NFL
By: Zachary Draves
Blistering Midwest cold and early snow showers signal many things and among them is that college basketball season is officially here as the Iowa Hawkeyes gave their fans a welcome relief from the cold as they took on the University of Missouri-Kansas City at the famed Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The unranked Hawkeyes are coming off a season in which they placed third in the Big Ten and lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament in what was their best season since 2006.
They are coming into this year without some of the core talent that led them to the dance most notably Naismith award-winning center Luke Garza who is now under contract with the Detroit Pistons playing in the NBA G League.
However, they do have some of that core returning particularly shooting guard and third point phenom Jordan Bohannon who is entering his 6th year, a rarity.
(Courtesy: Sport Chat Place)
Due to the COVID pandemic, the NCAA ruled that eligibility for athletes in winter sports would not be relinquished and as result, Jordan is back to finish what he started.
Another talent to watch out for is sophomore forward Keegan Murray who has the makings of an all-around player and Patrick McCaffery, son of Head Coach Fran McCaffery, who has good ball-handling skills and can run the floor as a 6’9 forward.
Their shooting has been noted as being utilized to such an extent as a means to offset their defense which has a reputation of giving up points in bunches.
In other words, they get on a roll, then give up points, and then get on a roll again.
Coming off their lopsided win in their season opener against Longwood this week, the Hawkeyes were looking to do the same into their second of five upcoming non-conference games.
From the opening tip, the Hawkeyes were clearly the better team but there were some ebbs and flows of staying hot and then cooling off.
At one point they led 16-5 and were in control at both ends of the floor but as the first half started to come to a close they at one point led by a mere four points as they had moments of not following through on good shots, missing free throws, and letting UMKC get to the hole too easily.
Nevertheless, they rebounded their way back to double digits to end the half leading 37-23 even after only shooting 15/34 from the field.
Jordan ended the half with 10 points, Patrick with 8 points, and Keegan with 8 points.
As the second half got underway, the Hawkeyes were back into the fray as they began to grow their lead into the twenties and eventually the thirties.
Keegan Murray was in total command as he was quickly becoming the games leading scorer with 25 points as they constantly fed him in the paint for some easy two points as well as him executing on some hard drives to the basket that included a couple of emphatic dunks.
(Courtesy: Hawkeye Sports)
He was simply unstoppable.
As for his fellow Hawkeyes, they pretty much followed his lead and played with as much intensity as they would if it was a close game.
It was smooth sailing from there as Iowa steamrolled their way to a 89-57 victory.
However just because this was a non-conference game and largely seen as inconsequential doesn’t deter Keegan from going out and playing at the highest level
“We take one game at a time and we view every opponent as equal” he said.
“We go into the game with an aggressive mindset and pace and play 100%.”
Their next game is at home against North Carolina Central on Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 8:00 PM CST.
