Game Notes: Iowa vs. Pitt

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THE SETTING
No. 14/15 Iowa (5-0) remains home on Tuesday, hosting Pitt (6-0) in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Tipoff is set for 8:05 p.m. (CT) on Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,056). Tickets are $15 for adults, $5 for UI students and youth 18-and-under.
    Tuesday is the third time Iowa will play an ACC/Big Ten Challenge contest where both teams are undefeated (Georgia Tech in 2000 and Florida State in 2002).
 
TUESDAY PROMOTION
Tuesday is the UI Faculty & Staff Game inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Faculty and staff receive $5 admission (must present their Faculty/Staff ID) and $10 admission for any guests.
 
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: Tuesday night’s ACC/Big Ten Challenge contest will be televised nationally on ESPNU (WATCHESPN). Jay Alter and Brooke Weisbrod will call the action.
 
HAWKEYES NATIONALLY RANKED
The Hawkeyes are one of seven Big Ten ranked in this week’s AP Top 25: Michigan (7), Michigan State (9), Iowa (14) Ohio State (16), Purdue (19), Wisconsin (22), and Maryland (24). Iowa moved up six spots from last week’s AP Poll. This marks Iowa’s highest national ranking in the AP Poll this early in the season since being ranked No. 7 on Nov. 26, 2001.
    Iowa is ranked No. 15 in this week’s Coaches Poll and the initial NCAA NET Rankings.

ACC/BIG TEN CHALLENGE STORYLINES
•    Iowa is 5-12 in ACC/Big Ten Challenge games, notching four of its five Challenge wins at home (Georgia Tech, NC State, Florida State, Notre Dame). Tuesday is Iowa’s first home Challenge game since a 78-75 overtime win over Florida State in 2015. The Hawkeyes lost at Notre Dame (2016) and Virginia Tech (2017) the last two seasons.
•    Iowa is one of seven Big Ten ranked in this week’s AP Top 25: Michigan (7), Michigan State (9), Iowa (14) Ohio State (16), Purdue (19), Wisconsin (22), and Maryland (24).
•    Tuesday will be the eighth overall meeting between Pitt and Iowa and first since a 103-80 Iowa win over the Panthers on Dec. 30, 1976, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
•    Iowa has started 5-0 for the first time since the 2013-14 season.
•    Iowa is in the middle of a stretch of playing six of seven games against major conference opponents (Nov. 15-Dec. 6). The Hawkeyes’ next four games are against Power 5 conference opponents (Pitt, Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Iowa State).
•    Iowa’s 105 points versus Alabama State last Wednesday equaled the fourth most point total by the Hawkeyes in a single-game in the Fran McCaffery era.
•    Iowa has won 54 of its last 58 non-conference home games, dating back to 2012.
•    Tuesday’s game features two of the nation’s best teams at getting to the free throw line. The Hawkeyes rank first in the nation in free throw makes per game (28.8) and attempts (36.4), while the Panthers rank 14th in makes (20.3) and 18th in attempts (28.0).
•    Iowa is 9-0 in games in which Connor McCaffery has played, dating back to last season.
•    Four Hawkeyes average double figures in scoring: Luka Garza (16.2), Tyler Cook (16.0), Connor McCaffery (10.6), and Jordan Bohannon (10.0).
•    Tyler Cook surpassed 900 career points in Iowa’s win over Connecticut on Nov.  16. The Hawkeye junior has 917 points, 83 shy of the 1,000-point plateau.
•    Two Hawkeyes were named to the 2K Empire Classic All-Tournament Team: Luka Garza (MVP) and Tyler Cook.
•    Tyler Cook is one of five Big Ten players averaging 16 points and 6.5 rebounds.
•    Nicholas Baer is 57 rebounds and 11 blocks from becoming the fifth player in program history to total 500 points, 500 rebounds, 100 blocked shots, 100 steals.
•    Sophomore forward Jack Nunge and freshman guard CJ Fredrick plan to redshirt.
 
HAWKEYES CRUISE TO VICTORY OVER ALABAMA STATE
Iowa led start-to-finish in a 105-78 victory over Alabama State last Wednesday evening inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.
•  Four Hawkeyes tallied double figures in the win: Luka Garza (22), Joe Wieskamp (20), Tyler Cook (16), and Isaiah Moss (15).
•  Luka Garza missed only one shot attempt in the victory, making all eight field goal attempts, including one 3-pointer, and going 5-of-6 from the foul line.
•  The Hawkeyes shot a season-best 59 percent (36-of-61) from the field, including a blistering 65.7 percent (23-of-35) in the first half.
•  Iowa torched the Hornets for 68 first-half points, the most points scored by Iowa in a half in the Fran McCaffery era besting a 63-point outburst in the second half at Minnesota a year ago.
•  Iowa forced 19 turnovers, collecting eight steals in the contest. The Hawkeyes outscored the Hornets, 25-0, in point off turnovers.
 
SCOUTING PITT
•   Pitt enters Tuesday’s game in Iowa City undefeated, winning its first six games by an average of 16.2 points. Five of Pitt’s first six games were played at home with the other game played on a neutral court. Tuesday will be the Panthers’ first true road contest.
•   Four Panthers average double figures in scoring: Xavier Johnson (16.7), Jared Wilson-Frame (16.0), Malik Ellison (11.3), Au’Diese Toney (10.5). Toney also leads the team in rebounding, averaging 6.8 rebounds per game.
•   Jared Wilson-Frame ranks 44th nationally in 3-pointers made per game, sinking 3.4 triples per game.
•   Pitt’s starting lineup consists of three freshmen and two juniors.
•   Jason Richards is Pitt’s Director of Student-Athlete Development. Richards played four years at Davidson (2004-08) along with Stephen Curry. Richards’ sister, Lindsay, played basketball at Iowa for two seasons (2003-04) under head coach Lisa Bluder.
•   Jeff Capel is in his first season as the head men’s basketball coach at Pitt. Capel owns a 162-110 record as a head coach at VCU (2002-06) and Oklahoma (2006-11) with three NCAA Tournament appearances, including an Elite Eight trip with Oklahoma in 2008. Capel spent the past seven seasons at Duke, including the past four seasons as associate head coach. In seven seasons at Duke, he helped guide the Blue Devils to a 200-55 (.784) record, seven NCAA Tournament appearances, the 2017 ACC Tournament championship and the 2015 National Championship.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES RECORDS
Tuesday will be the eighth overall meeting between Pitt and Iowa and first since 1976.
    Pitt owns a 5-2 advantage over Iowa in the all-time series, having won the first five meetings in games played between 1928-35. The Hawkeyes won the last two meetings in 1950 in Pittsburgh and 1976 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
 
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 128 assists from becoming the sixth Hawkeye to amass 1,000 points and 500 assists. Cook is 83 points and 99 rebounds from becoming the 26th Hawkeye to total 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.
 
BOHANNON RECEIVED MUSIAL AWARD
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 on Nov. 17. Bohannon traveled with the Street family from New York to St. Louis after Iowa’s two games in New York City.
    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 407 overall wins and 156 victories while on the Iowa sidelines. He is third on Iowa’s coaching win chart and 13 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.
 
BAER APPROACHING ELITE COMPANY
Redshirt senior Nicholas Baer is 57 rebounds and 11 blocked shots from becoming the fifth Hawkeye in program history to amass 500 points, 500 rebounds, 100 blocked shots, and 100 steals. The four other players who have accomplished that feat include Greg Stokes, Acie Earl, Michael Payne, and Ryan Bowen.
 
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 9-0 in games in which Connor McCaffery has played, dating back to last season. McCaffery is tied for first on the team in assists (19) and is third in scoring (10.6 ppg). The redshirt freshman is shooting a team-best 87.5 percent (28-of-32) from the free throw line.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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: Stockton Kings), and Aaron White (Lithuania).
 
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.
 
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
•  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 trailed for only two minutes in the two victories over No. 13 Oregon and Connecticut.
•   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.
•   Junior Cordell Pemsl (230) is 19 pounds lighter than when he was a freshman (249). Pemsl did not play in Iowa’s last four games due to injury.
•   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.
 
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.
 
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 2,778 games since beginning basketball in 1902. Iowa’s overall record is 1,631-1,147 (.587). Iowa’s 1,631 wins are 41st most among Division I programs. That includes a 1,042-366 (.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 447-140 (.761) record in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
 
ON THE HORIZON
Iowa will remain home on Friday for its Big Ten opener against Wisconsin (7 p.m.). Tickets are available for purchase for both games at hawkeyesports.com/tickets. The Hawkeyes will then travel to East Lansing, Michigan, for a league game against nationally-ranked Michigan State on Monday (5:30 p.m. CT, FS1).