Iowa vs Indiana Recap: 91-77 W

 I only caught parts of this game since I was busy watching the Packers make the Super Bowl. Nonetheless, it's Iowa's first Big 10 win of the season and the Packers are going to the Super Bowl! Great Day!

Bullet Points!

• Not only was Indiana missing Maurice Creek, but they were missing their second leading scorer in Verdell Jones III. That helps to somewhat explain why they shot as terrible as they did today. Indiana was shooting a 54% effective FG% in Big 10 play, but they shot a 42.86% today. That is easily the best that Iowa has held a Big 10 opponent to so far this year. Indiana was clearly off today.
• Speaking of shooting, my word, what the hell got into Iowa today? Their 61.54% effective FG% was the second best this season, next to the SIU Edwardsville game, and only the third time they've eclipsed the 54% mark this year.
• I said in the preview that Indiana had a fouling problem, and if I was Iowa I would just dump the ball down low to Basabe. I figured that if he didn't score, he would at least get to the free throw line. Well, he scored 20 points on 7-10 shooting (70% effective FG%), and he also made it to the free throw line 8 times, sinking 6. Not to mention that he was, once again, Iowa's best rebounder. He came away with 24.8% of all defensive and 9.8% of all offensive rebounds.
• Gatens did not have a great shooting game today, going 3-8 from the field, but he still had 19 points. That was because he went 11-12 from the free throw line. I'm not used to seeing that many free throw attempts next to Gatens' name in the box score. It's definitely good that the teams best free throw shooter was able to get to the line that much. 
• Devyn Marble, welcome to the Big 10! Marble had 18 points on 8-13 shooting (65.3% effective FG%). However, he continued to struggle from the free throw line, making only 1-4. Flipping over to this game, I saw Marble getting into the lane almost at will. Indiana had a lot of trouble stopping him. I don't expect Marble to do this again in the Big 10 for the rest of the year, but it's good to see flashes of the future down the road.
• During a commercial break from the Packers and Bears game, I switched over to see Eric May catch an outlet pass from Bryce Cartwright and throw down a thunderous dunk. He went on to follow that up on the next possession, by taking the ball the full length of the court, weaving in and out of Indiana guys, and finishing at the rim again. On the day he had 11 points on 4-5 shooting (no three point attempts) and 3-4 from the line. I have yet to watch the game on DVR, but the stats seem to indicate that May was more aggressive with the ball today, and that's a welcome sight.
• Brommer followed up his breakout game at Ohio State by playing 12 minutes today. He did go 2-2 from the field for 5 points and grabbed 2 offensive rebounds and 1 defensive rebound. However, he had 4 fouls in those 12 minutes. It's hard for McCaffery to give him playing time when he can't keep himself on the court. 
• What happened to Jordan Hulls today? The nation's leader in effective FG%, shot 1-8, including 1-5 from downtown. He finished with 7 points. That makes it three straight games where Hoffarber, Diebler, and now Hulls have struggled to find their shot. At what point should the credit be given to the Hawkeyes defense?
• Christian Watford was trying to make up for the loss of Verdell Jones III and the slumping Jordan Hulls, as he put up 30 points today. He put up 20 shots, making 10 of them (3 behind the arc). He's a pretty good player.
• I figured that Iowa would force more turnovers than they did today, but they still forced Indiana to turn the ball over on 19.2% of their possessions. Iowa lost the turnover battle, though, giving it up on 24.4% of their possessions. This ended up being a moot point, considering the disparity in shooting between the two teams.
• Of Iowa's 19 turnovers, 11 were from Cartwright and Basabe combined (6 and 5). In the preview I expressed my wishes for Cartwright and Basabe to cut down their turnovers. Obviously, I did not get my wish.
• Iowa and Indiana both ended 20.5% of their possessions with assisted baskets. Iowa finished with a 0.84 to 1 assist to turnover ratio. Indiana finished with a 1.07 to 1 assist to turnover ratio.
• Indiana's Derek Elston did his best to single-handedly win the rebounding battle for the Hoosiers. He grabbed 7 offensive (27.6%) and 5 defensive (31.3%) rebounds in 22 minutes. 
• Indiana won the rebounding battle 51.3% to 48.7%. They outrebounded Iowa on the offensive glass 37% to 34.5% and 65.5% to 63% on the defensive glass. 
• Needless to say, rebounding, once Iowa's strength, is not so much in Big 10 play. In seven Big 10 games, Iowa has grabbed only 47.16% of all rebounds compared to 54.39% in non-conference play. Offensively, they have dropped from 36.43% to 33.47%, and on defense, they have fallen to 61.71% from 72.64%. Let's hope this changes.
• Overall, Iowa averaged 1.17 points per possession against Indiana. The Hoosiers only managed 0.99 points per possession.