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niversity of Iowa freshmen Luka Garza
and Jack Nunge have made strong first
impressions in the early stages of the
men's basketball season.
at's hardly a surprise to head coach Fran
McCaffery.
"You don't always know what a guy is going to
do under pressure," McCaffery said of his 6-foot
11-inch bookends. "But I watched those guys
(in high school and AAU games) under a lot of
difficult situations."
And the coach saw nothing that
made him question their college
potential.
"ey are both so smart and
skilled that they know what to do,"
McCaffery said.
rough six games, Garza leads the
Hawkeyes in both rebounding (8.2
rebounds per game) and blocked
shots (2.0). He also has ranks fourth in scoring,
averaging 9.7 points per contest.
Nunge is averaging 9.3 points and 3.8 rebounds
off the bench, and has used his length to make a
team-best nine steals.
"Before the first game there were nerves," Nunge
said. "Some butterflies with the season starting.
But once I got on the court, it went away. You
realize you're just playing basketball."
Freshmen were one of the leading storylines a
year ago. Rookies Tyler Cook, Jordan Bohannon,
and Cordell Pemsl were three of the Hawkeyes›
top four scorers. Add Isaiah Moss and the quartet
accounted for 44.7 percent of the offense.
So freshmen making a big impact is not without
precedent during McCaffery's eight-season
coaching watch. But when Garza scored 16 points
and Nunge 10 in a 95-62 victory over Chicago
State, it marked the first time McCaffery had ever
had two freshmen reach double figures in their
Hawkeye debuts.
Garza then recorded the first double-double of
his college career in Iowa's 92-58 victory against
Alabama State, finishing with 11 points and 13
rebounds.
"He has that uncanny ability to know exactly
where the ball is coming off,"
McCaffery said. "He has great
instincts, long arms, and is
physical, tough, and relentless. All
the qualities you want from an
offensive rebounder."
Garza said coaches and family
members stressed to him at
a young age how important
offensive rebounding was.
"One of the things I pride myself
in is offensive rebounding," Garza said. "It's all
about effort."
Garza, Nunge, and Aaron White are three of seven
freshmen in the McCaffery era to reach double
figures in their first game at Iowa. Pemsl did it last
season, Peter Jok in 2013-14, Adam Woodbury in
2012-13, and Zach McCabe in 2010-11.
e last time Iowa had two freshmen score in
double figures in their first games came in 2009-
10. Eric May scored 13 points and Cully Payne 12
against Texas-San Antonio.
And now, six games in, they've played well, but
they have not surpassed McCaffery's expectations
for them.
"I knew they were both really good," McCaffery
said.
DECEMBER SCHEDULE
Dec. 2 Penn State
Dec. 4 at Indiana
Dec. 7 at Iowa State
Dec. 10 Southern
Dec. 16 vs. Drake
Dec. 19 Southern Utah
Dec. 22 vs. Colorado
Dec. 29 Northern Illinois
