Patrick McCaffery Returns in Iowa Victory

Hawkeyes Click in Sunday's Win Against Rutgers

Iowa’s Patrick McCaffery (22) drives between Rutgers’ Paul Mulcahy (4) and Derek Simpson (0) on Jan. 29, 2023 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. (Rob Howe/HaweyeNation.com)

The noise started when Patrick McCaffery headed from the Iowa bench to check into the game.

The applause became a standing ovation when McCaffery entered the game.

And when his first shot, a 3-pointer, went through the net, Carver-Hawkeye Arena was at its loudest point of the day.

Iowa’s 93-82 win over Rutgers on Sunday will be remembered for the return of McCaffery, who hadn’t played since January 1 after taking a leave of absence to address his anxiety.

McCaffery played 13 minutes, and scored nine points along with two rebounds, two assists, a block, and a steal — a stat line that stuck out on a gaudy box score of numbers for the Hawkeyes (13-8 overall, 5-5 Big Ten) because of the significance of his return.

McCaffery said he didn’t want to go deep into what he’s done the last few weeks — he’ll save that, he said, for the end of the season.

But hearing the crowd roar was a perfect way to return.

“It was a lot,” McCaffery said. “It's been a pretty emotional couple of weeks. So, you know, obviously going out there and getting the love from the Hawkeye fans was something that made me feel really great, and made it feel like it was worth it to come back.”

“It was awesome,” said Iowa coach Fran McCaffery, Patrick’s father. “I would say that I wasn't surprised because he practiced hard yesterday and shot it really well and played really well. He looked like himself.”

Patrick McCaffery entered the game at the 13:56 mark of the first half. The 3-pointer came almost exactly two minutes later, and when it went through McCaffery threw his right arm in the area, and did a 360-degree spin, almost as if he was taking in the noise from every angle.

“As soon as it came off the hand, I was like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s going in,’” Patrick said. “Seeing it go in — because that can happen sometimes where it feels good and it doesn't go in — seeing it go in hearing the crowd and being back it was just, you know, a moment to remember for the rest of my life.”

“I think the thing that was most impressive to me was that as soon as he got that shot, he didn't think, he didn't hesitate,” Fran McCaffery said. “He just pulled.”

Patrick had been practicing for a couple of weeks, and his return had been since then a “game-time decision.” When he was in full uniform a couple of hours before tipoff on Sunday, the decision seemed clear.

Getting 13 minutes out of Patrick was about what Fran McCaffery expected.

“I was ready to go a little bit more,” Fran said.

Then he thought about what his son had accomplished.

“Boy was he terrific,” Fran said.

The Hawkeyes seemed to feed off Patrick’s return. Four players scored in double figures, led by Kris Murray’s 22 points, and Iowa shot 43.3 percent from the field, 50 percent in 3-pointers, against the Big Ten’s best scoring defense.

“Once the shots started falling, we got a lot of momentum and rhythm back to our offense,” Murray said.

An 11-2 run at the end of the first half gave the Hawkeyes a 45-34 halftime lead, and although Rutgers (14-7, 6-4) got to within 68-67 with eight minutes to play, the Scarlet Knights could never finish the chase.

“We had plenty of points in this game,” Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said. “But you can’t go on the road and give up 90 points. You can’t get into a you-score-they-score game with them.”

Iowa was also 29-of-34 in free throws.

“One of the ways you get to 93 is shoot 34 free throws,” Fran McCaffery said. “We had a lot of different guys attacking. And that wasn't always perfect. But I think the mindset was most effective.”

For his son, the mindset to return was the right choice.

“The support really meant a lot and really let me know that I was doing the right thing (stepping away),” Patrick said. “Everybody gave me that confidence that I was doing the right thing for myself. Most importantly, I was able to find out about myself and then come back and help the team.”