1/30/2023 basketball Edit

5 takeaways/keys from Rutgers' road loss at Iowa on Sunday

Chris Nalwasky • TheKnightReport

Beat Writer

@ChrisNalwasky

The Rutgers men’s basketball team fell on the road to Iowa, 93-82, on Sunday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The defeat moved to Rutgers to 14-7 overall and 6-4 overall in the Big Ten. Iowa is now 13-8 and 5-5 in the league.

Here are five takeaways/keys from the game.

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Patrick McCaffrey returns

The previous time the two teams met at Jersey Mike’s Arena at the beginning of January, Iowa redshirt junior forward Patrick McCaffrey had just started sitting out due to personal reasons. Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffrey, Patrick’s father, said that Pat Hobbs delivered a note from the Rutgers coaches and players prior to the contest wishing him well.

Sunday, Patrick McCaffrey returned to action nearly a month after playing on Jan. 1 at Penn State to face Rutgers. McCaffrey made three 3-pointers for nine points in the game with two rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a block. It was good all-around that he was able to come back, and it was good for Iowa to have him be productive, but bad for the Scarlet Knights as he helped provide a lift and make a difference.

“It was awesome. I would say that I wasn’t surprised, because he practiced hard yesterday, shot it really well and played really well. He looked like himself,” Fran McCaffrey said of Patrick. “I think the thing that was most impressive to me: as soon as he got it, he raised up a shot. He didn’t think about it, he didn’t hesitate. He just pulled. Same thing for the other two [scores]. Just really happy for him. I have been really proud of how he has attacked this issue. He has been very professional about it. He has been a great teammate, and his teammates have been great to him.”

“I just want to congratulate Iowa. They played great today. Also, I am happy to see Patrick McCaffery being able to get back playing,” Pikiell said. “You always want your players to be healthy and happy. They played well.”

3-point shooting and free throws

Rutgers entered the game as one of the top defenses in not only the Big Ten but in the country. But if there’s one team that has figured out the Scarlet Knights, it is Iowa. Rutgers’ two highest point totals allowed this season have been against Iowa (93, 76), and the Hawkeyes have completed the regular season sweep. Iowa has won six of the last seven games against Rutgers and is 5-1 all-time at home versus the Scarlet Knights.

The Hawkeyes were on fire from deep as they shot a blistering 50% on 3-pointers (12-for-24). The 12 makes tied a season high for Iowa including eight in the first half. Seven different players made a triple. Iowa also went 29-of-34 from the foul line. Sixty-five of Iowa’s points came either from behind the arc or from the charity stripe.

“Coach Fran McCaffrey does a great job and they have a lot of weapons,” Pikiell said. …A lot went right for them obviously. …They score against everybody. They average 81 points-per-game, that's what they do. You have to do a really good job of holding them ten points under their average. That's what our goal was and obviously when you turn the ball over the way that we did, that isn't going to help our mission.

“You look at the free throw line and there are a lot of extra points on the free throw line. Twenty-nine free throws to our 10, so there are 19 points right there. We have to defend them without fouling. That's what they do and when we play them when we have any success against them, is when we really do a great job defensively. We didn't defend well in transition and just didn't have it there."

Turnovers

Against a team like Iowa that scores at will, you have to be able to not only score yourself and defend, but take care of the basketball as well. The Scarlet Knights didn’t do that. Even as Rutgers led 10-4 early on, it still was turning the ball over. Rutgers finished with 18, the second most this season. It had 19 turnovers at Miami in December.

We obviously can't turn the ball over 18 times against a team like this that can score like that. We turned the ball over way too many times. We can't turn the ball over like that in the start of the game. It was a bad pattern. We don't turn the ball over like that and it's more opportunities for them and then they go to the free throw line, which is one of their strengths. We got to defend the ball without fouling. They can pass the ball and they have really good players."

Iowa’s 10-2 run in the second half

The Hawkeyes led by as many as 13 points to begin the second half, but Rutgers finally was able to put it together on both ends of the court and go on a 9-0 to make it a one-point, 68-67 game with 8:05 left.

Aundre Hyatt was the catalyst as he made two 3-pointers to start the surge. Cam Spencer then made a layup and Dean Reiber went 1-for-2 from the free-throw line. The second one was shot, and Iowa put in a layup on the other end. A 3-pointer by Josh Dix made it 75-67, and then Tony Perkins’s layup pushed it to 78-67 and the Rutgers comeback could never be complete. Iowa just has too many weapons to deal with.

"They have really good offensive players, and you have to take something away," Pikiell said. "We thought we did a great job. Last time we played him (Payton) Sanfordt hurt us, and Kris Murray had an unbelievable night. They have a lot of guys. (Ahron) Ulis is playing well. Perkins is always able to score, so you have to be on top of your game defensively because they make you pay. The way they share the basketball and the way they pass it. It's like every team in the league has some good matchups and some bad matchups, and they have a lot of good offensive players."

The Grim Reiber

Dean Reiber had his best game of the season for the Scarlet Knights as he scored eight points off the bench with three rebounds. In 12 minutes, Reiber shot 3-for-4 from the floor and made a 3-pointer. He also had an assist and was effective on defense.

"Dean, there's a guy that I know could play,” Pikiell said. “Today was a good situation for him to get in there and he's got to be ready to do that and I have a lot of confidence in him. He played really good basketball today and we're going to need him against Minnesota."