The Iowa Hawkeyes return to action at home on Saturday against Idaho State. The Hawkeyes are 3-4 after dropping a heart breakinmg 76-73 decision at Wake Forest. A game in which they led by 18 points in the opening half. Iowa coach Fran McCaffery says the Wake games in terms of the way they executed the game plan was substantially better, but they had sretches where they didn’t play well.
The Hawkeyes play six of their next seven at home. McCaffery says he just wants to see the team get better Saturday and he can’t afford to look ahead as they’ve already had injuries and other things that impact the long term game plan.
McCaffery says the Hawks are doing a better job of understanding the game plan and sticking with it.
Idaho State is 2-3.
The Iowa State Cyclones look to bounce back from their first loss of the season when the host California on Saturday as part of the Big-12/Pac Ten Hardwood Series. One of the reasons for Iowa State’s impressive start is the play of senior point guard Diante Garrett, who is averaging more than 17 points and six assists per game.
Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg who says Garrett came to him and asked what he could do the first thing after he became the coach. He says Garrett has been getting everyone involved on offense. He says having him throw the ball ahead and trusting others to make plays shows the type of player he is.
California is 4-2 under former Stanford coach Mike Montgomery.
The U.N.I. Panthers visit T.C.U. on Saturday as part of the Mountain West/Missouri Valley Conference Challenge. The Panthers are 3-2 after a 60-54 win over Iowa State and coach Ben Jacobsen would like to see his team get out more on the fast break when they get a chance.
Jacobsen says there were some cases where they didn’t take advantage of that, and the team will want to look at it in the next game and get more easy baskets. A good sign on ofense was balance against the Cyclones. Jacobsen says it was the first time this year they have had five guys in double figures, but he says there are still places where they can improve and he says that’s one of the exciting things.
By Elwin Huffman KOEL Oelwein