The Hawkeyes were dominated physically by Division-2 Augustana.
By Kyle Mann
I know, I know; it was “just an exhibition game,” and “this one doesn’t count,” and all that. But while some Hawkeye fans will choose to try to ignore what happened with Augustana on Nov. 6, allow me to make a few observations.
First, the Hawkeyes just lost, 76-74, at home in an exhibition game to a Division-2 school. Augustana went 31-3 last season, and there are at least a few truly talented players on that team, but at the end of the day, this is what Iowa was facing:
“It’s D-2, baby; I’m just hoping the bus makes it home tonight, and we have pizzas on it before we go,” Augie head coach Tom Billeter said after the upset victory. “It’s D-2.”
So again, the Vikings were a very formidable D-2 school, but there’s a certain expectation that comes with these exhibition games, and Iowa fell miserably short of that.
Whether it be the lack of physicality on defense or the lack of offensive rhythm, the Hawkeyes had no semblance of an identity in their final game before the regular season starts. And if they couldn’t find an identity then, when will they? Even more so, do they really have one?
Iowa’s biggest concern leading into this season was in the frontcourt. 7-1 center Adam Woodbury has a lot of hype to live up to in his final season at Iowa, and after him, well, there is nobody else who qualifies as a frontcourt player.
Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery has done a lot of mixing and matching in the weeks leading up to the season to alleviate the issues down low, but after the performance against Augustana, he must wonder where he goes from here.
“I would like to think that we would rebound better than we did,” McCaffery said. “If you look at the stats, that’s the one area that’s disappointing … I think the game, right there, is where we lost it.”
Woodbury, to his credit, grabbed 14 rebounds in 32 minutes. Maybe you’d want more than 6 points and zero blocks to go with it, but OK, he got 14 rebounds. The problem on Nov. 6 was the depth.
Sophomore Dom Uhl, consistently touted as the backup center and a potential playmaker as a stretch-4, hardly even played; he grabbed 1 rebound in two minutes of action. Such a minute contribution to the game shouldn’t even be noteworthy, that is, if his lack of ability to earn minutes didn’t represent an absolute calamity for Iowa’s depth.
“I put Dom in, he didn’t play well, and I didn’t go back to him,” McCaffery said.
So let’s be clear, Iowa’s frontcourt depth has been portrayed as such; Uthoff and Woodbury start at the 4 and 5, with Uhl as the incumbent primary back-up for both. At 6-9 and only 215 pounds, his effectiveness was always a major question mark. But what does it say that McCaffery doesn’t even have the confidence to play him more than two minutes in a close game with lower-level competition?
With things as they were, Iowa went on to not only to lose but to be flat-out out-muscled by the Vikings. The Hawks were out-rebounded, 42-35, and out-blocked, 6-2. They lost the second-chance-points battle, 15-14, and were outscored in the paint, 40-36.
Furthermore, the Vikings paid no respect to Woodbury as a post defender, repeatedly using 6-9 Dan Jansen to isolate on the 7-footer, including for the game-winner.
It is alarming that the Hawkeyes were unable to impose themselves physically on what was a good opponent, but a Division-2 opponent nonetheless. What’s even more alarming was the attitude after the game. Maybe the players were numb, maybe they were still a little confused, but on the surface, they seemed withdrawn. Maybe it just felt strange that they weren’t.
“Sometimes, it’s the luck of the way the ball bounces, sometimes it’s about toughness,” Woodbury said. “It’s got to be a little of both, probably more so on the toughness part. We’ve got to come to play and be more prepared.”
To chalk this loss up to luck is a disservice to Augustana and to themselves. The toughness question, however, is very real.
Follow @KyleFMann for Iowa men’s basketball news, updates, and analysis.
