Iowa Basketball: 3 keys to Round of 32 upset over Tennessee

Iowa Basketball: 3 keys to upset over Tennessee in Round of 32

IOWA CITY, IOWA- FEBRUARY 01: Guard Jordan Bohannon #3 of the Iowa Hawkeyes drives down the court in the second half against forward Isaiah Livers #4 of the Michigan Wolverines, on February 1, 2019 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images) /

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COLUMBUS, OHIO – MARCH 22: Jordan Bohannon #3 of the Iowa Hawkeyes reacts during the second half against the Cincinnati Bearcats in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

3. Get shooters open

By no means did Iowa play a perfect game to defeat Cincinnati.

They didn’t crash the offensive boards. They didn’t force very many turnovers. They couldn’t grab more than a single block, despite it being a potential key to victory.

The big stat to circle in their victory, however, was their prowess from 3-point range.

The Hawkeyes attempted 22 3-point shots on the afternoon and drilled 11 of them. Freshman Joe Wieskamp led the charge, draining four of his six 3-point attempts en route to 19 points in his postseason debut.

Iowa’s performance from 3-point range was clearly an outlier for the team. They shot 36.1 percent on 3-pointers for the season. Five times before Friday did they shoot at least 50 percent from 3-point range this season, winning four of those contests. Just twice did they hit more than 11 of those shots with that level of proficiency.

All to say, Iowa can’t count on lighting up the court like that again.

Tennessee can be a bit vulnerable in that facet of the game, though. Colgate hit over half of their 3s, hitting 15 to stay in the game until the bitter end. Jordan Burns in particular burned the Vols over and over again, hitting eight 3-pointers.

If the Hawkeyes can exploit some openings from beyond the perimeter, they can put Tennessee on the run.

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