Iowa at Indiana — Live game discussion

Game Day essentials:

Iowa (12-8, 4-5) vs. Indiana (12-8, 4-5)

• Tip Time: 7:00 p.m. Eastern, Tuesday
• Location: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (17,222), Bloomington, Ind.
• Television: BTN (Kevin Kugler, Brian Butch)
• Stream: Fox Sports
• IU Radio Network: IU Radio Network
• Point Spread: Iowa is around a 1.5 point favorite.
• KenPom Projected Score: No. 92 Indiana 80 – No. 44 Iowa 82
• Series: Indiana leads series, 106-82.

Iowa’s Fran McCaffery

Fran McCaffery is in his 14th season as head coach of the Iowa men’s basketball program, after being hired as the program’s 22nd head coach in the spring of 2010. McCaffery currently sits as Big Ten’s third-longest tenured head coach, behind Purdue’s Matt Painter and Michigan State’s Tom Izzo.

McCaffery has led Iowa to a record of 273-184 overall record, with a 130-123 record in Big Ten play since taking over as head coach. Across his 14 seasons, Iowa has made seven NCAA Tournament appearances, along with three stints in the NIT. McCaffery’s highest Big Ten standing has been third three separate times, with the most recent coming in the 2020-21 season. The Hawkeyes have one Big Ten tournament title under McCaffery’s tenure, with a championship in the 2021-22 season.

McCaffery had some impressive stints at mid-major programs before making his way to the Big Ten. Prior to Iowa, McCaffery led Siena to three NCAA Tournament appearances in five seasons, with all three of those years also yielding a conference regular season and tournament championship. McCaffery would win MAAC Coach of the Year in the 2008-09 season, where his team went 27-8 overall with a 16-2 record in conference.

Before Siena, McCaffery had a six-year stint with UNC Greensboro, where he also led them to an NCAA Tournament appearance, after earning an automatic bid while winning the conference tournament championship in the 2000-01 season. The year after, the Spartans finished tied for first in the conference, handing McCaffery a regular season title as well.

Before becoming a full-time head coach, McCaffery spent time as an assistant at Notre Dame, Lehigh, and Penn. McCaffery was named head coach at Lehigh after being an assistant for two seasons and earned an NCAA Tournament appearance there as well. After that season, McCaffery would step down and take an assistant job at Notre Dame, before becoming head coach for UNC Greensboro.

Iowa’s results and roster

Iowa’s game notes (via Iowa Athletics)

McCAFFERY: IOWA’S WINNINGEST HEAD COACH

• Head coach Fran McCaffery, who is in his 28th season as a head coach and 14th at Iowa, won his 272nd game as a Hawkeye on Jan. 15 at Minnesota, making him the winningest coach in program history. McCaffery has 273 career wins as Iowa’s head coach.
• Iowa defeated Rutgers, 86-77, on Jan. 3, giving McCaffery his 127th career Big Ten victory. He has a school record 129 Big Ten wins.

B1G TONY

• Senior Tony Perkins is averaging a team-best 18.1 points, 4.4 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists in Big Ten play. The guard is shooting 49.6 percent from the floor and 85.7 percent from the charity stripe.
• Over his last three games, Perkins is averaging 22.7 points on 57.5 percent shooting, while making 90.5 percent (19-of-21) of his free throw attempts. He also averages 3.7 assists (against four combined turnovers), three rebounds and 2.3 steals.
• The Indianapolis native has scored in double figures in every Big Ten game with four 20-point contests and six 15+ games. He has five games with three or more steals against league opponents.

PAYTON CATCHES FIRE

• After scoring a season-low six points in the home loss to Maryland on Jan. 24, junior Payton Sandfort responded in a big way in a road win at Michigan.
• The Waukee, Iowa, native matched a career-high, scoring 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting. He went 6-of-8 from 3-point range, tying a career-high with six makes.
• In the second half, Sandfort was deadly. He made eight of his 10 field goal attempts, including 5-of-6 3-pointers. He played all 20 minutes of half No. 2.

THE B1G’S BEST FROSH

• Owen Freeman has been one of the best freshmen in the Big Ten. The Illinois native leads the conference in scoring (224), rebounds (123), blocks (34) and is tied for first in steals (20), while ranking second in field goal percentage (.643).
• Freeman’s three double-doubles are the most by a freshman in the conference and tied for the ninth most in the league.
• Freeman’s 34 blocks are tied for the third-most by a freshman in the NCAA this season.

CONSISTENT KRIKKE

• Graduate Ben Krikke has scored in double figures in 16 of Iowa’s 20 games this season. The Canada native is leading the team, averaging 15.7 points on 56 percent shooting.
• Krikke ranks third in the Big Ten in field goal percentage (.560), eighth in field goals (122) and 12th in scoring (15.7).
• He has shot 60 percent or better from the field in eight games and he has three games with 10 or more field goals. He made 8-of-10 field goals (80 percent) in the win over Seton Hall on Nov. 24.
• Krikke has two double-doubles — 17 points and a season-high 12 rebounds in the win over UMBC (his first as a Hawkeye) and 19 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Rutgers. Krikke has six career double-doubles.
• He has a team-high six 20-point games. He scored 24 points (11-of-18 shooting) at No. 8 Creighton and a season-high 25 points (10-of-14 FG), nine rebounds and four steals in the win over Arkansas State. Against UNF, Krikke scored 21 points (5-of-9) shooting — 17 in the second half — and went 11-for-11 from the free throw line. He netted 24 points on 8-of-15 shooting (8-of-11 FT) against Michigan, 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting against NIU and 25 points on 11-of-17 shooting in the road win at Minnesota.

Iowa’s KenPom notable numbers:

(out of 362 teams)

Tempo – No. 11 (Offense No. 14 / Defense No. 126)

Offensive Efficiency – No. 20

• Iowa has an effective field goal percentage of 53.6 percent on the year (No. 66). The Hawkeyes are shooting 34.8 percent from three (No. 125), and 53.8 percent from two (No. 57).
• Iowa does not shoot a lot of threes. Their attempt rate (3FGA/FGA) at is very low at 30.6 percent (No. 320). The Hawkeyes score 57.1 percent of their points from two (No. 33).
• Iowa has one of the higher assist rates in the country, with a 60.5 assist percentage for every field goal made (No. 20).   They also take very good care of the basketball, with turnovers on just 13.7 percent of possessions (No. 9).
• The Hawkeyes don’t get to the line at a high rate (FTA/FGA is 31.4 percent, No. 219), but they do convert their chances with a 76.8 team free throw percentage (No. 31).

Defensive Efficiency – No. 111

• Opposing teams hold a 50.6 effective field goal percentage against Iowa on the season. That comes in at No. 196 overall.  Teams are shooting 33.1 percent from three (No. 151) and 51.1 percent from two (No. 215).
• The best adjective to give Iowa’s defense is average. Almost all of their stats rank near the middle of all Division 1 teams (No. 150-200 range).
• An area where they have exceeded average is in their steal percentage, with a 10.5 percent steal rate on the year (No. 96).
• Teams have been able to get offensive rebounds at a decent clip against Iowa (30.1 percent rate, No. 222).

Extras

• Iowa has been handed the 35th-hardest schedule of all Division 1.
• Indiana native Tony Perkins has the 248th-highest assist rate in the country, as well as the 162nd-highest steal rate.
• Former IU recruiting target Owen Freeman is 81st in the country in two-point percentage, and 41st in block percentage.
• Josh Dix has the tenth-best offensive rating in the Big Ten.

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