Issue link: http://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/125275
'On the Rise' T By Matt Weitzel he slogan on the poster before the 2012-13 University of Iowa men's basketball season was "On the Rise." That is exactly what the Hawkeyes provided their fans — rising up to post 25 wins, equaling their second-highest total in school history, and ultimately earning runner-up honors in the National Invitation Tournament. The second-place finish is school's highest in an NIT. • Attendance in Carver-Hawkeye Arena has increased 30 percent since 2010. In his third season as Iowa's head coach, Fran McCaffery guided the Hawkeyes to seven-win improvements in each of the last two seasons, an accomplishment that no other team in the country can claim. • The Hawkeyes won six of their last eight regularseason games for the first time since 1996. This year's squad was led by dynamic senior Eric May. May led a youthful and talented group to its best Big Ten finish in six seasons. With May as the only departing scholarship senior, the Hawkeyes will return 92 percent of the team's scoring, 90 percent of rebounds, and 89 percent of minutes played next season. Iowa adds freshman Peter Jok and redshirts Jarrod Uthoff and Kyle Myer. The 2012-13 season was filled with memories and accomplishments. Here are a few examples: • Iowa won 25 games, equaling the second-most in school history (2006), and marking Iowa's first 20win season since 2005-06 (25-9). • The Hawkeyes won a school-record 18 home games. • Iowa won 19 consecutive home games against unranked opponents, dating back to 2012. This is the third-longest active streak in the Big Ten. • The Hawkeyes won all 11 home games against nonconference opponents. • Iowa received votes in the final USA Today Coaches poll. • The Hawkeyes sold out six games, including two in the NIT. Iowa's two sellouts in the NIT marked the highest-attended games in an NIT since 2009. • Iowa tied Ohio State for the most wins by a Big Ten team (11) since Feb. 6. • Iowa blocked a school-record 183 shots, including a school-record 13 in a win against Illinois on March 5. • The Hawkeyes posted 10 top-100 RPI wins, including four in the top-50. • Iowa snapped Virginia's 19-game home win streak, a stretch that ranked fourth in the country at the time. • The Hawkeyes placed sixth in the Big Ten, the toughest league in the country, giving Mccaffery his 13th upper division finish in 17 seasons as head coach. • Junior Roy Devyn Marble and sophomore Aaron White earned third-team All-Big Ten and Cancun Challenge all-tournament team honors. Marble also earned all-tournament accolades in the NIT. • Freshman Adam Woodbury and White started 38 games, sharing the school-record for starts in a season. • The 25 victories gives McCaffery his seventh season with 20-or-more wins, with five coming in the last seven years. • Iowa finished third in the nation in free throw attempts (896). Only Indiana (904) and Lousiville (920) had more. 9