Preview: Iowa Faces Cyclones in Ames

Hawkeyes Look to Hand Iowa State First Loss

Connor McCaffery (30) against Iowa State 2019 in Ames. (Rob Howe/HawkeyeNation.com)

The five storylines for Iowa heading into Thursday’s men’s basketball game at Iowa State.

A HEALTHY MURRAY: Keegan Murray had 19 points in Monday’s 87-83 home loss to Illinois, but 17 of those came in the second half.

Murray, who leads the nation in scoring at 23.9 points per game, was coming back from an ankle injury that kept him out of the 77-70 loss at Purdue in the Big Ten opener last Friday.

Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said Murray was “feeling good” after getting back on the court.

Murray took just three shots in the first half, and admitted after the game he needed time to get back into the flow of the game after being out.

“He was trying in the first half,” McCaffery said. “He had a couple roll out on him, shots he normally makes. It’s not uncommon when you miss a game and haven’t practiced.”

Murray was 7-of-12 from the field in the second half.

“I think it was important for him to get going the way he did,” McCaffery said. “The fact that he got it going so quickly in the second half was critical to our comeback, but also, most importantly, for him and his confidence.”

GET BOHANNON GOING: Iowa guard Jordan Bohannon has always enjoyed playing villain to the Cyclones in this rivalry, but he comes into this game having not been an integral role in the Hawkeyes’ offense the last two games.

Bohannon has scored just eight points in the last two games. He is 4-of-10 from the field, 0-3 in 3-pointers, since having a 20-point game in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge win at Virginia.

“He’s always going to have the green light,” McCaffery said. “But we’ve got to do a better job of freeing him up, finding opportunities for him to get shots. I don’t want to put it on him. We’ve got to put it on us to get him shots and find him openings.”

THE CYCLONE DEFENSE: Iowa State’s roster was reconstructed after T.J. Otzelberger was hired as the new head coach last spring, and the Cyclones have come together well since. They’re 8-0 and ranked 17th in the Associated Press poll.

“The first thing is, they have a new team,” McCaffery said. “And it’s not easy to do, by any means, to get a new group to play with the cohesion they’re playing with. It’s a credit to their coaching staff, and their players, all of them combined. They’ve got a veteran group. They’re new, but they’re really good players.”

The connection is especially evident on defense. The Cyclones are ranked 40th in scoring defense, giving up 60.1 points per game, after ranking 299th at 76.7 points last season.

“The one leads to the other — they’re creating some offense with their defense,” McCaffery said. “They’re creating a chemistry that is reflected at the offensive end as a result of what they’re doing defensively. And they’re competing.”

WHO WILL MAKE THE MOST MISTAKES? The Hawkeyes average just 7.9 turnovers per game, best in NCAA Division I play. The Cyclones are eighth in turnovers forced at 19.4 per game.

“I think it comes down to the players,” McCaffery said about how the Hawkeyes have avoided mistakes. “We have smart kids, we have guys who understand how to play, guys who understand how to win, what it takes (to win). We have an appreciation for each other, so we share (the ball), we move it. A lot of times turnovers are the result of some selfishness, guys who drive it because they want to shoot now. We don’t do that. We make good decisions.”

ULIS’ EMERGENCE: Iowa sophomore guard Ahron Ulis has become a steadying player off the bench. He has 10 assists and no turnovers in the last three games, playing more than 56 minutes.

“He’s got a keen sense of when to go, when not to go, when to drive it, when to shoot it,” McCaffery said. “He’s a thinker. He’s not a mistake-maker. So I’ve been really impressed with him and his development. The thing about it is, I think he’ll keep getting better.”