HAWK TALK

April 2014

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21 Men's Hoops Takes Positive Steps By MATT WEITZEL T he University of Iowa men's basketball pro- gram continued to take positive steps in 2013- 14. The team reached the 20-win plateau for a second consecutive season, earned a national ranking for 16 consecutive weeks (climbing as high as 10th in both the Associated Press and Coaches polls on Jan. 10), and received an at-large berth to its 23rd NCAA Tournament — its first appearance since 2006. Iowa's journey began eight months ago when the team began practice in August prior to its trip to England and France. The team went 5-1 against overseas competition, getting a jump on its preparation for the upcoming season. Iowa went 11-2 in the nonconfer- ence portion of its schedule, including a runner-up finish at the Battle 4 Atlantis, and then finished in the upper division of the Big Ten Conference for a second straight season. Excitement for Iowa basketball continued to rise as fans sold out 11 home games in Carver-Hawkeye Arena and an average of 15,276 fans attended Iowa's 33 total games this season, which ranks second-best in program history. More than half of Iowa's games were televised nationally in primetime on ESPN, CBS, NBC Sports Network or BTN. Iowa's continued progression can be attributed to its four seniors: Melsahn Basabe, Roy Devyn Marble, Zach McCabe and Darius Stokes. Their contributions played a pivotal role in bringing the program back to national prominence. A number of team and individual accolades were ac- complished in 2013-14: • Iowa's senior class amassed 53 home wins during its four-year career. The 53 wins ties for fourth in program history. Iowa's 1988, 2008, and 2009 seniors won 54 home games. • Iowa posted four Big Ten road victories. The last time Iowa had four conference road wins was 10 years ago during the 2003-04 season. • Marble (first) and junior Aaron White (third) were all-conference honorees. Marble also earned all- district recognition by the NABC and USBWA. • Marble is one of two Big Ten players (Gary Grant of Michigan) since 1985-86 to amass more than 1,650 points, 375 assists, 450 rebounds, and 175 steals. • Marble finished his career in the top 10 in nine dif- ferent career categories, including fifth in scoring. • White was the only player in the nation to shoot better than 55 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free throw line. White, who has accumulated 1,301 points, became the fourth Hawkeye to accumulate more than 1,300 points as a junior. • White became the fifth player since 1960 to lead the Hawkeyes in rebounding three consecutive seasons. • Iowa had one of the deepest benches in the coun- try, averaging 30.6 points, 18.8 rebounds and 2.7 blocks. The Hawkeye reserves' rebounding aver- age was tops in the country, while its scoring and blocks ranked third. • Junior Gabriel Olaseni was one of four players in the country (minimum 160 rebounds) with more offensive rebounds (82) than defensive (81). • Freshman Peter Jok shot at a 34.8 percent clip from 3-point range, which is eighth-best for an Iowa freshman. • Basabe finished his career fourth in career blocked shots (148). • Iowa scored 2,689 points — fifth-most in pro- gram history. • UI head coach Fran McCaffery became one of 12 coaches to guide four different teams to the NCAA Tournament.

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