opponent-preview_basketball

By Brant Daughtry


A New Season

Iowa head coach Fran McCaffrey has something of a reputation. He’s a hothead, evidenced by his recent stare down with an official in February. But he’s also a good coach with a good team, evidenced by the fact that immediately after that stare down, Iowa erased a 13-point deficit in 90 seconds, forced overtime, and won a close game with Michigan State.

He’s been coaching college basketball for 40 years now, with 26 of those years as a head coach. He’s been at Iowa for 13 years now, and has been a consistently solid head coach. Since McCaffrey was hired in 2010, they’ve made seven NCAA Tournaments, only missing one since 2014. They’ve never made it past the round of 32, but that is still an impressive mark.

Iowa is a team that relies on playing inside-out. When they hit their goal of eight threes a game, they’re 13-2. When they shoot their average of 34.3% from. three, their record is 16-1. Iowa’s success from three will go a long way in deciding this game. Likewise, Auburn’s ability to defend the three-point line will go a long way. While they’ll hit shots from the inside when given the chance, they operate best when kicking out to their shooters. They’re one of the best offenses in the country, and that style of play is a good reason why.

Their defense though, leaves a lot more to be desired. Teams are scoring almost 75 points a game against the Hawkeyes. They’re undersized down low, and they don’t defend the interior well as a result. To counter this, they take a lot of gambles. They jump passing lanes and try to force turnovers to gain more possessions. They do this pretty well too, to the tune of forcing 13 turnovers a game. Taking care of the ball will be paramount to taking advantage of a defensively challenged team.

Players to Watch For: 

Forward Kris Murray, #24- Murray is the leader in points and rebounds for Iowa, with 20.4 and 7.9 respectively. He’s 6’8″, and plays well on the wing and inside. He also shoots the ball pretty well, sitting at 34% from three. He’s an athletic, talented 4, who’s going to be the focus of Auburn’s defense.

Center Filip Rebraca, #0- Rebraca is the undersized big man I talked about earlier. He’s only 6’9″, which is a good two inches shorter than Auburn’s two bigs. That doesn’t really hold him back though, at least not on the offensive end. He scores just shy of 14 points a game, and pulls his weight on the boards with 7.6 rebounds. He’s limited defensively, but is still a darn good player.

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