Game Notes: Iowa vs. Alabama State

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THE SETTING
No. 20/22 Iowa (4-0) returns home on Wednesday to host Alabama State (2-2). Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. (CT) on Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,056). Tickets are $15 for adults, $5 for UI students, and $1 for youth 18-and-under.
 
WEDNESDAY PROMOTION
Wednesday is Kids Day inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Kids 18-and-under receive admission for only $1.
 
ON THE AIR
Radio: Iowa games are broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network. Gary Dolphin handles 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.
TV: Wednesday night’s contest will be televised nationally on BTN (BTN2GO). Jeff Levering and Jess Settles will call the action.
 
HAWKEYES NATIONALLY RANKED
The Hawkeyes are one of six Big Ten ranked in this week’s AP Top 25: Michigan (9), Michigan State (11), Iowa (20) Ohio State (23), Purdue (24), and Wisconsin (25). This marks the earliest Iowa is nationally ranked in the AP Poll since Nov. 14, 2005 (also ranked No. 20).
    Iowa is ranked No. 22 in this week’s USA Today Coaches Poll.
 
HAWKEYES WIN 2 GAMES IN NEW YORK, WIN 2K EMPIRE CLASSIC
Iowa posted wins over No. 13 Oregon (77-69) and Connecticut (91-72) to win the 2K Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
•  Two Hawkeyes were named to the 2K Empire Classic All-Tournament Team: Luka Garza (MVP) and Tyler Cook. Cook averaged 16.5 points and nine rebounds, while Garza averaged 16 points and 6.5 rebounds in the two victories.
•  Iowa made 29 free throws (attempted 33) in the win over No. 13 Oregon and sank 29-of-37 from the charity stripe in the championship game versus Connecticut.
•  Junior Ryan Kriener provided productive minutes in both contests, averaging 8.5 points and 2.5 rebounds in the two games. Kriener scored a season-high 11 points in the win over the Ducks.
•  Iowa outrebounded both Oregon (+10) and Connecticut (+13).
•  Redshirt freshman Connor McCaffery played a big role in the championship game victory. Starting point guard Jordan Bohannon was whistled for his second foul 89 seconds into the game. McCaffery played a career-high 29 minutes, posting personal bests in scoring (19), free throws made (9) and attempted (11), and assists (5).

SCOUTING ALABAMA STATE
•   Alabama State played its nonconference home finale last Wednesday, knocking off Birmingham-Southern, 86-44. Wednesday is the first of nine straight games away from home for the Hornets.
•   The Hornets are on a two-game win streak, averaging both wins by 38 points.
•   Wednesday will be Alabama State’s second trip to the state of Iowa during the month of November. The Hornets fell to Iowa State in the season opener, 79-53, in Ames, Iowa.
•   Alabama State averages 5.8 blocks and 8.5 steals per game.
•   Sophomore Reginald Gee averages a team-best 16.5 points per game, shooting 50 percent (8-of-16) from behind the arc. Junior Jacoby Ross ranks second on the squad in scoring (15.3 ppg), shooting 40 percent (20-of-30) from 3-point range.
•   Redshirt sophomore forward Branden Johnson leads the Hornets in rebounding, averaging 8.5 boards per contest.
•   Head coach Lewis Jackson is in his 12th year with Alabama State. He has guided the Hornets to three NCAA Tournaments, compiling a 189-219 (.463) record.
 
MILESTONES APPROACHING FOR BOHANNON, COOK
Jordan Bohannon and Tyler Cook are closing in on becoming the 47th and 48th Hawkeyes to score 1,000 points. Bohannon is 135 points and 131 assists from becoming the sixth Hawkeye to amass 1,000 points and 500 assists. Cook is 99 points and 101 rebounds from becoming the 26th Hawkeye to total 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.
 
BOHANNON RECEIVED MUSIAL AWARD ON SATURDAY
Jordan Bohannon was one of the honorees at the 2018 Musial Awards, which celebrated the greatest moments of sportsmanship and those in sports who embody class and character.
    Last February, Bohannon, an Iowa sophomore, was approaching the Hawkeyes’ consecutive free throws made record. The record was held by the late Chris Street, an Iowa basketball legend who died in a car accident in 1993 at age 20. With a chance to break the record, Bohannon intentionally — and selflessly — missed a free throw to honor Street and keep the record in his name.
    The awards ceremony took place in St. Louis last Saturday. Bohannon traveled with the Street family from New York to St. Louis after Iowa’s games in New York City last week.
    Other honorees included recently-inducted Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Thome, Loyola men’s basketball team chaplain Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, Florida State softball head coach Lonni Alameda, Minnesota high school pitcher Ty Koehn, and Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith.
    The event is named for Stan Musial, the late St. Louis Cardinals legend who was beloved for his approach on and off the field. The mission of the Musial Awards is to encourage selflessness, integrity and civility in sports and society — and to inspire people across the country to be good sports.
 
HAWKEYES RETURN EXPERIENCE
Iowa returns 90.5 percent of minutes played a year ago, a percentage that is fourth most in the country: Washington (95.2 percent), Wisconsin (93.9 percent), and Syracuse (90.8 percent). Returning Iowa players scored 94.9 percent (2,496 of 2,630) of its offense a year ago and a combined 4,246 career points entering the 2018-19 season.
    Iowa is one of four schools nationally to have all five starters return with all five being its top five scorers in 2017-18 (Syracuse, Brown, Harvard).
 
McCAFFERY REACHES MILESTONES
Iowa’s regular season opener against UMKC was Fran McCaffery’s 700th career game as a head coach. The 2018-19 season is McCaffery’s ninth as Iowa’s head coach and 23rd overall as a collegiate head coach. McCaffery has 404 overall wins and 153 victories while on the Iowa sidelines. He is third on Iowa’s coaching win chart, surpassing Steve Alford on Sunday, and 16 victories from surpassing Lute Olson for second. Tom Davis is Iowa’s all-time winningest coach with 269 wins.
 
IOWA WELCOMES 4 HAWKEYES TO 2018-19 ROSTER
Iowa added two scholarship and two non-scholarship student-athletes to its 2018-19 roster. Guards CJ Fredrick (Kentucky) and Joe Wieskamp (Iowa) were their respective state’s Gatorade Player of the Year in 2018. Guard Nicholas Hobbs and forward Michael Baer join the Hawkeye roster as walk-on. Baer is the younger brother of senior Nicholas Baer.
 
FAMILY AFFAIR
In addition to brothers Nicholas and Michael Baer on the Iowa men’s basketball team, the Baers have two cousins competing on other sports at the University of Iowa. Molly Kelly is a senior on the volleyball team, while Joe Kelly is a freshman on the Iowa wrestling team. Additionally, cousin Kristin Baer is a senior on the Notre Dame volleyball team.
 
MAKING THE GRADE
Nicholas Baer, Connor McCaffery, and Jack Nunge were recognized on the 2017 Fall Semester Dean’s List, while walk-ons Michael Baer and Austin Ash earned Spring Semester Dean’s List distinction. To be eligible for the Dean’s List, students must receive a 3.5 or higher grade-point average (GPA) on at least 12 graded semester hours.
    Nicholas Baer was also named to the NABC Honors Court following the season for the second consecutive year.
 
BREAKING DOWN IOWA’S BIG TEN SCHEDULE
Of the 10 Big Ten homes games played in Iowa City, eight will be played on weekends: three on Friday nights (Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana), two on Saturday afternoons (Ohio State, Rutgers), three on Sunday afternoons (Nebraska, Illinois, Northwestern).
    Other than playing two straight Big Ten road games one month apart (Michigan State on Dec. 3 and Purdue on Jan. 3), Iowa has only one other back-to-back road game sequence (Wisconsin on March 7 and Nebraska on March 10).
    This season will mark the seventh time in nine years that the Hawkeyes will open league play at home and just the second time in nine years that Iowa will play its regular season finale on the road under head coach Fran McCaffery.
 
MEASURING THE HAWKEYES
Iowa has four players with wingspans over seven feet: Ryan Kriener (7-3), Jack Nunge (7-2), Luka Garza (7-1.5), and Tyler Cook (7-1). Guards Maishe Dailey (6-11) and Joe Wieskamp (6-11) have longest wingspans among backcourt players.
 
NUNGE, FREDRICK TO REDSHIRT
Sophomore forward Jack Nunge and freshman guard CJ Fredrick plan to redshirt the 2018-19 season. Nunge, one of seven forwards on this season’s roster, saw action in all 33 games a year ago, ranking second on the team in blocked shots (25), fourth in steals (21), and fifth in scoring (5.7). Fredrick was the 2018 Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year his senior year at Covington Catholic High School.
 
COOK ATTENDS NIKE BASKETBALL ACADEMY
Tyler Cook attended the prestigious Nike Basketball Academy this past summer in California. The camp provided Cook the opportunity to train alongside some of the best NBA players and coaches. The prestigious skills development camp was limited to 25 of the nation’s top collegiate players, which included a combine experience, drills, off-court workouts, film sessions, and competition.
    Cook is the fourth Hawkeye in five years to be invited to this elite basketball camp, joining Aaron White (2014), Jarrod Uthoff (2015), and Peter Jok (2016).

CONNOR MCCAFFERY RETURNS HEALTHY
Guard Connor McCaffery received a medical redshirt following last season. McCaffery (6-foot-5, 205 pounds) has four years of men’s basketball eligibility remaining after averaging 13.3 minutes in only four games last December as a true freshman. The native of Iowa City missed two games due to a sprained ankle, eight contests due to mononucleosis, and 19 games after undergoing a tonsillectomy in December.
    McCaffery is the son of head coach Fran McCaffery. Iowa is one of nine Division I teams in which the head coach has a son on the 2018-19 roster (Cal State Bakersfield, Central Connecticut State, Central Florida, Detroit Mercy, Kentucky, Portland, Syracuse, Tennessee Martin).
    Iowa is 8-0 in games in which Connor McCaffery has played, dating back to last season.
 
DIRECTING THE HAWKEYE OFFENSE
Jordan Bohannon, an honorable mention all-Big Ten honoree, had a solid sophomore campaign, dishing out a team-best 178 assists, and averaging 13.5 points. He averaged 2.9 3-pointers made per game, which ranked second in the league and 41st in the country. His 3-point percentage (.430) also ranked 22nd nationally.
    The native of Marion, Iowa, has six 10+ assists games in his career (Indiana, South Dakota, TCU, Ohio State, and Wisconsin), which ties Cal Wulfsberg for the most by a Hawkeye in program history. His six career double-doubles — all in points and assists — are the most in program history.
    Bohannon is one of three players from a major conference with 300+ assists and 150+ made 3-pointers through their sophomore season in the last two decades joining Duke’s Jay Williams (2000-01) and Chris Thomas of Notre Dame (2002-03). Additionally, he is the only player nationally over the past 25 years to register 150+ assists and 80+ 3-pointers as a freshman and sophomore.
 
BOHANNON TIES CHRIS STREET’S CONSECUTIVE FT MADE RECORD
Jordan Bohannon made 34 consecutive free throws from Jan. 4-Feb. 25 to tie Chris Street’s school record for consecutive makes in 1993. Bohannon had an opportunity to break the 25-year old record in the final minutes against Northwestern on Feb. 25.
    The Hawkeye sophomore chose to miss on purpose to preserve Street’s name in the record books. Bohannon’s incredible act of kindness will be recognized on Saturday when the Hawkeye point guard will receive an award for his sportsmanship, class, selflessness, and character at the Musial Awards in St. Louis.
    The legendary Chris Street owned the consecutive free throws made school record, making 34 straight over a span of six games (Jan. 2-16, 1993). Street’s streak ended when he was killed in an auto accident on Jan. 19, 1993.
    Bohannon’s overall season percentage (.904) ranked first in the Big Ten. Bohannon was 37-of-39 from the charity stripe in 18 Big Ten contests, missing at Indiana and versus Northwestern.
 
FANS FLOCK TO CARVER-HAWKEYE ARENA
Iowa ranked 28th in the country in average home attendance (12,026) in 2017-18. The Hawkeyes have ranked in the top 30 nationally in attendance each of the past six seasons, including ranking in the top 25 five of the last six years.
 
IOWA VS. RANKED TEAMS
Iowa is 1-0 this season against nationally-ranked teams, beating No. 13 Oregon (77-69) last week at the 2K Empire Classic in New York City.
 
RECENT GRADUATES PLAYING PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL
A number of recent Iowa basketball graduates are playing professionally: Devyn Marble (Italy), Anthony Clemmons (Kazakhstan), Gabriel Olaseni (Germany), Jarrod Uthoff (Russia), Melsahn Basabe (Israel), Peter Jok (NBA G League: Northern Arizona Suns), Adam Woodbury (NBA G League: Westchester Knicks), and Aaron White (Lithuania).
 
15 DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Iowa players posted 15 double-doubles in 2017-18, led by sophomore Tyler Cook’s seven. Luka Garza had four, followed by Jordan Bohannon (3), and Nicholas Baer (1).
    Cook’s seven double-doubles are the seventh most among Big Ten athletes and the most by a Hawkeye in a single season since Adam Woodbury had seven as a senior in 2015-16. Garza’s four double-doubles are the most by a Hawkeye freshman since Aaron White had four in 2011-12.
 
GARZA SHINES IN FRESHMAN CAMPAIGN
Luka Garza led the team in blocked shots (1.0), and was second in rebounding (6.4), double-doubles (4), free throws made (92) and attempts (135), and was third in field goal accuracy (.557) and scoring (12.1) as a freshman. Garza ranked second among freshmen in Big Ten games in rebounding (5.7), third in scoring (12.4), and fourth in field goal percentage (.539) last season.
    The native of Washington, D.C., is one of two Hawkeyes to total 400 points and 200 rebounds as a freshman (Jess Settles).
    Garza netted double figures in 15 of Iowa’s last 23 games as a freshman.
 
ON THE TUBE
All but one of Iowa’s remaining regular season games will be televised nationally on BTN, FS1, or an ESPN network. Iowa’s game versus Savannah State on Dec. 22, will be available on BTN2GO.
  
COOKIN’ WITH TYLER
Tyler Cook, an honorable mention all-Big Ten selection, ranked first on the team in scoring (15.3), rebounding (6.8), and free throws made (121) and attempted (183).
    He had the best game of his career versus UAB (29 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field and 13-of-16 from the free throw line). Cook’s 28-point performance against Indiana on Feb. 17, was the most points scored by the forward against a Big Ten team in his two years as a Hawkeye.
    Cook registered 60 dunks this season (1.8 per game), including a season-best six in Iowa’s win over Drake on Dec. 16.
    Cook ranked sixth in the league in field goal accuracy (.566) and 11th in rebounding (6.8). The native of St. Louis had a team-best seven double-doubles to his credit this season (Penn State, Illinois, Rutgers, Nebraska, Minnesota, Indiana, and Northwestern). Cook registered six double-doubles in the last 15 contests.
 
HAWKEYE FASTBREAKS
•   Iowa is one of 20 schools nationally to have five or more redshirts on their 2018-19 roster. The Hawkeyes’ five redshirts are tied for second most in the B1G with Michigan State (Wisconsin, 8).
•   Iowa is 79-19 when scoring 80 points or more, the last eight seasons. The Hawkeyes are 67-2 when holding opponents to fewer than 61 points, the last eight years.
•   Fran McCaffery and his coaching staff are the first in program history to win 18 games or more in six straight seasons (2013-18).
•   Fran McCaffery has guided Iowa to upper division finishes in the Big Ten in five of the last six seasons. McCaffery has accumulated 17 first division finishes in 22 years as a head coach.
 
COACHING EXPERIENCE
Fran McCaffery has the most experienced coaching staffs in the country. The Iowa men’s basketball staff has 58 years of combined collegiate head coaching experience and more than 125 years of collegiate coaching under their belts.
 
IOWA HISTORY
Iowa has played 2,777 games since beginning basketball in 1902. Iowa’s overall record is 1,630-1,147 (.587). Iowa’s 1,630 wins are 41st most among Division I programs. That includes a 1,041-366 (.740) record in home games, a 583-778 (.428) record in contests away from Iowa City, a 766-778 (.496) mark in Big Ten games and a 446-140 (.761) record in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
 
ON THE HORIZON
Iowa remains home for a pair of games next week in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes will host Pitt in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Tuesday (8 p.m.) followed by its Big Ten opener against Wisconsin (7 p.m.) on Friday. Tickets are available for purchase for both games at hawkeyesports.com/tickets.