Men's Hoops Concludes Home Stand on Sunday

Hawkeyes in the NBA | 24 Hawkeyes to Watch | Hawk Talk Monthly — November | Game Notes (PDF)

THE SETTING
Iowa (2-1) concludes a four-game home stand on Sunday, welcoming UT Rio Grande Valley (0-3). Tipoff is set for 4:35 p.m. (CT) on Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. 
    Tickets are only $18 for adults and $5 for youths and UI students. Fans with a men’s ticket are welcome to attend the women’s game that tips at 2 p.m. with their men’s ticket and sit in sections DD – JJ & E – I (above row 24).
    There will be a Junior Hawk Club pregame party in Feller Club Room and postgame facility tour.

ON THE AIR
Radio: Iowa games are broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network. Gary Dolphin will handle the play-by-play, along with color commentator Bob Hansen. The network includes more than 40 stations that blanket the state of Iowa and include portions of Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin. The Hawkeye Radio Network coverage includes a 60-minute pregame show.
Stream: Sunday’s game will be streamed on mobile devices and computers via BTN Plus on BTN2GO. Zach Mackey, Mac McCausland, and Taylor Brooks will call the action. There is a monthly or annual subscription fee to watch the game.

GAME #4 STORYLINES
•    Iowa has won 39 of its last 41 nonconference home games, dating back to 2012.
•    Peter Jok, who enters Sunday’s game with 942 career points, has scored double digits in all three games, including netting 27 or more points in two of the contests. Jok leads the team in scoring (23.3 ppg), rebounding (7.0 rpg), free throws (8-of-8), and 3-pointers made (8). 
•    Peter Jok joins Reggie Evans (twice) and Aaron Fuller as the only Hawkeyes to post 30+ points and 10+ rebounds in a single game the last 20 years.
•    Peter Jok owns three of Iowa’s top ten scoring performances in a single-game during the Fran McCaffery era (30 vs. Seton Hall, and 29 vs. Rutgers and Illinois).
•    Nicholas Baer is stuffing the stat sheet, averaging 8.3 points and 3.7 rebounds, leads the team with five steals, and has 10 assists to only one turnover through three games.
•    Iowa scored 116 points last Sunday against Savannah State — the most in the Fran McCaffery era. The 116 points equal the seventh most points scored in a single game in program history.
•    Iowa’s 3-pointers made (18) and attempted (43) verus Savannah State last Sunday are new school records.
•    Peter Jok was named to the preseason 10-player All-Big Ten first team, while also being named to the 2017 Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award and 2017 Naismith Trophy  and John Wooden Award watch lists.
•    Iowa has competed in postseason play the last five years (NCAA 2014-16; NIT 2012-13).
•    The Hawkeyes won 22 games, tied for third place in the Big Ten, and won an NCAA Tournament game each of the last two seasons. 
•    Iowa sold out 23 home games the last three seasons. The Hawkeyes ranked 19th in national attendance in 2015-16.
•    Iowa has won 20 or more games in four consecutive seasons — its longest streak in 15 years. 
•    Fran McCaffery has guided Iowa to upper division finishes in the Big Ten in each of the last four seasons. McCaffery, who is one of just 12 Division I head coaches to take four different programs to the NCAA Tournament, has accumulated 16 first division finishes in 20 years as a head coach. McCaffery has posted 10 seasons of 20 or more wins as a head coach.
•    Iowa is 52-8 when scoring 80 points or more, the last six seasons. The Hawkeyes are 61-2 when holding opponents to fewer than 61 points, the last six years.

ALL-TIME SERIES RESULTS
Iowa is 4-0 all-time against UT Rio Grande Valley (formerly known as UT Pan American). The Hawkeyes last played the Vaqueros in 2012 in Iowa City (W, 86-55).
    The Vaqueros are members of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), which Iowa is a perfect 10-0 against current members.

CARVER-HAWKEYE ARENA ENHANCEMENTS
The Iowa Athletic Department upgraded Carver-Hawkeye Arena’s video boards, sound system, lighting, digital scorestable displays, and playing surface this past summer. 
    A new four-sided centerhung video system is the centerpiece of the installation. The two main centerhung displays measure approximately 14.5 feet high by 26 feet wide and the other two centerhung displays measure 9.5 feet high by 16.5 feet wide. The project also upgraded the auxiliary displays located near the ceiling at each side of the arena.

FRESHMEN MAKING THEIR MARK
Iowa’s freshmen are making contributions to the Hawkeye offense. Through three games, Hawkeye freshmen are accounting for 41 percent (120 of 290 points) of Iowa’s offense, led by forward Tyler Cook (44 points, 14.7 average). The rookies are also responsible for 39 percent of the team’s rebounding production (53 of 137 rebounds).

SETON HALL BEATS HAWKEYES IN GAVITT GAMES
Seton Hall shot 65.5 percent (19-of-29) from the field in the second half en route to a 91-83 win over Iowa on Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena Thursday night.
•    Two Hawkeyes scored in double figures: Peter Jok (30) and Tyler Cook (24). 
•    Iowa did a solid job on the glass, outrebounding the Pirates by eight (46-38). Jok led the team with a career-high 11 rebounds to post his first career double-double, while Dom Uhl matched a personal best with 10 boards.
•    Peter Jok joins Reggie Evans (twice) and Aaron Fuller as the only Hawkeyes to post 30+ points and 10+ rebounds in a single-game the last 20 years.
•    Both teams made eight 3-pointers in the contest, with six different Hawkeyes making at least one triple.
•    Twenty-five of Seton Hall’s 33 baskets were scored in the paint.

SCOUTING UT RIO GRANDE VALLEY
•    UT Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) lost its first three games, falling on the road to UT Martin (88-80) and Memphis (94-75), and at home to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (94-72).
•    Junior Nick Nixon, an Illinois native, leads the team in scoring (19 ppg), steals (2.6 spg), and rebounding (7 rpg). Sophomore Antonio Green is the team’s top 3-point threat, making 13-of-29 (.448) attempts from long distance.
•    UTRGV posted an 8-22 overall record a year ago, which includes a 4-10 mark in Western Athletic Conference action. The Vaqueros welcome 10 newcomers this season.
•    In their last outing against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, the Vaqueros committed 26 turnovers and shot 62 percent (23-of-37) from the foul line. Antonio Green netted a team-best 26 points for UTRGV.
•    Lew Hill is in his first season as a head coach (0-3). Hill spent the previous five years (2011-16) as an assistant coach at Oklahoma, helping guide the Sooners to four straight NCAA tournaments, including advancing to the 2016 Final Four. Prior to his coaching stint at Oklahoma, Hill served as an assistant coach under Lon Kruger at UNLV for seven seasons (2004-11).
•    Following Sunday’s game, UTRGV will travel to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to face Southeast Missouri State on Tuesday.

PETER JOK ENTERS FINAL SEASON AS A HAWKEYE
After averaging seven points per game as a sophomore, Peter Jok surged 9.1 points last year as a junior averaging 16.1 points per contest. The +9.1 improvement was tops among Big Ten players. Jok’s 16.1 scoring average ranks second among Big Ten players returning this season behind Illinois’ Malcolm Hill (18.1 ppg).
    Jok was named to the preseason 10-player All-Big Ten first team, while also being named to the 2017 Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award and 2017 Naismith Trophy and John Wooden Award watch lists. Jok is averaging a team-best 23.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game through three contests this season.
    Jok ranked second on the team in scoring (16.1 ppg) and first in free throw accuracy (.852, 92-of-108). Jok made 28 straight free throws before missing in the win over Temple (3-of-5). He scored 20 or more points 10 times in 2015-16, including a career-best 29 points at Rutgers (Jan. 21) and versus Illinois (March 10). The 29-point outbursts tie for seventh-most by a Hawkeye during the Fran McCaffery era. 
    Jok became the first Hawkeye non-senior to average 16 points or more since Chris Kingsbury averaged 16.8 points as a sophomore in 1995.

HAWKEYE FASTBREAKS
•    Iowa surpassed the century mark for the 97th time in program history with a 116-84 win over Savannah State on Nov. 13. The 116 points equal the seventh most points scored in a game in program history.
•    Iowa posted school records in 3-pointers made (18) and attempted (43) in its victory over Savannah State on Nov. 13.
•    Peter Jok scored 27 points in Iowa’s opening win over Kennesaw State. The 27 points are the most by a Hawkeye in a season opener since Adam Haluska poured in 29 against The Citadel in 2006. 
•    Freshman Tyler Cook (10) joined Aaron White as the only two players to grab 10 or more rebounds in their first game as a Hawkeye in the past 20 years.

NICHOLAS BAER PLAYED OVERSEAS IN AUGUST
Nicholas Baer averaged 8.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, and two steals in four games (3-1) overseas on the USA East Coast All-Star Team.
    This marked the sixth consecutive year that a Hawkeye traveled overseas with the USA East Coast basketball team. In 2011, Matt Gatens and Bryce Cartwright traveled overseas; Zach McCabe went in 2012; Jarrod Uthoff was on the roster in 2013; Mike Gesell and Adam Woodbury competed in 2014; while Dom Uhl traveled with the team in 2015.

RECENT GRADUATES PLAYING PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL
A number of recent Iowa basketball graduates are playing professionally: Melsahn Basabe (Greece), Anthony Clemmons (Austria), Mike Gesell (Denmark), Jarryd Cole (France), Matt Gatens (NBA D-League: Iowa Energy — injured), Devyn Marble (Greece), Gabriel Olaseni (Italy), Darius Stokes (Australia), Jarrod Uthoff (NBA D-League: Raptors 905), Aaron White (Russia), and Adam Woodbury (NBA D-League: Fort Wayne Mad Ants).

BAER NOMINATED FOR GOOD WORKS TEAM
Sophomore Nicholas Baer is a nominee for the 2017 Allstate NABC Good Works Team. 
    This prestigious community service award recognizes a distinguished group of student-athletes who have demonstrated a commitment to enriching the lives of others and contributing to the greater good in their communities.
    College sports information directors and basketball coaches across the country nominated players who exhibit exceptional leadership skills and an unwavering commitment to volunteerism.

IOWA HISTORY
Iowa has played 2,709 games since beginning basketball in 1902. Iowa’s overall record is 1,595-1,114 (.589). That includes a 1,017-356 (.741) record in home games, a 574-755 (.432) record in contests away from Iowa City, a 752-757 (.498) mark in Big Ten games and a 422-130 (.764) record in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

THE HY-VEE CLASSIC TICKETS ON SALE
The state’s four NCAA Division I men’s basketball teams will be in action in the same venue for the fifth consecutive year at Wells Fargo Arena on Saturday, Dec. 17.
    The first game of the doubleheader will feature Northern Iowa and Iowa beginning at 3:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3. Iowa State and Drake will play the second game at 6 p.m., with the game being broadcast on Mediacom.
    Tickets, which range in price from $30-75, are on sale exclusively through Hy-VeeTix.com, 844-55-HYVEE, 22 Hy-Vee Stores in Des Moines and Ames, or the Wells Fargo Arena Box Office. Tickets are good for admission to both games of the doubleheader.
    One of the marquee basketball events in the Midwest, The Hy-Vee Classic has sold out each of the last two years.

ALL-SESSION BIG TEN TOURNAMENT TICKETS ON SALE
All-session tickets for the 2017 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament are on sale. The Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament will take place at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C., March 8-12. 
    Lower level tickets may be purchased through the UI Ticket Office. General public tickets may be purchased at Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com, or by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000.
    All-session tickets for the lower level at the Verizon Center are available for $400 through the Big Ten university ticket offices only. All-session tickets general public tickets are available for $200 or $250 (depending on seat location) through Ticketmaster or the Verizon Center box office only. Orders will be limited to eight all-session tickets. 
    The tournament will continue to feature a discounted student ticket program. Students of Big Ten universities will be able to purchase tickets for $20, good for only the session or sessions featuring their school. All students must have a valid student ID for entry. Student section seating will be available in balcony sections and orders will be limited to one ticket per student. 

ON THE HORIZON
Iowa will travel to the state of Florida for the second straight year for its Thanksgiving holiday tournament. The Haweyes will travel to Destin, Florida, and will face Virginia on Friday and either Memphis or Providence on Saturday in the Emerald Coast Classic. Friday’s contest will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.