Vegas event tests Hawks
DES MOINES (AP) — There’s a lot to like about Iowa so far.
The Hawkeyes are 5-0 — despite starting three true freshmen. They’re shooting 51.7 percent from the floor, tops in the Big Ten, and only two of their first five opponents have cracked 50 points.
But if Iowa can’t keep it up this weekend in Las Vegas, it’s hot start will seem rather hollow.
The Hawkeyes finally get their first crack at major-conference competition, starting Friday when they take on West Virginia (3-0). Iowa will face either Kentucky or Kansas State on Saturday and then jet across the country to play at Boston College next Tuesday.
The Hawkeyes first extended road trip will also be a stiff test for its freshmen, who have given them quite the boost so far.
Guard Anthony Tucker has stepped into the void left by departed backcourt stars Justin Johnson and Tony Freeman and provided Iowa with much-needed scoring. He leads the team with 15.8 points a game on 49.1 percent shooting — a strong number for a player who’s already taken 46 3-pointers.
Matt Gatens has given the Hawkeyes a little bit of everything. He’s scoring 11 points a game, has an assist-to-turnover ratio of nearly 2-to-1 and has shot under 50 percent in a game just once.
Forward Aaron Fuller’s numbers aren’t gaudy — 6.4 points, 3.2 rebounds per game — but he’s shown he can handle himself at a position Iowa was thin at entering the season.
The Hawkeyes have also gotten improved play out of sophomore point guard Jeff Peterson. After racking up more turnovers than assists last season, Peterson has been extremely effective in protecting the basketball — save for one crucial turnover late in the second half against Oakland.
Peterson has 22 assists against just four turnovers.
“Jeff feels comfortable this year,” Iowa coach Todd Lickliter said. “Last year it was a tough task to ask a freshman to lead the floor as a point guard. He thinks things through this year and knows what we want out of a point guard.”
Iowa’s hot shooting start has been a team-wide phenomenon. The move to push the 3-point line back a foot has done little to slow the Hawkeyes, who have hit 50-of-121 3s so far, and four of Iowa’s top five scorers are all shooting over 50 percent from the floor.
Nobody’s putting the ball in the hole like senior forward Cyrus Tate, though.
Tate, who shot 66.7 percent last season, is up to 77.8 percent so far.
“We have the talent, technique and demeanor in our guys to shoot the ball well. We will need to continue to shoot the ball well,” Lickliter said.
Notes: West Virginia coach Bob Huggins led his former team, Cincinnati, past the Hawkeyes 76-64 in the first round of the 2005 NCAA tournament...Iowa guard Devan Bawinkel played sparingly for the Mountaineers in 2006-07 before transferring to junior college...The Hawkeyes will play the winner of the Kentucky-Kansas State game if they beat West Virginia, and the loser of that game if they fall to the Mountaineers...West Virginia will likely start three juniors and senior Alex Ruoff, who leads the team with 18.7 points per game.
