Nov. 3, 2013
Box Score | Photo Gallery 1 | Photo Gallery 2 | Postgame Transcript
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — If Sunday’s 87-65 University of Iowa men’s basketball victory over Augustana (Ill.) is an indicator of the officiating emphasis in 2013-14, free throws will be at a premium.
The Hawkeyes made 39-of-50 attempts from the charity stripe on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena after 33 fouls were whistled on the visiting Vikings. Iowa committed 19 fouls, and Augustana converted 13-of-20 from the free throw line.
Junior Aaron White, who along with senior Zach McCabe led Iowa with 16 points in the contest, says something has got to give with the officiating.
“One of two things will happen,” said White. “Either the teams will adjust or the refs won’t be able to call it like that as the season goes on. One or the other is going to happen. Either it won’t be enforced as quickly, or the teams will figure out they can’t have their hands on people.”
When there weren’t stops in the flow with the constant whistles, Iowa was tested by Augustana, a Division III school that has won five conference championships since 2003, in the first half. The Hawkeyes made 5-of-7 shots to start the game, but led just 10-7 over the first four minutes. Coming out of the first media timeout, the Hawkeyes used an 8-2 spurt behind four free throws by McCabe to take an 18-9 lead.
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A four-point play by Danielius Jurgutis cut the lead to 18-13, and the Vikings trimmed the deficit to 23-22 on a 3-pointer from Mark Roth at the 9:36 mark. McCabe connected on a 3-pointer — the team’s lone long ball of the first half — to open a 14-4 spurt that pushed the Hawkeye lead to 37-26. Iowa never looked back.
“This is exactly what our team needed today,” said UI head coach Fran McCaffery. “We needed to get outfought and out-played and play a team that was going to force us into some turnovers. I knew we were going to get tested the day I scheduled this game.
“It was a great opportunity to play a team that is used to winning, physically capable of competing. We did some things that won the game or we were going to go in a complete opposite direction and struggle the whole time. We struggled a lot today.”
After taking a 46-32 lead into the half, Iowa stretched its lead to 20 (56-36) over the first five minutes of the second half. The Hawkeyes pushed their lead to 30 on a fast-break layup by Darius Stokes at the three-minute mark before going on to the 87-65 victory.
“We have to give credit to Augustana,” said White. “They switched defenses, played hard and are physical. Me, personally, I am a little disappointed in how we played. We didn’t come out with the fire and intensity we should have. It’s good to get it out of the way the first game and still end up winning by 22. We’ll learn from it.”
For the game, Iowa shot 41.1 percent (23-of-56) from the floor, but made just 2-of-18 attempts from 3-point range. The Hawkeyes won the rebounding battle, 48-35, and got 43 points from their bench.
White made 4-of-8 attempts from the floor and 8-of-10 free throws, while McCabe made a pair of field goals, went 11-of-12 from the charity stripe and grabbed eight boards. Sophomore Adam Woodbury tallied a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
“We did enough to win and there were some individual performances I thought were terrific,” said McCaffery. “Woodbury was terrific, White was terrific, and McCabe was spectacular.”
Fourteen Hawkeyes played and 11 different players scored. Newcomers Jarrod Uthoff and Peter Jok combined for 12 points on 2-of-11 shooting.
“Peter was a little bit gun-shy, which is not normal for him,” said McCaffery. “If he’s open, I want him to shoot it. He’ll get that figured out.
“Jarrod looked nervous to me at the start of the game. It took him a little bit of time to settle down. He was hesitant the first time I put him in, and the second time and second half, he was much better.”
The Hawkeyes will open the regular season Friday night, hosting UNC Wilmington at 8:30 p.m. (CT).