Iowa and Temple are headed for a matchup in the NCAA Tournament in the Barclays Center.
By Kyle Mann
BROOKLYN, New York — March Madness is well underway, and it’s only a matter of hours anymore until the No. 7 Hawkeyes will face off with 10th-seed Temple.
Iowa has had a few days to prepare and look at the Owls, who don’t present a stalwart defense or an electric offense but are disciplined and have a couple players who can make some things happen.
The team commits a remarkably low number of fouls, and point guard Josh Brown leads a team that led the American Athletics Conference in turnover-to-assist ratio.
“They’re never rushed, there’s never any panic in anything that they do,” Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said. “They don’t throw it away, so you have to guard them when they come down the floor and stop them from scoring.”
Temple is responsible as a team, but not overly threatening in its attack. Its 40.5 percent shooting from the floor was 10th of 11 teams in the American, and only one of its starters even sniffs 50 percent individually (Jaylen Bond at 47 percent) while the rest hover around 40.
Quenton DeCosey was one of the top scorers in the conference with 15.6 points per game, but he only shoots 40 percent from the floor and is streaky from the outside at best.
Iowa was once one of the top-15 most efficient defenses in the nation, and it would appear to have a significant size advantage. If the Hawks can avoid being too eager to force unlikely turnovers, staying in position and getting a hand in shooters’ faces should be enough to keep the Temple offense at bay.
On the Iowa side of things, four seniors in the starting lineup will help the Hawkeyes remain composed and focused on their assignments, and past tournament experience should bring a degree of concision as they face a win-or-go-home situation.
“With the experience with this tournament, you have to come out, and bring it, and give it your all every second; every possession counts,” Anthony Clemmons said. “Anything can happen in March and in these tournaments. Just by knowing that and understanding the process that we’ve been through, we’ve just got to bring our A-game.”
If the Hawkeyes can stick to their game plan on every possession, things should play out in their favor. If they can get Temple missing shots, it’s unlikely that the Owls will give Iowa too much trouble in rebounding. Temple was one of only three teams with a negative rebounding margin in the American despite having a pair of talented frontcourt players.
Bond stands 6-8, weighs 240 pounds, and leads the team grabbing more than 8 rebounds per game. The biggest matchup problem, however, will be Obi Enechionyia. He is 6-9 and will likely be matched up with Iowa’s Jarrod Uthoff. The Temple forward scores 11 points per game and can operate inside, but only averages 3 boards a game. He will become a problem if his 39 percent mark from deep comes into play.
Regardless, Temple is not a deep team and, again, not particularly impressive on either end. The Hawkeyes will have the confidence that if they take care of what they need to, this game shouldn’t be too difficult. At the same time, they know not to look past anybody, because they know what can happen if they do.
“We’ve all experienced losing our last game of the year; that’s the biggest motivation for us,” Uthoff said. “We haven’t won this tournament; we haven’t won the Big Ten Tournament. I think you learn from that that when you lose, you’re done.”
“The biggest thing is there’s no tomorrow,” senior center Adam Woodbury said. “It’s a do-or-die situation.”
Follow @KyleFMann for Iowa men’s basketball news, updates, and analysis.
