Iowa tries to fix its 3-point problems with Seton Hall.
November 24: Fran McCaffery, the coach of Iowa, is hoping that his team’s recent 3-point shooting performance was just an anomaly.
The Hawkeyes will attempt to bounce back in time for their encounter with Seton Hall on Friday in the third-place game of the Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego, after shooting just 17.4 percent from beyond the arc on Thursday.
Iowa (3-2) was losing to Oklahoma 79-67, and their only three-point shooting performance was 4 out of 23. The Hawkeyes also failed to build a lead. Despite the appalling performance from the outside, McCaffery decided to stay positive.
“We were running motion, I thought we were getting it to the rim early, we got open shots,” said McCaffery. “The lead was obviously stretched a little bit, and we didn’t make them.
“Your defence needs to be tight when your offence isn’t working. We were really fighting on the glass. I’m quite pleased with that.
The Pirates (4-1) suffered a similar fate to No. 16 Southern California, but they gave it far more of a fight in their 71-63 loss on Thursday. Even though Seton Hall shot 3-for-16 (18.8%) from long range, the Pirates were only four points behind with 2:41 remaining before losing.
Though he wasn’t happy with his team’s performance in the first half, Seton Hall coach Shaheen Holloway anticipates a quicker start from his group on Friday. The Pirates were behind the Trojans by as much as 14 points prior to the half.
In a post-game radio interview, Holloway stated, “We gotta get back to the hotel, guys gotta ice and we gotta get ready to play basketball.”
Leading the Pirates in scoring per game at 14.8, Kadary Richmond finished with a team-high 18 points on Thursday.
Iowa is led by Ben Krikke, who averages 18.2 points. Against the Sooners, he scored eleven, Payton Sandfort scored twelve, and Owen Freeman scored thirteen.
The teams will meet for the fourth time ever on Friday. The Hawkeyes have a 2-1 record against Seton Hall, with a victory in Newark, New Jersey last November of 83-67.
