Iowa’s Brock Harding said he thought “guys were ready to attack” from the outset of Saturday’s rout of Florida A&M, a strategy that went a long way toward stopping the Hawkeyes’ three-game losing streak.
As Iowa prepares to host UMBC on Wednesday night, the Hawkeyes realize repeating that early effort — and maintaining it — will be crucial.
“We felt like (starting slow) was a big problem the last couple games,” Harding said. “We kind of got hit first and were behind the rest of the game. We made a big emphasis to come out with (a) lot of energy. I felt like our team did a great job of that.”
Iowa (6-5), which led 43-20 at halftime, benefited from strong showings from a pair of newcomers. While Harding led the Hawkeyes’ reserves with 10 points in the game, fellow freshman Owen Freeman scored 14 points to go with a career-best 11 rebounds.
Getting the 6-foot-10 Freeman involved on both sides of the floor helped the Hawkeyes limit Florida A&M to 52 points.
“Once he’s been healthy, he’s been spectacular,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said of Freeman. “He’s such a winning player and character guy, and he wants to execute the game plan to perfection. Sometimes you just have to run around and fly around and impact the game with your athletic ability, your size, your strength.”
UMBC has lost three in a row and four of five. The Retrievers (5-8) are coming off last Tuesday’s 66-60 loss at Saint Peter’s.
UMBC’s Dion Brown led all scorers with 24 points while snagging a team-high eight rebounds, but a lack of scoring balance behind Brown and Khydarius Smith (13 points) cost the team.
The Retrievers, who led by five at the half, benefited from the return of Max Lorca-Lloyd (three blocks) from a three-game absence, but UMBC committed 21 turnovers overall.
Iowa defeated visiting UMBC 77-47 on Dec. 6, 2014, in the only other meeting between the schools.
–Field Level Media