GAME 19 Iowa: For Real

[bac2therac]

Big game filled with ups and downs. Punches and counter punches. This is exactly what we signed up for. #24 Rutgers traveled to #19 Iowa and played them down to the wire. Folks I have been hearing the downplaying of how good Iowa is on this board. I dont know where that came from but they have the player of the year in the Big 10 in Garza and then move the ball well and run an offense as about as good as any you are going to find in the country. RU nearly pulled out a stolen win while they really did not play "their defensive game". RU fought and fought even though things looked bleaked down 10. I am going to give Rutgers a ton of credit for hanging in this game. In the end, Iowa just made some plays at the end, just like Illinois did. That missed rebound off of 2 missed free throws was huge there as RU would have been up 78-77 with the ball but it wasnt to be. In the end what we can take away from tonight is a reaffirmation that Rutgers is for real. Rutgers is not a home team fluke. Rutgers can go on the road and battle in a tough environment. So its always tough to lose but I think we all should take to heart that the program is for real. Its okay, Rutgers isnt going to win every game.

So why we lost tonight. The biggest thing I look at is Garza. Again POY in league he was a total monster at times, 11-17, 28 points and 13 boards. There were stretches were he dominated for minutes especially early. Now RU also shut down Garza for pretty good stretches and credit to them but just too much Garza. Myles great job at times, but as a soph just not good enough to consistently shut him down. Also some of the Garza shots just were amazing shots with incredible D by Myles. Tip your hat to him. Also Iowa won the battle of the boards, it was even at half but wound up 38-30. RU just couldnt get enough 2nd chance opportunities even though RU had 8 more shots in the end than Iowa.

2nd reason was our defense just did not play well those first 10 minutes of the 2nd half....31 points in 10 minutes isnt the RU defense we know. RU wasnt causing turnovers, they were fouling too much and they were not converting on offense. Gotta to hit those free throws in key spots. Obviously the Fran technical changed the way the game was called. Very loose in the first half and tight right away. RU didnt handle and adjust to that too well but while some fans want to blame the refs and thats fine, if you want to do it go right ahead, you just will not get any agreement from me. At then end of the day, RU was 15-21 and Iowa was 18-25. RU just played poorly in that stretch and allowed Iowa to race up and down the court. Not a game where you want a track meet in the 80s and 90s to win and it just got out of hand for a bit. Yet even with all that RU showed some incredible tenacity to respond and fight back and take the lead. I thought RU gained their physicality back late in the game. Thats what they do best and it was missing in the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half.

Give credit to Iowa. They are very good. They made plays. Sometimes its just that and they were a little better tonight. This is a team I would like to see on a neutral court in the B10 tourney to get another shot at.

Individually, Ron Harper came out firing on all cylinders and just a career type night yet again vs Iowa. Harper 10-14, 29 pts, 6-6 at the line, 9 boards...just wow and his play late was what you want to see, just an elevation when it mattered on both ends. Its only going to get better for him. Big time performance tonight. Myles was solid tonight and as I said shut down Garza in stretches but he isnt at Garzas level at this point. When we got him the ball, he converted, just not enough touches, 5 shots, 10 points but only 4 boards. No shame though tonight. Yeboah was excellent in the first half....13 points but was really quiet in the 2nd with just 4 points, a little too streaky to count on consistently as a shooter in crunch time. Mathis outright struggled tonight offensively 2-10. Obviously Geo isnt 100% or even 80%. Caleb struggled with his shot. Young just wasnt the Young we have seen, seemed a step out of it whether defensively or with his shots, he must have 3 that he would normally hit but just rolled off..ugh. When the guards go 7-30 in a game vs Iowa, that really is going to make it tough to come out with a victory. So while RU put up 80 tonight, have to be disappointed in the guards struggle offensively to get going.

So back home to refocus and beat Nebraska. Nothing you can do about this one. RU will get credited with a tough loss by all who saw. Just important to bounce back and move on.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

I came away not impressed with Iowa. Their defense for most of the game was porous. We werent diving on the floor, crashing the offensive glass, were a stepslow all night on close outs and we got beat twice not putting a body on someone on the foul line. Joe Touisant was diving on the floor while we watched twice. Havent seen that all year.

Not Rutgers basketball tonight. It was inevitable.

With that said impressive we only lost by 5 and were up late.

Pikiell tried pushing all the buttons. Mass substiutions early when we didnt have it defensively. Went Mathis and Young in the 1st substiution

Another game were we couldnt afford to take Myles out (not that he had one of his better games).

Hope we get our legs back for Saturday. I am mildly concerned.

 

[BillyC80]

Like your title, and agree, Rutgers is for real.

Our three losses in league are on the road to the top 3 teams in our conference, and we had the lead in two of those with only a minute or two left in each game.

We have a legitimate shot to win 4 of our next 5.

 

[BOCA93]

Good recap. Felt like RU was baited into a shootout and taken out of their game plan. Combine that with Cold shooting after the break and a flurry of fouls early in the 2nd half and it was hard to recover. I think you understate the impact of the schizophrenic approach to reffing the game from 1st half to 2nd half. Still a great game against a very good team.

 

[RU848789]

Good summary. As I said in my thread, I think this is a game we probably win if we had a healthy Geo (and assuming everyone else played similarly). I actually think he came back too soon, but I get that he's a competitor and wants to be out there and also did some good things in the IU/MN games, but his shot just isn't back yet. 4-18/1-9 from trey and 7-11 FTs in the last 3 games is not Geo.

 

[bethlehemfan]

Need to beat Nebraska

 

[mikemarc1]

Like your title, and agree, Rutgers is for real.

Our three losses in league are on the road to the top 3 teams in our conference, and we had the lead in two of those with only a minute or two left in each game.

We have a legitimate shot to win 4 of our next 5.

while you are correct..I also wouldn’t be shocked to lose 4 of our next 5.
Team is still young, still growing and still improving. (Which is a great thing). Still not convinced they’re “for real” til we win one on the road.

 

[Scangg]

Like your title, and agree, Rutgers is for real.

Our three losses in league are on the road to the top 3 teams in our conference, and we had the lead in two of those with only a minute or two left in each game.

We have a legitimate shot to win 4 of our next 5.

Perspective. We are for real. Almost beating the top teams in the road when we dont play well.

 

[knight82]

Garza is first team all america. Just have to tip your hat to him and Iowa and bounce back on Saturday.

 

[bac2therac]

I know Pike said we can play fast too in the post game but when your guards are 2-10, 1-6, 1-6, 2-6 how do you expect to win when the other team has a player of the year center going off for 28

Now RU was a rebound or made shot away from winning this game.....that is the thing to really take from tonight

and disagree with Fig about Iowa, obviously Iowa isnt a national title contender and you are looking at them with a side eye because you value defense and they do not actually play it that well. Still their offense is impressive because how many points they can put up in a short period of time. When they dictate pace like they did tonight, its hard to catch up and beat them. Garza is play of the year, Touissant is an improving guard. and they have two guys who can hit the 3 ball and tonight they actually shot poorly from 3.

 

[bac2therac]

Grfig...but I do agree, Myles came out at 17 minutes am I correct...cannot have that. He needs to be alot in this game, too early to go to Shaq because I mean all of us know how that works out. Still I was impressed that at times, Myles did shut Garza down especially that last possession at 81-79 I think where they were forced to put up a bad shot

 

[Degaz-RU]

Frustrated that in both the Illinois and Iowa games, we were tied or in the lead in the last 2 minutes, but lost because we failed to execute and failed to make plays.

It’s nice to recognize that we’re “for real” because we competed in three ROAD LOSSES, but at some point we need to beat a good team on the road. All of the other top teams have at least one or more good road wins. We beat a crappy Nebraska team on the road.

If we go 10-0 at home but 1-9 on the road, I’m not sure we get into the NCAA tournament ( unless we win 2 games in the B1G tournament).

 

[S_Janowski]

I came away not impressed with Iowa. Their defense for most of the game was porous. We werent diving on the floor, crashing the offensive glass, were a stepslow all night on close outs and we got beat twice not putting a body on someone on the foul line. Joe Touisant was diving on the floor while we watched twice. Havent seen that all year.

Not Rutgers basketball tonight. It was inevitable.

With that said impressive we only lost by 5 and were up late.

Pikiell tried pushing all the buttons. Mass substiutions early when we didnt have it defensively. Went Mathis and Young in the 1st substiution

Another game were we couldnt afford to take Myles out (not that he had one of his better games).

Hope we get our legs back for Saturday. I am mildly concerned.

Iowa is a top 4 team in the conference (maybe better) and has one of the best players in the country.

They played really well tonight and aren’t a great matchup for us.

You’re not giving them enough credit.

 

[RU848789]

Grfig...but I do agree, Myles came out at 17 minutes am I correct...cannot have that. He needs to be alot in this game, too early to go to Shaq because I mean all of us know how that works out. Still I was impressed that at times, Myles did shut Garza down especially that last possession at 81-79 I think where they were forced to put up a bad shot

I do wonder if Myles is capable of playing 30+ minutes, as he only played 27 tonight and wasn't in foul trouble. Not sure on his stamina level - also guarding Garza isn't easy and he did well at times, but not so well at others and Garza played 34.

 

[bac2therac]

Frustrated that in both the Illinois and Iowa games, we were tied or in the lead in the last 2 minutes, but lost because we failed to execute and failed to make plays.

It’s nice to recognize that we’re “for real” because we competed in three ROAD LOSSES, but at some point we need to beat a good team on the road. All of the other top teams have at least one or more good road wins. We beat a crappy Nebraska team on the road.

If we go 10-0 at home but 1-9 on the road, I’m not sure we get into the NCAA tournament ( unless we win 2 games in the B1G tournament).

but that we are at this point is tremendous....we are coming close to knocking off top 25 schools on the road...even the MSU loss was competitive, that is 3 worthy efforts on the road in league play plus we blitzed Nebby. Yes I do agree, we need a road win and it will come back perhaps against a lesser team. Consider I think our conference road losses have been vs the top 3 schools in the league

 

[bac2therac]

I do wonder if Myles is capable of playing 30+ minutes, as he only played 27 tonight and wasn't in foul trouble. Not sure on his stamina level - also guarding Garza isn't easy and he did well at times, but not so well at others and Garza played 34.

it just sucks we dont have Doorson this year, I think a combo of him and Myles as a soph rather than a frosh would make a big difference. Myles still has two years where he may become a Garza

 

[Westcoast]

but that we are at this point is tremendous....we are coming close to knocking off top 25 schools on the road...even the MSU loss was competitive, that is 3 worthy efforts on the road in league play plus we blitzed Nebby. Yes I do agree, we need a road win and it will come back perhaps against a lesser team. Consider I think our conference road losses have been vs the top 3 schools in the league

This is the important part. Our schedule just worked out where our toughest (probably) road games are front loaded. There is a very good chance Iowa and Illinois will be at the top with MSU when the conf season ends. I really think we can grab a couple more road wins - like at MSG. But we MUST hold serve at home.

 

[bac2therac]

we thought it was back loaded but they shuffled the deck on who is good in the Big 10 this year...Road game at Penn State and Purdue may be easier to pull off that Iowa and Illinois

 

[ancienthooper]

I know Pike said we can play fast too in the post game but when your guards are 2-10, 1-6, 1-6, 2-6 how do you expect to win when the other team has a player of the year center going off for 28

Now RU was a rebound or made shot away from winning this game.....that is the thing to really take from tonight

and disagree with Fig about Iowa, obviously Iowa isnt a national title contender and you are looking at them with a side eye because you value defense and they do not actually play it that well. Still their offense is impressive because how many points they can put up in a short period of time. When they dictate pace like they did tonight, its hard to catch up and beat them. Garza is play of the year, Touissant is an improving guard. and they have two guys who can hit the 3 ball and tonight they actually shot poorly from 3.

Agree, although in a year that looks as wide open as ever I wouldn’t completely dismiss them from national title consideration. True, they don’t exactly bring it defensively but that could improve (marginally). Offensively, wow. Monster in the middle, tough PG, and shooting threats EVERYWHERE. Really good.

 

[higgins3]

Good points,BAC.

Clearly Baker is playing at 30% of full health of his thumb. His numbers since the START of the year have shown dramatic decreases that are not due to a lack of work ethic. This problem has lingered for a while.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

Iowa played their best game of the season for about 31 minutes and then got into what they usually do, a scoring drought because jump shooting teams usually have a few minutes when they don't score.

To erase a 9 point deficit in about 2 minutes, put RU in a good spot. And Iowa's defense is better this year vs last year with Touissant vs Bohannon.

I think the recap doesn't acknowledge that despite what appears to be another road loss, that it has taken away any notion that you have to win on the road to make the NCAAs.....this is a unique season where a couple of road wins in this league takes you from a 8 seed to something around a 4 or 5 seed, if you control home court.

While Wisconsin winning at Ohio State looked enormous 2 weeks ago, maybe it's not going to look that way in another 6 weeks.

While Penn State winning at Michigan last night appears to be huge, it's clear that Michigan has hit a slump and without Livers, has to be somewhat of a factor. I don't think all injuries wind up being a negative for each program, but some teams are just not as good when they lose a top player.

At MSU
At Illinois
At Iowa
At Nebraska

3 competitive road games for RU and a rout of Nebraska. The key is Iowa lost at Nebraska and we didn't. Even though RU lost a head to head with Iowa on the road, as long as RU handles Nebraska Saturday and is able to get through Purdue, the momentum is crystal clear.

You learn more about a program or team in defeat based on how they bounce back. Give Iowa credit since the Nebraska loss, they had their backs against the wall in a must sweep homestand....Michigan RU, Wisconsin. Iowa really needs all 3 at home to offset Nebraska on the road.

I feel.like RU will see Iowa in Indianapolis in March. If that rematch happens, RU will get another shot on a neutral floor to play the Hawkeyes.

 

[shields]

Good recap, missing some big foul shots. Mathis can not brick two foul shots.

 

[jtung230]

We are not going to beat a lot of people giving up 80+ points. Harper and Yeboah really stepped up to give us a chance. You have to give credit to Iowa. My only complaint is the body language from our guys. Keep chopping guys.

 

[RUBigFrank]

Iowa's defense has improved from last season.

 

[kcg88]

We've lost at MSU, at Illinois, and at Iowa. All ranked. There are no easy Big Ten Road games but those are three really hard ones.

 

[Mr Magoo]

The defense wasn’t nearly as good as usual but I am not as concerned about giving up 85 points when we scored 80 ourselves while Baker, Young, McConnell and Mathis were a combined 6 for 33.
Quick possessions equals more points on both ends. The bigger problem was that Iowa dictated pace and got us away from our game plan.
Originally, I thought we would be ok because of our depth but obviously that was not the case. Harper played great and Yeboah had a great first half. Other than that, too many players had sub-par games.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Iowa's defense has improved from last season.

no

 

[RUDead]

First half was great basketball. Probably the best I've seen all year in any game I watched. Second half was obviously different. I thought the refs made a difference with all the ticky tack fouls on us. Usually its just a couple calls, but last night was really bad.

I've seen Iowa play a few times and i thought that was the best they played all year. Team is tougher, more athletic than last year. McCaffery is the only exception, he just isn't a good player. Garza was hitting everything, not much you can do about that. Role players all had good nights as well.

Took us a while to get going on defense and i thought our energy was low for the first time all year. Even Mathis looked tired, never saw that before. That's going to happen in a long season.

Overall, I continue to be very impressed, wasn't our best game on defense and we almost won on the road against a good team.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

defensive minded guy upset on how we played, but 2 straight games where we looked like (or at least had results) of a top 25 team.

minn 64 points in 55 possessions 1.162 raw 1.22 adjusted PPP
iowa 80 points in 71 possessions 1.12 raw 1.202 adjusted

 

[rufeelinit]

Iowa is a good team. Garza was tough inside and from the perimeter. Pick your poison. I don't think Myles can play much more than he did last night against an opponent of that caliber. While it did not hurt him tonight he is still prone to a bad perimeter foul or two from what I guess would be called over hedging. This was a game were a few serviceable minutes from Duke would have been helpful since he is a little bigger than Shaq. We did not get that. That sort of reiterates to me that Myles is the most irreplaceable piece on this team.

#1, #10 and #15 were also effective in spots. I do think the game was called much differently in the second half and not in a manner that was to our advantage, but I would not say the refs cost us the game. I think we have to expect a level of call adversity on the road just like opponents get when they come to the RAC.

Harper was terrific particularly on the offensive end and Akwasi was very good in the first half. I am wondering if it is time to get Geo back in the starting line up just to get him going. I think several are suggesting he is less than 100% with someone saying 30%. If he anything less than 75-80% than he should not be playing. While he may have permanently lost some minutes given the play of others during his absence, we need him to be more effectively offensively.

I thought we struggled against Iowa's 2-3 zone in the second half. They sagged and dared us to beat them from the outside. This effectively took away a pass to Mulcahy or anyone else around the foul line.

At times, I think we need to be careful about the make up of our five on the floor and the level of balance between offense and defense. I realize Caleb was in foul trouble but with Paul still seeming to be offensively limited, fives with him, Montez and Shaq on the floor become easier to defend in the half court. That is why we need Geo to get back to taking and hitting good shots.

As I said in another thread, I am done with moral victories with this team. While we may have already played the toughest road games based on the current standings, we are going to run into some desperate teams both home and away as we come down the stretch. We need to be one of those with the same mentality in order to finish in the top half of the conference this year. This means getting on the floor for loose balls and being as sound fundamentally as we can on both ends. This team can make the NCAA tournament. Whether it will or not remains to be seen. Relatively speaking, we have a nice stretch coming up and need to maximize the opportunity.

 

[motorb54]

Those two travels in a row from Carter...ugh

 

[jonS]

Big game filled with ups and downs. Punches and counter punches. This is exactly what we signed up for. #24 Rutgers traveled to #19 Iowa and played them down to the wire. Folks I have been hearing the downplaying of how good Iowa is on this board. I dont know where that came from but they have the player of the year in the Big 10 in Garza and then move the ball well and run an offense as about as good as any you are going to find in the country. RU nearly pulled out a stolen win while they really did not play "their defensive game". RU fought and fought even though things looked bleaked down 10. I am going to give Rutgers a ton of credit for hanging in this game. In the end, Iowa just made some plays at the end, just like Illinois did. That missed rebound off of 2 missed free throws was huge there as RU would have been up 78-77 with the ball but it wasnt to be. In the end what we can take away from tonight is a reaffirmation that Rutgers is for real. Rutgers is not a home team fluke. Rutgers can go on the road and battle in a tough environment. So its always tough to lose but I think we all should take to heart that the program is for real. Its okay, Rutgers isnt going to win every game.

So why we lost tonight. The biggest thing I look at is Garza. Again POY in league he was a total monster at times, 11-17, 28 points and 13 boards. There were stretches were he dominated for minutes especially early. Now RU also shut down Garza for pretty good stretches and credit to them but just too much Garza. Myles great job at times, but as a soph just not good enough to consistently shut him down. Also some of the Garza shots just were amazing shots with incredible D by Myles. Tip your hat to him. Also Iowa won the battle of the boards, it was even at half but wound up 38-30. RU just couldnt get enough 2nd chance opportunities even though RU had 8 more shots in the end than Iowa.

2nd reason was our defense just did not play well those first 10 minutes of the 2nd half....31 points in 10 minutes isnt the RU defense we know. RU wasnt causing turnovers, they were fouling too much and they were not converting on offense. Gotta to hit those free throws in key spots. Obviously the Fran technical changed the way the game was called. Very loose in the first half and tight right away. RU didnt handle and adjust to that too well but while some fans want to blame the refs and thats fine, if you want to do it go right ahead, you just will not get any agreement from me. At then end of the day, RU was 15-21 and Iowa was 18-25. RU just played poorly in that stretch and allowed Iowa to race up and down the court. Not a game where you want a track meet in the 80s and 90s to win and it just got out of hand for a bit. Yet even with all that RU showed some incredible tenacity to respond and fight back and take the lead. I thought RU gained their physicality back late in the game. Thats what they do best and it was missing in the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half.

Give credit to Iowa. They are very good. They made plays. Sometimes its just that and they were a little better tonight. This is a team I would like to see on a neutral court in the B10 tourney to get another shot at.

Individually, Ron Harper came out firing on all cylinders and just a career type night yet again vs Iowa. Harper 10-14, 29 pts, 6-6 at the line, 9 boards...just wow and his play late was what you want to see, just an elevation when it mattered on both ends. Its only going to get better for him. Big time performance tonight. Myles was solid tonight and as I said shut down Garza in stretches but he isnt at Garzas level at this point. When we got him the ball, he converted, just not enough touches, 5 shots, 10 points but only 4 boards. No shame though tonight. Yeboah was excellent in the first half....13 points but was really quiet in the 2nd with just 4 points, a little too streaky to count on consistently as a shooter in crunch time. Mathis outright struggled tonight offensively 2-10. Obviously Geo isnt 100% or even 80%. Caleb struggled with his shot. Young just wasnt the Young we have seen, seemed a step out of it whether defensively or with his shots, he must have 3 that he would normally hit but just rolled off..ugh. When the guards go 7-30 in a game vs Iowa, that really is going to make it tough to come out with a victory. So while RU put up 80 tonight, have to be disappointed in the guards struggle offensively to get going.

So back home to refocus and beat Nebraska. Nothing you can do about this one. RU will get credited with a tough loss by all who saw. Just important to bounce back and move on.

Very fine summary of the game. I was expecting an Iowa team from last year but this team was better , far better. On offense they can score down low or kick it outside to really good 3pt shooters. And it was not just Garza who was physically dominant down low but agile enough to get outside and make a couple of threes. He's really tough and by forcing Myles to defend outside enabled Iowa to hit the boards. But what surprised me most about Iowa was their rebounding and improved defense. They were very physical on the boards , limited Rutgers offensive rebounds , and played really tough defense at times. Iowa is good and they've added some good players , especially Toussaint and Weiskamp was very effective driving to the hoop or from outside. What's noteworthy about Rutgers is that they played just OK with mediocre defense and with the exception of Harper and Yboah ( 1st half) , everyone else having sub-par or just-ok offensive games. Despite that , Rutgers was in it till the end. Rutgers is good , really good . But Iowa is very good , and just a little bit better than Rutgers. I too would like to see the teams play on a neutral court.

 

[newell138]

Nice summary. Its hard to win on the road in the BIG, we almost beat a team ranked higher than us, no complaints.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

I was disappointed that there 2-3 zone was actually effective. They did not want to see the ball enter at the foul line. With more ball movement I think we could have entered, but we didn't

 

[bac2therac]

I will also add the freshmen pt guard Toussant was a difference maker last night . He had an outstanding game and distributed the ball well as well as being a threat himself. Was not expecting that. RU struggled with him

 

[RW90]

Quick hits

I was disappointed that there 2-3 zone was actually effective. They did not want to see the ball enter at the foul line. With more ball movement I think we could have entered, but we didn't

An off night from JY didn't help here.

 

[kcg88]

I will also add the freshmen pt guard Toussant was a difference maker last night . He had an outstanding game and distributed the ball well as well as being a threat himself. Was not expecting that. RU struggled with him

Yup. If Toussaint and Young switch statlines we win.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

2:48 Fran takes Touisaint out up 5.
2:25 Fran puts Touisaint in down 1

 

[kcg88]

Last thing to point out: Iowa had homecourt but also the schedule advantage. Their last game was Friday at home. So they had four full days with no travel to get ready. Meanwhile Rutgers played at home on Sunday, had Monday to recover, Tuesday to travel, and then the game on Wednesday.

 

[newwavedave1]

Lack of defending the 3's early in the 1st half killed us.