND: Bennett Stirtz and Iowa BLITZ Bucknell—Why Hawkeyes Can SURPRISE the Big Ten!

Starting point is 00:00:00 One Hawkeye team rolls, the other runs into a buzzsaw. The Iowa men dominate Bucknell, why the women come up short against number one Yukon, signs of hope and encouragement of why these Hawkeye teams can be special. You are Locked-on Hawkeyes, 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, your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast as we come to you after the weekend that was in Hawkeye Athletics. I've been covering the Hawkeyes for over 20 years on the radio here in the state of Iowa, including currently on the Iowa Sports Radio Network with stations across the state, including Des Moines, Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, Quad Cities, and Sioux City. You can hear me each weekday from noon until two. Today's episode is brought to you by Fandual.

Starting point is 00:01:00 If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit Fandual.com and place your live NFL bets all season long. Today we're going to break down what we saw over the weekend. The Iowa men make their way over to Des Moines, neutral court affair against Bucknell in a dominating performance and giving us some hope, some guys that stepped up in a big time way and potentially even more upside to this men's team.

Starting point is 00:01:22 The Iowa women went toe to toe with Yukon for moments. Turnovers, though, the factor in that. That one is a fall to Yukon and see just how good that Husky team is. We'll break down some positives and some negatives from the women's side of things. Plus, we got football talk coming your way today. Jacks DeGine, the younger brother of Cooper DeGine, makes his commitment to Iowa football and a big bowl opt-out that very well could impact the Reliqquest Bowl with Iowa and Vanderbilt.

Starting point is 00:01:50 Let's begin, though, with what we saw on Saturday, two games as Iowa was facing off in neutral court affairs. Now, the men's side, a little bit different than the ladies, certainly a decided advantage for Iowa in Des Moines and something that I think has a potential to be something that Iowa would like to do going forward. You know, this was a game that was already in place and there was a connection how this game came together as Rube Bejik, who played his high school ball and West Des Moines Valley High School, came back home for his senior season, got to play a game in the home state. That's one of the reasons that this game came together. I know in the future, Coach McCollum has mentioned that this could be a possibility. They would like to see something like this going forward, having probably a bigger name opponent. Now, we've seen them go to Sioux Falls in the past.

Starting point is 00:02:35 And knowing this new day and age of college athletics and the way that college basketball is scheduled, it does make sense to play these types of games if you can get a good opponent. Now, the likelihood is that you would love to see a game like this in Des Moines, the biggest population base in the state, have a better opponent than what they say. saw on Saturday, and I think that is going to be the hope, probably going to have to have return. You know, remember years ago, Iowa and played Texas Tech in Dallas one year, and then they played

Starting point is 00:03:02 them in Chicago. Maybe something similar, though, substitute Chicago out and put this one and have it be in Des Moines. It could be a potential. Maybe you'd take on a team like a Creighton and do that there. That would be more of a neutral court. But that's something down the line. I will see on that front.

Starting point is 00:03:17 But that aside, something that was good to see. Now, here's the other part. If you do do something like that, you can't have. your biggest opponent in the non-conference be on a neutral floor every single year. You have to give something also back to the people of Carver Hawkeye Arena, the season ticket holders. You have to have those name opponents also go there. And, you know,

Starting point is 00:03:36 you were able to get that for years and years with the ACC Big Ten Challenge. That's not the case anymore. So be hopeful that something like that could come together. But it's not just in Des Moines that we do see that in other aspects in those games also having in Carver. But let's get into the game. A couple of takeaways from this one. final score 94-39.

Starting point is 00:03:55 And after Bucknell jumped out to a, what was a 10-2 lead, oh boy, there we go. They might be in some trouble here. Not the case. One of the biggest aspects, though, and what you saw throughout the course of this basketball game, was what they did on the defensive end of the floor.

Starting point is 00:04:10 15 to 41 shooting for Bucknell, 5 of 23, and after that early onslaught, when Bejik hit a couple of three-pointers early in that game, they just could not get anything going offensively. And this is going to be the calling card for this new, era of Iowa basketball. Yes, it's not going to be the pace that they played in previously, but they're going to get it done on the defensive end.

Starting point is 00:04:30 It gives you hope. It gives you hope in the comeback that they had and had an opportunity against Iowa State. Even Michigan State, when things were not going well, yet they were hanging around and they got it back to 10 points at one point in the second half. It's because of what they do on the defensive end of the floor. And that is something that certainly drew a lot of applause from the fan base. Great to see Ben McCollum trying to get the crowd into it. as he did a multitude of different times,

Starting point is 00:04:54 getting them fired up of what they're doing on the defensive end of the floor. Also got to see another game where Bennett Sturfs didn't have to play the full 40. Played 32 minutes of that game. That's a good thing. 18 games remaining in the Big Ten slate. One more non-conference game next Monday

Starting point is 00:05:11 as they'll take on UMass Lowell. But before that, you have a team that is going to go up against the rigors of the Big Ten and the likelihood. And we saw it thought at times in the Iowa State game. that playing 40 minutes against those kind of opponents the way that they're going to defend you, the way that they're going to grind you, you need to get him some kind of rest and happen in a blowout win. Let's hope it happens also.

Starting point is 00:05:33 I would like to see that number more 35, 36 minutes a game, even in the biggest opponents, even in the biggest moments, just a little bit of break from here and here and there. And find that time, there's a whistle right before an under 12 timeout. It's something like that where you're going to be able to get him a couple of minutes out of there and hopefully have him fresh for the duration of this. One six assists in the game. In fact, for Bennett Sturts, when talking about those six assists, past two games, six assists in that. Those assist numbers had dwindled down a little bit.

Starting point is 00:06:01 Good to see him sharing the basketball. And I think my biggest takeaway, though, and what we talked about the upside of this team is two guys that again came off the bench, starting with Elvel, Alvaro Fulgaris. I mean, he was red hot there in the first half. And he had that run, hit a corner three, almost fading into the bench down there on the right side of the floor. For Fulgaris, we know what a talented offensive weapon that he is. And it's still continuing to build up upon that. And being aggressive at the right times, understanding the team aspect of this one. Still, Fulgaris, this team is going to be somebody that pushes in the top third of the Big Ten this year,

Starting point is 00:06:37 somebody that has a chance to get to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament. Fulgaris is going to have to be one of those guys that is playing at a high level throughout. And he can't disappear. And he can't have those moments where he goes, was what a four from the floor. It plays, you know, 14 minutes in the game. No, you need him engaged. You need him a big factor of that one.

Starting point is 00:06:56 And then he heard it again for Brennan Hassan. And again, Hassan, a guy that we've talked about a ton here, a guy that can fill it up from the outside. And for a team that has sometimes lacked scoring punch, doesn't have a whole lot of depth of scores on this basketball team outside of starts. And when you're playing combs a lot, manwa kind of is what he is inside. He's not a guy that's going to be able to break things down.

Starting point is 00:07:18 When you have that, banks up and down played well and nearly had a double double in the game but you need that scoring punch and i think we're seeing more a little bit more now for for hosson speaking about the bench i've said it before and i'll continue to say it trevin yorock is going to have to help them win a basketball game or two in big 10 play there's going to be a time where foul trouble hits that they're going to need that other big body in there or they're just going to need a big body in general, not for 20 minutes, but for 8, 10, 12 minutes in a big spot, Trevin, Your Rock is going to have to be able to help them out at different times this year.

Starting point is 00:07:54 And boy, he was getting a lot of applause as he was hoisting up some threes. Got a good looking shot. Got to knock those down now. I'll try and get that done. So a little bit of Tate Sage again. I mean, we talked about a lot of these guys off the bench, but Kale Combs continues to build. And this is a guy that I thought was going to be a role player.

Starting point is 00:08:11 Somebody off the bench. Now, maybe playing in that 12. to 15 minute range, obviously playing a lot more. He's playing starter minutes and he is going to be a big part of what they do. Also, keeping some of that tread off the tire of Bennett Sturts, the ability to him handle the ball, run the point guard spot, have Sturts play off the ball a little bit and do different things that way and get him breaks a little bit that way as well.

Starting point is 00:08:32 You're going to see that plenty for combs. Fun one and a fun environment too. Again, we'd mentioned not a good opponent, but for the people in Des Moines, I think everybody knows, even for people in Eastern Iowa, how important it is to engage Des Moines. It's tough for basketball season, for a lot of people to make that trip over, a couple hours over, a couple hours back.

Starting point is 00:08:52 But with the population base in Des Moines, you need those people. And to give them a little carrot, a little something here, come over to Des Moines, play this game, and we heard, though it wasn't packed by any means, good crowd on hand, and something hopefully that will build going forward

Starting point is 00:09:06 if they continue to play these games. Well, Iowa got a dominating win on the men's side, women's side, not so much. But we do have some good things that came out of it. We'll talk about that as Iowa went toe to toe with number one Yukon, didn't get the win, opportunities, and sometimes that they played really well. We'll talk about that on the other side, plus some football talk as we continue, locked on Hawkeyes. NFL Sundays move fast. One big play, suddenly everything feels different. That's what makes live betting with Fandul so exciting. You're not just watching the game, you're reacting to it in real time. With Fanduil, you can place bets as the

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Starting point is 00:10:15 You want to be in the middle of the action this season, visit Vandual.com and place your NFL live bets all season. Van Duel, the game moves fast, and so can you. Trent, kind of back with you once again here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Lockdown Network, your team every day. day. Now number one for sports podcast. As we continue to jump over to the other side and to the women's team that makes their way out to Brooklyn to face off against number one Yukon.

Starting point is 00:10:50 It got ugly early. I was down in the game, 22 to 8. You think, oh boy, wheels are going to fall off here. This thing is going to turn into domination. But to chat right, she was outstanding, hit a couple of big threes. Iowa got back into the game and showed an ability at least at minimum to hang around. As Yukon started to pull away, the thing that steps up, I mean, just the myriad of weapons that they have. And in order to beat this Yukon team, look, Iowa goes out there and out rebounds Yukon by nine. And if you would have told me that, I would have said, maybe they got a chance.

Starting point is 00:11:25 Maybe this is going to be a game going to the fourth quarter that they're going to have an opportunity to get it done. But the myriad of weapons that Yukon has, you know, as a budd might be the most well-known player of this group, and she was tremendous with 27 points. I don't know if she was the best player on the floor, though. Sarah Strong, her ability to step out, knock things down from the outside. She had six steals in the game, hits three, three-pointers in that one. The depth that they have, Arnold, she's been around for a long time.

Starting point is 00:11:54 Quinoa is off the bench. This team is deep. They're talented, and they can guard you. For Iowa, I mean, it starts with the turnovers. You're not beaten hardly anybody with 26 turnovers. over's in the game. It's not going to happen. You can't have that. It's too much. And it wasn't the times that look, there is better. They pick your pocket because they're better. No, it wasn't that. It was not going out and catching the basketball. There's a pass out there to the wing.

Starting point is 00:12:25 It's just sloppy, right? Or for the other side, the player catching the ball, not going out and connecting with that basketball. You have to play at that level. And it's a step forward than what you're used to. It is different than what you're used to against most of every team where you have to go and connect with every pass. Every pass that you make has to be sharp. You always have to have the understanding. Somebody might be coming from behind you. It is that extra edge, that final level that every basketball player has to get to when you're playing that type of opponent. When you're outmaned, when you have a team that is better, you have to be not perfect, but boy, you got to play clean. And I was certainly did not play clean in this game. And you go through and it was turnovers from all

Starting point is 00:13:04 over the place. Hannah Stalky had four. Chichat Wright. She had three, six turnovers from Sremlo, three from Hayes, two from Houston, two from Deal, two from McCabe. It just, they stack up. You can't afford that to happen, even in a game where Iowa had an opportunity, had some chances, and I think showed some good signs. Hannah Stalky is the kind of player you need in a game like this. And her and Chichet, at times, we're outstanding. in the shooting of Chichat Right. I thought she did a really good job of stemming the tide at different times, getting them where they needed to be, getting them in the right spots.

Starting point is 00:13:43 Kelly Fearbach just plays nine minutes a game. And you do wonders we saw more Stremlow in this one, if that is going to be something that continues. We know Fearbach, good defender, good on ball defender, but limitations on the offensive end. And Stremlo can do a few more things for you on the offensive side. Taylor McKay has improved her game immensely. She has gone from a one-trick pony.

Starting point is 00:14:05 It was shooting the basketball from the outside. But in a game like this, you got to be able to do more and just got two shots off. They know the gameplay. And Yukon, with the athleticism and the size that they have, Taylor McCabe, she just looks small out there. And Chichat, small too, in terms of stature, still, that's what Yukon does. I don't take this game and say that I was in big trouble, that this is some kind of indictment of this.

Starting point is 00:14:32 team and what they are and what they're going to be this season. Yukon is just that good. I think that has to be our takeaway. And in fact, after the loss, they jumped up a spot in Bart Torvich's ratings. I was still the 10th best team in the country, according to his advanced analytics. Bartorvick.com is where you can go and check all that. They offensively played incredibly efficient against Yukon. They had good things that certainly popped up there.

Starting point is 00:14:57 And now it's going to start to change. So Iowa's got a week off before they play next Sunday against Penn State. Their favor to win that game by 21. After that, it's a home game against Nebraska. Hustlers are still undefeated. Nebraska's good, but you get at a Carver Hawkeye Arena. Iowa projected a two and a half point favorite in that one. Two road games after that, two games where Iowa's favorite by double digits,

Starting point is 00:15:19 against Northwestern, against Indiana, home for Oregon, five and a half point favorite against a good Oregon team, and Michigan State a seven point favorite there. All these games are outside of probably the Northwestern Penn State. state games relatively difficult, but you feel really good about the way Iowa has gone this season that they can race out. And if they do that, if they go out there and they win these next seven games, remember six games, they'd be seven and oh in the Big Ten already had the win against Rutgers.

Starting point is 00:15:45 You do that and the squad sitting at 16 and 2 before they go out to Maryland on January 22nd. There's good things happening. Ava Hayden, we know what she is inside. Chit-chat need to keep her healthy because she is a. A difference maker. And how about the way she's shooting the basketball? Talked about her three-point shooting. 50% on the year, 21 of 42.

Starting point is 00:16:06 I don't think anybody had that before the season began. We know McCabe can shoot it from the outside. Stremlow, she knocked down some threes and definitely can do that from the outside. I like to make up this team. They're still incredibly young. Overall, yeah, you got the veterans and McCabe and Stalky and Fearbock, but this young group with the sophomores in Hayden and Chit-Chat, right, coupled with Stremlo, also another sophomore.

Starting point is 00:16:27 We've seen those glimpses out of Lela Hayer, journey Houston, the two freshmen, and then the ongoing saga, what's going to happen going forward with Emily Rodriguez. A lot to decipher here, but a good one. Yes, you lost by 26, but I thought there were enough good moments in this one. You can be excited about this squad. Let's talk some football here, Lockdown Hawkeyes, coming up on the other side. Iowa gets a commitment with a name that you know, Cooper DeGine.

Starting point is 00:16:52 His little brother, Jack DeGine, has made his commitment, though a different type of player. We'll talk about that on the other side. plus a big opt-out for the bowl game against Vanderbilt as we continue locked on Hawkeyes. There's nothing like college football season as it winds down. The tailgates, pack stadiums, being right there in the middle of it all, and certainly the case for bowl games, energy bans, the moments you remember forever. But what about actually getting tickets? That part used to be frustrating with long queues, logins, prices jumping for you at checkout.

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Starting point is 00:17:49 They got you covered at game time. And I love being able to view the seat before buying exactly what is going to be your view of the field before you jump into. you know exactly what you're going to get. Seeing college football tickets out there at great prices all on the Game Time app. And the best part, knowing the prices include all fees up front, make the whole process stress-free, no more of those huge jumps at checkout. Take the guesswork out of buying college football tickets with GameTime, download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code Lockedon College for $20 off your first purchase.

Starting point is 00:18:22 Terms apply. Again, that's code Lockedon, C-O-L-E-D-O-N-C-O-L-E-G-E, for $20 off. Download the Game Time app today. Trent, kind of back with you one final time here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes, your first listen to the day. And thanks for making Lockdown, the number one, sports podcast network. If you haven't already, go check out our new Everydayer Club.

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Starting point is 00:19:33 to learn more. We continue with a look at some football and Jacks DeGine makes his commitment to Iowa football. So Jacks DeGine is certainly a bigger recruit than Cooper was, his older brother. And there were a lot of people that were a bit concerned after the departure last week of Lovar Woods. He was a guy that recruits Northwest Iowa a lot.

Starting point is 00:19:59 And a lot of the guys that we've seen throughout the years, LeVar had a big piece of that. He is rated by 24-7 sports as the number 26 athlete in the country, number five in the state of Iowa from 24-7 composite rating, a top 400, a prospect also in the class. He had offers K-State, Michigan, UNLV, UAP, were the other ones that are involved. but a lot of people also believe that everybody kind of knew

Starting point is 00:20:25 that Jacks was going to become a hawkeye and some people maybe held back on even offering him because they thought, well, he's just going to go where his brother was. He is, some people say, a tight end. Some people say he's going to be a defensive back like his brother, more likely at the safety position, what that actually is going to look like for him. Caught 36 passes last year for six touchdowns,

Starting point is 00:20:47 also carried the ball 27 times with three touchdowns, A little bit of quarterback in there, 14 to 21 passing, 149 yards and two touchdowns through the air, at 18 and a half tackles, three interceptions. He was also the punter, punt return. He does it all. You figure him out. You get him on the bus. You figure out what he's going to be. But certainly excited.

Starting point is 00:21:07 And again, bigger, bigger guy than certainly Cooper was coming out of high school and seeing what Jacks is going to be for this Iowa program. Still a couple years away before he is a Hawkeye, though, on that front. Finally, one note from the bowl game as there is a opt-out, excuse me, in the bowl game. So for Vanderbilt, we've talked a lot about Diego Pavia, and Diego Pavia is going to be there. He's going to be wild. His family is going to be wild, and we're going to get all, everything that goes along with it. But maybe their most NFL ready player is Eli Stowers, who Stores was with him at New Mexico State, came with him to Vanderbilt.

Starting point is 00:21:49 That's a guy this year, 62 receptions, 769 yards, four touchdowns at a long as 69. Definitely impactful and definitely good news for Iowa. That he's not going to be there. You're going to get ready for the draft. We see more and more of these. Started his career as a quarterback recruited Stowers. It's a reason probably where's number nine at the tight end position, but it's really good. And good news for Iowa.

Starting point is 00:22:14 Look, there's things that we'll talk about leading up to the bowl game, what Iowa going to have to do. It starts up front. And it starts with slowing down what they do in the run game, not just the run game with the running backs, but more importantly, maybe what they do in the run game with Diego Pavia. Now, a lot of the design runs that they have, Iowa has been pretty good this season against those kind of design runs. They're one of the best in the country against pulling guards, pulling centers. When they're having those kind of concepts, Iowa's defense and Phil Parker's defense have been really good. And they're one of the tops in the country and tackles for loss when they're moving people in that.

Starting point is 00:22:48 However, the thing that I think concerns you most about Tiago Pavia is not those design runs, not the zone reads where he's reading, he's going to keep it or he's going to give it to the running back. No, what really concerns you with Diego Pavia is what he does running the ball when it's not designed outside the pocket. And it's going to be incredibly important for the defense events of this game, keep him contained, keep him inside of the pocket because when he gets outside, he's going to tuck it, he's going to get 15 yards, and he's going to pick up.

Starting point is 00:23:15 up that big first down. That's when he's at his best on the move, making plays with his feet or extending plays and then making plays down the field in the passing game. I think that's going to be a huge, huge component for this one for Iowa and if they're going to be able to pull off the upset. We continue lockdown Hawkeyes, your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast here on Christmas week. We got a lot going on. We're going to be joined tomorrow by David Eicholt. We'll hear from David, a lot of wide-ranging topics. Certainly looking forward to that and getting his thoughts on the Hawkeyes. You can also subscribe to the show.

Starting point is 00:23:47 Make sure you hit that subscribe button if you're watching us on YouTube or if you're on the other side, podcast side, five-star reviews, all that helps us. You can also find me on Twitter at Trent Condon or you can find the show account at Lockdown, Iowa, is where you can find us each and every day over there. If you need a last-minute holiday gift for that big Hawkeye fan in your light or someone asks you what you want, make it easy.

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Starting point is 00:24:39 on the Everydayer Club. We'll talk to you tomorrow. Until then, go Hawks.

Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - TURNAROUND: Bennett Stirtz and Iowa BLITZ Bucknell—Why Hawkeyes Can SURPRISE the Big Ten!

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