FanPulse Week 5: Confidence high after Syracuse win

The fans have spoken, and confidence in Iowa basketball has risen almost to the same level it was in the preseason — right around 75 percent.

Iowa split its last two games, losing to undefeated San Diego State 83-73 and taking down Syracuse 68-54 on the road.

Looking at the San Diego State contest, Iowa played a solid first half. Things went the Aztecs’ way in the second, as their solid shooting continued (they shot better than 50 percent in both halves), and the Hawkeyes’ hot touch fizzled out.

Iowa shot 34.5 percent from the floor in the second half, a drop-off of more than 10 percent.

However, things turned around when Iowa traveled to Syracuse, racing past the Orange thanks to red-hot shooting.

The Hawkeyes canned nearly 52 percent of their shots in the second half, and they nailed 11 3-point attempts through the entire game. Luka Garza did Luka Garza things, scoring 23 points and grabbing nine rebounds, while Jordan Bohannon added 17 points and five 3-pointers — a nice bounce-back from his three-point outing against San Diego State.

Overall, the past two games were solid for Iowa hoops — a close loss to a quality San Diego State team and a road win over Syracuse. Not too bad.

It’s also worth noting that the two teams that have taken down Iowa this season, DePaul and San Diego State, are a combined 18-0.