Iowa dropped its second game of the Emerald Coast Classic, falling to Memphis, 100-92.
One night after it got properly drubbed by an admittedly great Virginia squad, Iowa looked like it could rebound against a mediocre Memphis team, but that would require defense and discipline, neither of which was on display much.
The Hawkeyes let 100 up to Memphis which scored just 51 against Providence the night before. Iowa also turned it over 18 times, which is just not sustainable.
Speaking of things that aren’t sustainable, Peter Jok’s 42-point, 8-11 from three shooting effort is not something that can be relied on. The only other Hawkeye that scored in the double figures was Tyler Cook who ended the night with 17. Memphis, on the other hand, had five players in double-figures, led by a 35-point, 11-rebound night from Dedric Lawson.
Nicholas Baer fouled out and had just five points, something else that is not sustainable. Iowa relies on him to to keep effort up when this team gets down, and that’s tough to do from the bench. Without him on the floor Iowa loses its best perimeter defender and its third-best scoring option.
It looked like Iowa was going to have a chance to win the game when it went up following a 9-2 run in the second half, then the Hawkeyes turned it over on three consecutive possessions and never saw a lead in the remaining 15 minutes.
Next up Iowa has Notre Dame on Tuesday, and I don’t love our chances in South Bend.
This is perhaps the worst defensive team we’ve seen from a McCaffery-coached squad. In the past we’ve had questions about coaching clutch. Right now I’m just worried about coaching hustle.
Other notes:
-We saw 18 minutes out of Cordell Pemsl, and his 6 points and 4 rebounds were what I expected out of the freshman.
-Jordan Bohannon is still a turnover machine, with 4 giveaways.
-Christian Williams only played 16 minutes. I’m not sure what’s going on with the point guard position on this team.
-Tyler Cook is still good.
-This:
Jok's 42 points ties for fourth best in Iowa history and most in almost 40 years. Record is 49 by John Johnson in 1970
— Don Doxsie (@Dox5) November 26, 2016