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Thursday, January 18, 2001
Iowa powers its way into Big Ten picture
By Jeff Potrykus
Special to ESPN.com
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Anyone interested in playing Jeopardy?
The category for today: "Men's College Basketball."
Let's try the $500 question.
A: Iowa's Steve Alford.
Q: Who coaches the most surprising team in the Big Ten Conference this season?
Even after blowing an early 10-point lead and falling at No. 18 Wisconsin, 67-54, Tuesday night, the 16th-ranked Hawkeyes are 14-3 overall and in a four-way tie for first place in the Big Ten at 3-1.
|  | | Luke Recker has been part of Iowa's productive backcourt with Dean Oliver, averaging 17.3 ppg.
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The other co-leaders are defending national champion and third-ranked Michigan State (14-1), No. 10 Illinois (14-4) and Purdue (11-4). The Hawkeyes beat Illinois and Purdue last week, but won't get a shot at the Spartans until Feb. 18 in East Lansing.
"They've probably been the most consistent team in the league, so far," Illinois coach Bill Self said of the Hawkeyes.
Wisconsin acting head coach Brad Soderberg added: "They are tough. And coach Alford has a system that fits their personnel really well. They are a great team. I'm very impressed."
Soderberg is impressed because he knows the Hawkeyes are only a year removed from finishing 14-16 overall and 6-10 in the Big Ten in Alford's first season. This season, Alford has seamlessly meshed eight new faces with a handful of holdovers to produce a championship-caliber team.
"I don't know if I gave myself a personal timetable," said Alford, who noted his team played its third game in six days Tuesday night. "I'm like every coach. You're wanting to get there quicker.
"I think last year was a feeling-out process. One, for me, learning what this league was all about, getting adjusted to the styles of coaches in this league. We knew we had a lot of scholarships. We knew we could bring in a lot of new faces. To get eight new faces in, I've been very pleased with what's happened so far. But it's only been a start.
"I think what I'm encouraged about is that this team has a great deal of room for improvement. And if we'll keep learning and working, by March we could be a competitive team that is hard to play against."
Despite the loss to Wisconsin, the Hawkeyes' record indicates they are already troublesome.
If solid guard play is a blue print for success, Iowa has arguably the best starting guards in the Big Ten. Senior Dean Oliver and junior Luke Recker, though both struggled against Wisconsin, with Oliver getting no assists in 36 minutes and Recker scoring only six points, have been consistent contributors all season.
Entering the week, Oliver (17.7 ppg) and Recker (17.3) were ranked No. 4 and No. 5, respectively, in Big Ten scoring. Oliver was No. 1 in assists (5.0) and No. 2 in assist-to-turnover ratio (plus-3.8).
Recker, who has been slowed by a minor knee injury, was shooting 45.5 percent from 3-point range, hadn't missed from the free-throw line in three Big Ten games (64 for 74 overall), and was contributing 4.0 assists per game.
"He is an aggressive offensive player with great confidence," Soderberg said or Recker. "He will take a shot no matter what, against whoever is defending him at any time of the game with confidence."
So you'd like to have a bonafide power forward, one who lives to rebound every missed shot, on your team? You probably wouldn't mind having Iowa junior Reggie Evans on your side.
Evans, a junior-college transfer from Coffeyville Community College, was No. 2 in the nation in rebounding at 12.7 per game. He recorded double-doubles in scoring and rebounding in his first 10 games and has 12 double-doubles overall.
"Reggie Evans has given them a dimension that a lot of teams don't have," Self said, "a physical dimension."
So any team doesn't impress you unless it boasts a rotation at least seven deep? The Hawkeyes have your minimum requirement. Alford's top seven players average at least 14.8 minutes per game and he isn't afraid to dig deeper if necessary.
The results speak for themselves.
Iowa entered the week ranked first in the Big Ten in scoring offense (82.3 ppg), first in field-goal percentage (.478), first in free-throw percentage (.796), second in 3-point percentage (.413) and second in rebounding margin (plus-13).
But, perhaps the most telling statistic of the Hawkeyes' overall record thus far is their record in close games. Iowa is 6-0 this season in games decided by five or fewer points.
"Our guys are just listening, really paying attention to things," Alford said. "They've been very focused, whether it has been walkthroughs or shoot-arounds or practices. And I think they've gone into buildings expecting to win."
They came to the Kohl Center expecting to win. And although they didn't expect to go 16-0 in the Big Ten, they believe the loss to the Badgers will turn out to be a blip on the radar screen.
"Losses are going to happen," junior forward Duez Henderson said. "When was the last time a team went undefeated in the Big Ten? You know? It's a tough league and you're going to get losses.
"You don't want them, but they're going to happen. The main thing is when you get a loss of this sort, you have to bounce back. We've just got to get ready for Michigan on Saturday."
And perhaps go 15-1?
"Yep," Henderson said.
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Games of the Week
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Iowa State at Nebraska
Saturday
The Cyclones (14-3 overall, 2-2 Big 12) got back on the winning track by dispatching Colorado and will have three days to prepare for this important road game. Meanwhile, Nebraska must play at Kansas on Wednesday. The Cornhuskers (8-7, 1-1) surprised Texas last week. Win or lose at Kansas, the game against Iowa State will be pivotal for the Cornhuskers. Remember that Iowa State has lost four Big 12 games in the last two seasons. All have been on the road and all in overtime.
Ohio State at Michigan State
Sunday
Michigan State (14-3 overall, 3-1 Big Ten) has won 39 consecutive games at home, the longest winning streak in the nation. Ohio State (11-5, 2-2) isn't as strong as the team that shared the regular-season title with the Spartans last season. However, the Buckeyes do have shot-blocking specialist Ken Johnson, who can alter the course of any game. Ohio State must first take care of Michigan on Thursday.
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The post-4 OT effect
Less than a week after watching Missouri outlast Iowa State in four overtimes, we have learned a bit of inside information about the Big 12 rivals.
Larry Eustachy's Cyclones deal with defeat better than Quin Snyder's Tigers deal with success.
On Tuesday night, Iowa State rebounded from the loss to Missouri with an easy 84-68 victory over visiting Colorado to improve to 14-3 overall and 2-2 in the Big 12. Iowa State hit 58.5 percent of its field-goal attempts, including 8 of 13 from 3-point range, out-rebounded the Buffaloes 31-20 and had seven players score at least eight points.
"I was more concerned about Colorado than putting a game behind us," Eustachy said. "Mentally, it (the four-overtime loss) takes a toll on you even though they don't know it. But we stayed with it and played through it. It was our biggest win, no question."
Snyder had little reason to be pleased with his team's performance. The Tigers, who jumped into The Associated Press Top 20 for the first time in two seasons, were embarrassed at Kansas State, 80-59.
The host Wildcats (8-7, 2-2) built a 22-point halftime lead and went on to record their second upset of a top 20 team this season.
Missouri (12-4, 3-1), missed 13 of its first 16 field-goal attempts, shot 20 percent in the first half and a season-low 29 percent overall.
"This wasn't a question of fatigue," Snyder said. "Kansas State executed so well on both ends. They hustled."
And the Tigers might have allowed their recent success to swell their egos just a bit.
"We were like, 'Gee whiz, we got ranked,'" Snyder said. "I kind of felt this coming. We have a pretty good team but there is a false sense."
Around the Midwest
Don't underestimate Western Michigan in the Mid-American Conference West Division. That was the clear message from Western Michigan coach Robert McCullum after his Broncos (2-12 overall, 2-3 MAC) beat Ball State on Saturday.
"I would like to think we are better than our record," said McCullum, whose team played Michigan, Richmond and Detroit in the non-conference season. "We've played some good basketball, but we get in the last five or six minutes of the game and can't finish. Our guys are finding out how to win close ball games."
Think the Wisconsin players desperately needed the victory over Iowa? The Badgers (11-4, 2-3) snapped a three-game losing streak and avoided falling 3½ games off the pace in the conference. Ask senior guard Roy Boone (18 points).
"Coming into this game we felt that this was pretty much a must win for us," Boone said, "to keep our season alive."
Baylor (13-1 overall, 2-1 Big 12) parlayed a soft early schedule, set up specifically to give an inexperienced team some confidence, into the best start after 14 games in school history. Life gets tougher beginning Wednesday night with a home game against Oklahoma State. The Bears then play at Texas, at Iowa State and at home against Oklahoma.
"I know it has been well-chronicled about out schedule," said Baylor coach Dave Bliss, who went 14-15 overall and 4-12 in the Big 12 in his first season with the Bears. "A large part of that is to try to get these people used to having positive experiences. So far I think we have benefited from it. Obviously the competition throughout the Big 12 picks up."
When Jamal Brown buried an improbable, five-foot bank shot in the final second to lift Texas Tech to a 60-59 victory over No. 21 Oklahoma on Tuesday, it snapped the Red Raiders' losing streak against ranked teams at 12 games.
After going 4-4 on the road in Big 12 games last season, Kansas is 2-0 this season, with victories at Texas Tech and Oklahoma.
"People are acting like that was damnation and hell fire coming," Kansas coach Roy Williams said of the 4-4 conference road mark last season. "But 4-4 on the road sometimes is pretty dog gone good. I think it's so early to tell right now that we'd rather not talk about it. Because you never can tell what's coming around the corner on the next couple of road games.
"But I do believe that this team, so far, has shown an ability to concentrate more when things start going badly for them, and not lose their concentration and start trying do things that's not in the team (concept)."
Texas held Connecticut to 35.3 percent shooting in its 60-56 victory over the Huskies on Monday. The Longhorns have now won 27 consecutive games in which they hold their opponent to less than 40-percent shooting.
Illinois senior guard-forward Sergio McClain scored 10 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out 11 assists in the Illini's 80-51 victory over Michigan last week. It was the first triple-double in school history.
Quote to Note
"You don't spit at the wind. You don't take the mask off the old Lone Ranger and you don't underestimate an Eddie Sutton team."
-- Baylor head coach Dave Bliss, when asked if he was surprised that Eddie Sutton's inexperienced Oklahoma State team had gotten off to such a strong start.
Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.
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