Hawkeyes Endure, Escape Cincinnati

Iowa overcomes turnovers, mistakes in 77-70 win over Bearcats.
Hawkeyes Endure, Escape Cincinnati
Hawkeyes Endure, Escape Cincinnati /

CHICAGO, Ill. — Sometimes, Luka Garza, it's about just getting through and getting out with a win.

Iowa's 77-70 victory over Cincinnati in the Chicago Legends game at the United Center on Saturday night was one the Hawkeyes just had to endure.

Iowa (9-3) committed 24 turnovers, missed 10 free throws, struggled with different lineup combinations, and still won.

With the bulk of Big Ten play looming when the calendar flips to January, this was an education that was painful, but not costly.

"It's a good lesson for us going forward, just to make sure that that can't happen again, and if it does, we still find a way to pull the win out," Garza, Iowa's junior center, said. "You've got to win the ugly ones, too."

The Hawkeyes, who lost senior guard Jordan Bohannon for the rest of the season after he underwent hip surgery on Thursday, were especially skittish after building a 50-35 lead with just a little more than three minutes gone in the second half.

They went more than six minutes without a point as Cincinnati (8-5) turned on defensive heat that would get more scorching as the Bearcats sensed the Hawkeyes didn't have anyone who could handle the ball with any efficiency.

"We just tried to pressure their ball handlers," said Cincinnati guard Chris McNeal, who had five steals. "We know that they're without their starting point guard that they have had for quite some time, so we just wanted to pressure the ball handlers and make them uncomfortable and then that kind of led to steals, so that's all we did."

"They don't have a point guard right now, so we needed to pressure them," Cincinnati coach John Brannen said.

"They tried to get up into you and force those turnovers," Garza said. "And I think we let that get to us a little bit during that stretch in the second half when we got a lead."

Iowa had four turnovers in the span of 41 seconds as Cincinnati got to within 58-56. It was at the under-8 media timeout when the Hawkeyes, who had 22 turnovers at that point, faced a different heat, this time from their bench.

"Sloppy, uncharacteristic turnovers," said guard CJ Fredrick, noting, then, that the Hawkeyes had talked about cutting down on the mistakes.

"There wasn't a lot of talk," Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said with a slight smile. "There was a lot of listening."

"That's...," Fredrick said, changing the direction of what he was going to say. "What he said."

"C.J. was being nice," McCaffery added. "That's why I love him."

However the message got through, the Hawkeyes responded. After Cincinnati took a 64-62 lead, Joe Wieskamp hit a 3-pointer to put Iowa back on top. Then guard Bakari Evelyn, playing his most minutes of the season, hit a three on Iowa's next possession, and the Hawkeyes were back in control.

"I've always felt like I was a good shooter," said Evelyn, a graduate transfer who had made just three 3-pointers all season, but had three in this game. "Everybody's been telling me, 'When you're open, shoot. When you're open, shoot.'"

Evelyn played almost 29 minutes. Freshman guard Joe Toussaint got the start, but within the first two minutes committed two turnovers and a foul while going for a rebound.

Toussaint played just 3:33 as he struggled to keep control of the ball and stay on his feet.

"Well, I mean, he fell the first three times he got the ball," McCaffery said. "I mean, he's quick, but like I said, he went and changed his shoes at halftime. And then he was in foul trouble and then BK was playing so well and we went with Connor (McCaffery), C.J., BK, with those guys. I really wanted to get him back in, but he'll settle down, he's a really good player, this is all part of the growth process."

The Hawkeyes had their own individual stumbles all night. All eight who played had at least two turnovers.

But Iowa overcame a lot of the mistakes with a 48-31 rebounding edge. The Hawkeyes also held the Bearcats to just 34.7 percent shooting.

"So there's different ways to win a basketball game," McCaffery said.

Fredrick, a Cincinnati native who played at Covington (Ky.) Catholic High School, matched his season high with 21 points. Wieskamp had 16. Evelyn had 15. Garza had 12 points, none after the 17:27 mark of the second half, and 13 rebounds.

This was definitely one to endure.

"That's what we pride ourselves on — just staying together and just staying locked in," Fredrick said.


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John Bohnenkamp
JOHN BOHNENKAMP

I was with The Hawk Eye (Burlington, Iowa) for 28 years, the last 19-plus as sports editor. I've covered Iowa basketball for the last 27 years, Iowa football for the last six seasons. I'm a 17-time APSE top-10 winner, with seven United States Basketball Writers Association writing awards and one Football Writers Association of America award (game story, 1st place, 2017).