Ohio State at Iowa: 5 biggest storylines for top-10 matchup

IOWA CITY, IOWA- FEBRUARY 8: Forward Luka Garza #55 and guard Nicolas Hobbs #24 of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrate after their match-up against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on February 8, 2020 in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images) /

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Backcourt minutes distribution

A lot was revealed by Coach McCaffery’s starting lineup for Iowa’s 80-75 loss to Illinois. With sophomore CJ Frederick sitting out with a lower-leg injury, Coach McCaffery inserted freshman forward Kris Murray into the starting lineup. Murray’s 32 minutes versus the Fighting Illini were nine more minutes than he had played over the entire season up to that point.

Absent from the starting line-up 6’0 guard Joe Toussaint who started twenty games for the Hawkeyes last season as a freshman. Over his eighteen minutes per game last season, Toussaint led the Hawkeyes in steals and was third in assists. This season Toussaint is averaging 13 minutes per game while being tied for third in assists with Frederick who gets twice as much playing time.

Toussaint’s per 40 minutes stats are the best of the backcourt players and is an indication that Coach McCaffery needs to get him more playing time. At 6’0 he is the quickest Hawkeyes’ guard while handling the ball and he brings a different dimension to the backcourt as he can take his defender off the dribble as opposed to having to wait for the swing/pump fake/ drive/kick out that Iowa has been utilizing almost every possession this season.

There is no doubt that Toussaint in the backcourt with 6’1 Jordan Bohannon would be undersized, but any combination of Luka Garza, Jack Nunge, Joe Weiskamp in the back of the Iowa 2-3 zone could lessen that problem area.

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