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Sunday, January 24, 2016

Hawkeyes Stay Hot

The Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team has picked right off the football team's success, ripping through Big Ten play without a loss.  Their resume is great right now.  They have the season sweep of the Michigan State Spartans and Purdue Boilermakers, and home wins against the Michigan Wolverines and Nebraska Cornhuskers.  According to RPI, the Hawkeyes have played the toughest conference schedule in America.  They have the best resume in the nation at 16-3 and 7-0 in Big Ten play.
The only other team that is undefeated in conference play is the Indiana Hoosiers.  The thing is, they have played the easiest Power Five conference schedule in the country.  The highest team that the Hoosiers have played in conference is the sixth-placed Ohio State Buckeyes.
It all starts for the Hawkeyes with National Player of the Year candidate Jarrod Uthoff.  This senior has been nothing short of unbelievable.  He has averaged 18.7 points per game, 6.7 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per game.  He is only one or two players in America with a stat line like that. He is a nightmare for teams to guard.  He is six foot nine, and he can shoot.  If there's a man in his face, it means nothing.  He will just shoot it over you, whether it's from behind the arc or five feet away in the paint.  He is playing himself into an Iowa Hawkeye great, and a potential first round NBA pick.  He got the thousand points  his career plateau against Rutgers.  He didn't know about it until a reporter asked him, and he said "It doesn't mean anything to me.  I hope that helps your quotes."  Showing he only cares about the team, and is kind of like Marshawn Lynch with the media.
The Hawkeyes start three other seniors, Adam Woodbury, Anthony Clemmons, and Mike Gesell.  They have all been really good, and their experience has helped this Hawkeye team immensely.  They all have the ability to go off, if Uthoff has a bad game, as shown by Gesell and Clemmons twenty point games against Michigan State and Rutgers respectively.  The other starter is junior Peter Jok, who is not only a sharpshooter, he can do work inside.  He was once a coveted recruit, coming over from Sudan, he shined as a player in Des Moines.  He had offers from big programs, but needed surgery, and he is finally fully healthy, and is turning into an elite Big Ten player.  He is showing why he was once a potential five-star recruit, and might be an NBA player.  The Hawkeyes also have a strong bench, usually going nine deep with players such as freshman walk-on Nick Baer and sophomore German Dom Uhl.
The next game is a big one.  They will go on the road on Thursday against currently ranked number seven Maryland Terrapins.  Iowa will most likely be in the top five, maybe even cracking the top three.  Maryland could stay in the top ten.  If Iowa wins this game, they will be way ahead in the Big Ten race.  This is their toughest game left, with at Indiana being the next toughest.  Iowa has played the tougher half of their schedule so far 7-0, which is amazing.  They are on track to earn a top two seed and get to play in Des Moines, which will be two home games.  They will play a small school, and then play a game against a good team. 
Fun Fact: Football, Men's Basketball and wrestling are all ranked in the top ten for the first time since the mid-80's.  Amazing, and all three should have success for a while.  
 

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