Game Notes: Iowa vs. Nebraska

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THE SETTING
No. 25/20 Iowa (11-3, 0-3) will meet No. 24/23 Nebraska (11-3, 1-2) in the first of two regular season contests on Sunday in Iowa City. Tipoff is slated for 4:31 p.m. (CT) on Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,056). Tickets are available for $35 for adults and $20 for UI students and youth at hawkeyesports.com/tickets.
 
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: Sunday’s contest will be televised nationally on BTN (BTN2GO). Kevin Kugler and Shon Morris will call the action.

GAME #15 STORYLINES
•    Iowa is 1-2 against nationally-ranked teams, beating No. 13 Oregon in New York City, and losing to No. 22 Wisconsin on in Iowa City and No. 10 Michigan State in East Lansing.
•    Sunday’s game features two of the Big Ten’s top scoring and free throw shooting teams. Iowa ranks second in scoring (82.2) and free throw accuracy (.746), while Nebraska is third in scoring (79.6) and free throw percentage (.727).
•    The Hawkeyes have been nationally ranked in both major polls each of the last seven weeks (Nov. 19-present), ranked as high as No. 14 in the Associated Press Poll on Nov. 26.
•    Tyler Cook has scored 15 or more points in each of the last eight outings. Cook is the only Hawkeye in the Fran McCaffery era to total 15+ points and 5+ rebounds in eight straight games.
•    Jordan Bohannon is closing in on career point No. 1,000. The junior guard has netted 962 points, 38 shy of becoming the 48th Hawkeye to achieve the scoring milestone.
•    Iowa’s Fran McCaffery and Nebraska’s Tim Miles each rank third in wins at their respective schools. McCaffery has won 162 at Iowa, while Miles has won 108.
•    Iowa won all 11 of its non-conference games. The last time an Iowa team won all of its nonconference games was the 1986-87 season.
•    Tyler Cook surpassed Glen Worley, Mike Gesell, and Pierre Pierce in Iowa’s last game at Purdue on Thursday, to move into 39th place on Iowa’s all-time scoring chart.
•    Nicholas Baer is 20 rebounds from becoming the fifth player in program history to total 500 points, 500 rebounds, 100 blocked shots, and 100 steals.
•    The Hawkeyes rank first in the country in free throw makes per game (21.6) and is third in attempts (28.9). Iowa has made 19 or more free throws in ten of 14 contests.
•    Four of Iowa’s next six Big Ten games will be played at home inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
•    Iowa is 14-3 in games in which Connor McCaffery has played, dating back to last season. McCaffery is fifth in the Big Ten in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.9), 11th in free throw percentage (.820, 50-of-61), and 14th in assists (3.3). 
•    Tyler Cook has led the Hawkeyes in scoring in seven of the last eight games: Wisconsin (19 points), Michigan State (15 points), Iowa State (26 points), Northern Iowa (17 points), Western Carolina (18 points), Bryant (19 points), and Purdue (24 points).
 
HAWKEYES FALL ON THE ROAD AT PURDUE
Purdue shot 53 percent from the field, including 63 percent in the first half, in an 86-70 win over the visiting Hawkeyes Thursday at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana.
•   Thursday’s contest was the only regular season meeting between the two teams.
•   The loss snapped Iowa’s five-game win streak, dating back to Dec. 6.
•   Tyler Cook led Iowa in scoring for the seventh time in eight games, netting 24 points. Cook reached the 20-point plateau for the third time this season and 14th time in his career. Cook’s point total from tonight moved the junior into the top 40 on Iowa’s all-time scoring chart.
•   Also scoring double figures for the Hawkeyes was Isaiah Moss (13) and Ryan Kriener (10). Kriener’s 10 points was one point shy of tying a season best (11 versus Oregon).
•   Starting center Luka Garza missed his third straight game (sprained ankle).
•   Iowa made 16 of its 19 free throw attempts (.842), while Purdue was 11-of-12 (.917) from the free throw line. Iowa and Purdue rank 1-2 in the conference, respectively, in free throw percentage.
•   Thursday was only Iowa’s second setback of the season by double figures.
•   Nicholas Baer, earning his third start of the season, blocked two shots to move past Greg Brunner and into ninth place on Iowa’s all-time blocks list with 105.
•   Big Ten leading scorer, Carsen Edwards, tallied 21 points and five rebounds to lead the Boilermakers. All ten Boilermakers who played scored at least three points.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES RECORDS
Iowa holds a 19-11 advantage in the series that began with a 27-17 Husker win in 1907. The Hawkeyes have won seven of the 11 meetings since Nebraska joined the Big Ten in 2011, including six of the last eight. Iowa dropped last season’s only meeting, 98-84, in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Jan. 27, 2018.
    The Hawkeyes have won 15 of the last 22 and 10 of the last 14 in the series.
    Iowa is 13-3 in games played between the two schools in Iowa City. Sunday will be Nebraska’s seventh-ever game played in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes have won ten of the last 11 contests in the series played in Iowa City, dating back to 1943.
 
SCOUTING NEBRASKA
•   Nebraska will be playing its second straight road game since Big Ten play resumed this week. The Cornhuskers lost a nail-bitter, 74-72, at Maryland on Wednesday.
•   Nebraska is 3-3 in games away from home, including a 1-2 mark in true road contests.
•   James Palmer (26), Glynn Watson Jr. (12), and Isaiah Roby (11) combined for 49 of Nebraska’s 72 points in its 74072 setback at Maryland last Wednesday. Only seven players played nine minutes or more in the contest. Tanner Borchardt was the only reserve to score for Nebraska. The game featured nine ties and 11 lead changes. The Terrapins out-rebounded the Huskers by 10 (38-28).
•   Four Husker starters average in double figures: James Palmer (20.1), Isaac Copeland (14.1), Glynn Watson Jr. (13.5), and Isaiah Roby (10.2). Nebraska has scored 75 points or more in six of its last seven games.
•   Nebraska ranks near the top of Big Ten statistics in a number of categories. The Huskers are first in steals (8.5), turnover margin (+4.8), and 3-point field goal percentage defense (.270), second in scoring defense (59.0) and field goal percentage defense (.381); third in scoring offense (79.6), free throw percentage (.727), blocked shots (4.9), and 3-point accuracy (.378), and fourth in 3-pointers made (8.9). James Palmer Jr. ranks second in the league in scoring (20.1). Thomas Allen ranks third in the Big Ten in steals (1.6).
•   The Huskers earned its first national ranking since November, 2014, earlier this month when the Huskers were ranked 24th in the Associated Press Poll on Dec. 3.
•   Nebraska went 2-0 in conference challenges, beating Seton Hall (80-57) in the Gavitt Games and Clemson (68-66) in the ACC Challenge.
•   Tim Miles is in his 24th season as a head coach and his seventh season at Nebraska. Miles, who’s 108 wins at Nebraska is third most in program history, guided the Huskers to the 2014 NCAA Tournament and 2018 NIT.
 
LAST MEETING
Nebraska topped Iowa, 98-84, at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Jan. 27, 2018, in the only regular meeting between the two teams last season.
•   Tyler Cook (24) and Jordan Bohannon (24) combined for 48 of Iowa’s 84 points.
•   Tyler Cook posted his sixth double-double of his career (24 points and 10 rebounds). Bohannon, who played all 40 minutes, equaled a season best with six 3-pointers made.
•   In addition to his 24 points, Bohannon dished out a game-best seven assists to go along with zero turnovers.
•   Iowa shot 50 percent from the field (33-of-66) and 43 percent from 3-point range (9-of-21), while Nebraska shot 58 percent from both the field (30-of-52) and 3-point range (11-of-19).
•   Nebraska (36) attempted 22 more free throws than Iowa (14). The Huskers made 75 percent of its attempts from the charity stripe, making 27.
•   Iowa forward Ryan Kriener (concussion) did not play in this contest.
•   Four Huskers scored double figures: James Palmer Jr. (28), Isaac Copeland (23), Isaiah Roby (15), and Jordy Tshimanga (11).
 
IOWA IN THE BIG TEN STATISTICS
Iowa ranks second in the Big Ten in free throw percentage (.746) and scoring offense (82.2); first in free throw makes (302) and attempted (405); third in assists (16.2); fifth in 3-pointers made (8.4); sixth in 3-point percentage defense (.306); and seventh in steals (6.3). Individually, Luka Garza ranks fourth in the league in free throw percentage (.842, 32-of-38), Tyler Cook is tied for sixth in rebounding (8.4) and seventh in scoring (17.4), Connor McCaffery ranks fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.9) and 14th in assists (3.3), while Nicholas Baer is eighth in blocks (1.4) and 14th in steals (1.2).
 
COOK ELEVATING HIS GAME
Tyler Cook has posted double-doubles in four of the last eight games, leading the Hawkeyes in scoring seven of the last eight games and leading the squad in rebounding in five of the eight. Cook recorded career point No. 1,000, in Iowa’s win over Northern Iowa on Dec. 15. He has netted 15+ points and 5+ rebounds in each of Iowa’s last eight contests, the first Hawkeye to accomplish the feat in the Fran McCaffery era.
    Cook is one of three Big Ten student-athletes to average better than 17 points and eight rebounds per game, joining Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ and Lamar Stevens of Penn State. Cook ranks in the top seven in the league in both scoring and rebounding.
 
MILESTONES APPROACHING FOR BOHANNON, COOK
Jordan Bohannon is closing in on joining classmate Tyler Cook in the 1,000-point club. Bohannon is 38 points and 108 assists from becoming the sixth Hawkeye to amass 1,000 points and 500 assists. Cook is 16 rebounds from becoming the 26th Hawkeye to total 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.
 
BAER APPROACHING ELITE COMPANY
Redshirt senior Nicholas Baer is 20 rebounds 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.
 
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).
 
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.
 
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 413 overall wins and 162 victories while on the Iowa sidelines. He is third on Iowa’s coaching win chart and seven victories from surpassing Lute Olson for second. Tom Davis is Iowa’s all-time winningest coach with 269 wins.
 
FAST START FOR WIESKAMP
Joe Wieskamp is off to a fast start for the Hawkeyes as a freshman. The shooting guard ranks third on the team in scoring (11 ppg) and fourth in rebounding (4.6 rpg). Wieskamp is shooting at a 43.6 percent clip from 3-point range (24-of-55) and 49.5 percent overall from the field (50-of-101).
    Wieskamp posted his first career double-double versus Pittsburgh on Nov. 27, totaling a team-best in points (18) and rebounds (11).
 
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.
 
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.
 
IOWA VS. RANKED TEAMS
Sunday will be Iowa’s third game against a nationally-ranked opponent this season. The Hawkeyes are 1-2 against nationally-ranked teams, beating No. 13 Oregon in New York City, and losing to No. 22 Wisconsin on in Iowa City and No. 10 Michigan State in East Lansing.
   
IOWA HISTORY
Iowa has played 2,787 games since beginning basketball in 1902. Iowa’s overall record is 1,637-1,150 (.587). Iowa’s 1,637 wins are 41st most among Division I programs. That includes a 1,047-367 (.740) record in home games, a 584-780 (.428) record in contests away from Iowa City, a 766-781 (.495) mark in Big Ten games and a 452-141 (.762) record in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
 
PEMSL HAS SEASON ENDING SURGERY
Junior forward Cordell Pemsl underwent season-ending surgery on Dec. 18.
    “Cordell’s procedure removed hardware near his knee from a previous surgery when he was in high school,” said McCaffery.
    Pemsl (6-foot-8, 230 pounds) has seen action in only two games this season, playing 13 minutes against UMKC (Nov. 8) and 18 minutes versus Iowa State (Dec. 6).
    “I tried to give playing this season another shot in the Iowa State game, but after a week of rest and recovery, the chronic irritation caused by the hardware has remained resulting in my inability to play in Saturday’s game versus UNI. After further discussions with the medical staff, we determined that the best course of action is to correct the problem at this time.”
    The native of Dubuque, Iowa, has played in 68 career games, averaging 7.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.
 
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.
 
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).
    McCaffery is believed to be one of three Division I men’s basketball student-athletes who are dual-sport athletes in 2018-19. McCaffery (basketball and baseball), joins South Carolina junior Evan Hinson (football and basketball) and Buffalo sophomore Dominic Johnson (football and basketball).
    Iowa is 14-3 in games in which Connor McCaffery has played, dating back to last season. McCaffery is first on the team in assists (43) and is seventh in scoring (6.5 ppg). The redshirt freshman is shooting 82 percent (50-of-61) from the free throw line, and ranks fifth in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.9), 11th in free throw percentage (.820, 50-of-61), and 14th in and assists (3.3).
 
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).
 
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’s Big Ten opener versus No. 22 Wisconsin was its first sellout of the 2018-19 season.
 
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.
 
HAWKEYE FASTBREAKS
•   Junior Tyler Cook is one of 21 players in Iowa history to have 10 or more double-doubles.
•   Iowa is one of 20 schools nationally to have five or more redshirts on their roster. Iowa’s five redshirts are tied for second most in the B1G with Michigan State (Wisconsin, 8).
•  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 81-19 when scoring 80 points or more, the last eight seasons. The Hawkeyes are 69-2 when holding opponents to fewer than 61 points, the last eight years.
•   Iowa has won 59 of its last 63 non-conference home games, dating back to 2012.
•   Iowa made a school record with 19 3-pointers made versus Savannah State on Dec. 22, besting the previous mark of 18 previously set in 2016 against Savannah State.
•  Iowa posted 98 points in its 14-point win over Iowa State on Dec. 6. The last time Iowa scored 90 points or more against Iowa State was Dec. 10, 1988, in Iowa City (Iowa won 91-71).
•  Iowa improved to 6-1 all-time in The Hy-Vee Classic with its 77-54 win over Northern Iowa on Dec. 15 in Des Moines. In the seven-year history of four-team Hy-Vee Classic, Nicholas Baer is the only player to win four games in four years. Baer averaged 10 points, nine rebounds, 2.75 assists, 2.5 blocked shots, and two steals in four games played.
•   Iowa’s 105 points versus Alabama State, equaled the fourth highest point total by the Hawkeyes in a single-game in the Fran McCaffery era.
•  Iowa torched Alabama State 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.
•   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.
 
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).
 
IOWA, CINCINNATI TO PLAY IN CHICAGO IN 2019
Iowa has signed a contract to play the University of Cincinnati as part of the Chicago Legends next season.
    The Hawkeyes and Bearcats will play on a neutral court at the United Center in Chicago on Dec. 21, 2019, as part of a four-team men’s college basketball doubleheader. Dayton will face Colorado in the other contest.
    Iowa and Cincinnati have played eight previous times, with the last contest coming in the 2005 NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis.
    Each of the 2019 teams has advanced to the NCAA Tournament at least twice in the past four seasons. Tickets will go on sale to the general public in 2019.
 
ON THE HORIZON
Iowa will hit the road for another midweek road game traveling to Evanston, Illinois, for a contest against Northwestern. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. inside Welsh-Ryan Arena.
    The Hawkeyes will be on home court again on Saturday, Jan. 12, versus Ohio State.