IOWA (22-11) vs CINCINNATI (28-6)
TIME: 11:15 a.m. (central) on Friday
TV: CBS – Brian Anderson, Chris Webber, and Allie LaForce on the call.
SERIES: Cincinnati has a 6-2 record against Iowa. The last meeting was also in the NCAA Tournament, in 2005, which resulted in a 76-64 win for the Bearcats. Three of the meetings have taken place in neutral site games and Cincinnati has a 2-1 record against the Hawkeyes in those games. Iowa and Cincinnati are schedule to meet next season in December in a neutral site game at the United Center.
THE LINE: Cincinnati is a 3.5 point favorite.
THE NUMBERS
OFFENSE: CINCINNATI– 71.7 PPG, 43.2% FG, 35.0% 3 PT FG, IOWA – 78.3 PPG, 45.5% FG, 36.1% 3 PT FG.
DEFENSE: CINCINNATI – 62.2 PPG, 40.6% FG, 35.1% 3 PT FG. IOWA – 73.6 PPG, 44.8% FG, 32.6% 3 PT FG.
THE LINEUPS
CINCINNATI
5-10 guard Justin Jenifer – 8.2 points, 2.8 assists per game
6-5 guard Jarron Cumberland – 18.8 points, 4.5 rebounds per game
6-5 forward Keith Williams – 10.1 points, 3.1 rebounds per game
6-8 forward Tre Scott – 9.3 points, 6.9 rebounds per game
6-11 center Nysier Brooks – 8.0 points, 6.4 rebounds per game
IOWA
6-1 guard Jordan Bohannon – 11.3 points, 3.4 assists per game
6-5 guard Isaiah Moss – 9.1 points, 2.8 rebounds per game
6-6 guard Joe Wieskamp – 10.8 points, 4.8 rebounds per game
6-9 forward Tyler Cook – 14.9 points, 7.9 rebounds per game
6-11 center Luka Garza – 12.9 points, 4.4 rebounds per game
PLAYER TO WATCH – Jordan Bohannon – If there’s a hole in the grinding defense of the Bearcats it’s that they have a weakness defending the three point shot. They are allowing opponents to make 35% from three this year and that’s a pretty high number. They are also more of a zone team than man to man this year due to a relatively thin bench, so that means opportunity will be knocking for Bohannon to get going from deep. If he does, Iowa’s chances of winning will be on the rise.
KEY MATCHUP – Isaiah Moss vs. Jarron Cumberland – From Iowa’s perspective, there’s no bigger head to head battle in this game. Cumberland is by far the best player on the Bearcat roster and when he goes well, they usually win. He’s a creative player who is a natural scorer. Cumberland is comfortable shooting the three ball and he is also very effective off the dribble and scoring in the midrange game with short jumpers and floaters. Moss is Iowa’s best option from a physical perspective, but he has to be disciplined and also make Cumberland work on the other end of the floor.
STATS AND NOTES
Iowa is 4-1 in neutral site games this season, beating Oregon and UCONN in the 2K Classic at Madison Square Garden, UNI at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, and Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament. The only loss was to Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament.
Cincinnati is 5-0 in neutral site games this season, including winning the AAC Tournament this past weekend in Memphis.
This is Iowa’s 26th trip to the NCAA Tournament and fourth in six years under Fran McCaffery. Iowa is 2-3 under McCaffery in NCAA Tournament games. The Hawkeyes are 0-1 as a 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament and that loss was to Cincinnati in 2005. Iowa is 29-27 overall in NCAA Tournament games.
KenPom.com has Cincinnati rated 32nd in the country and Iowa at 36tht. The new NCAA selection committee tool, NET, which has replaced the RPI, has Iowa rated 43rd in the country and Cincinnati rated 25th. KenPom.com projects Cincinnati winning this game, 71-70.
Four Iowa players were recognized by the Big Ten. Tyler Cook was named 2nd team All Big Ten by the media and third team by the coaches. Jordan Bohannon was named 3rd team by the coaches and honorable mention by the media. Luka Garza earned honorable mention honors by the media. Joe Wieskamp was named to the Big Ten’s All Freshman team.
Bohannon is one of three players from a major conference with more than 300 assists and 150 three pointers thru their sophomore season. He is the only player nationally in the past 25 years to have 150 assists and more than 80 three pointers in his freshman and sophomore season. Bohannon scored his 1,000th career point earlier this season. He now has 1,191 points, which is 24th on Iowa’s all-time list. He is 34 assists from becoming the 6th Hawkeye to score 1,000 points and dish out 500 assists.
Bohannon is 2nd all-time in Iowa basketball history for number of made three point field goals with 260. He is just two three pointers from tying Jeff Horner for the top spot all-time in school history. Bohannon is also 7th in Iowa history in assists with 466.
Tyler Cook is now the 20th player in Iowa basketball history to have 1,100 points and 500 rebounds. Cook has now scored 1,299 points in his Iowa career, which is 20th on Iowa’s all-time scoring list.
Senior forward Nicholas Baer is the only player in program history to have 725 points, 500 rebounds, 100 blocks, make 100 three pointers, and 100 steals. Baer is tied for 8th all-time at Iowa with 120 career blocked shots. The 120 blocks ties him with Michael Payne.
Freshman wing Joe Wieskamp led the Hawkeyes in scoring in the first game of his college career and posted his first career double-double against Pitt in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. Wieskamp was named Big Ten freshman of the week twice this season.
Iowa will have three players redshirting this year. True freshman guard C.J. Fredrick and sophomore forward Jack Nunge has opted to redshirt in the 2018-19 season. After returning to action against Iowa State, junior forward Cordell Pemsl decided to have surgery to remove hardware from his knee and will now redshirt.
Iowa is 4-1 this season in games played on a Friday. Under Fran McCaffery, Iowa is 21-11 in games played on a Friday. This will be Iowa’s first game this season on CBS. The Hawkeyes are 1-2 under Fran McCaffery in games on CBS.
