Iowa Basketball: 3 takeaways from Hawkeyes road win over Seton Hall

Iowa Basketball passed their first test of the season as the Hawkeyes knocked off Seton Hall in the Gavitt Games. Here are three takeaways from the win.

The Prudential Center was rocking as former Seton Hall point guard Shaheen Holloway coached his first marquee game for his alma matter. The Pirates came out playing aggressively, pressing Iowa on every made basket. However, the adjustments from Fran McCaffrey and Iowa Basketball enter up making the difference as the Hawkeyes got the win in Newark by a score of 83 to 67.

1. Iowa can counter pressure with two guard looks

No one really expects Ahron Uhlis and Dasonte Bowen to score the basketball a ton this season. Both of them are young and not accustomed to playing against the level of competition that the Big Ten will bring. However, Fran McCaffrey’s adjustment after Seton Hall jumped out to a 10-2 lead was to play another point guard with Tony Perkins. He even played Bowen and Uhlis together at points. As soon as the game became less chaotic, Iowa took control. Uhlis and Bowen can provide part of the calmness and ball security that Iowa got for so long from Jordan Bohannon.

2. Kris Murray is every bit as good as people could’ve expected

Confident with his outside shot. Good basketball instincts. Can put the ball on the floor. These are things that people would say about Keegan Murray. People are going to start saying the same things about Kris. Kris Murray finished with 29 points and 11 rebounds proving once again that Fran McCaffrey is among the elite developers in college basketball. Kris was the main reason for a 12-point Iowa lead at the half. He was getting whatever look he wanted despite being guarded best one of the best defenders in the country in K.C. Ndefo. Kris showed that he could be a first-round pick in June and has All-American potential.

3. Iowa will not turn teams over even close to as much as they did

Seton Hall finished the game with 16 turnovers. While Iowa did force a couple of them with solid defense, many of them were dead ball turnovers that Seton Hall simply lost their dribble out of bounce or threw the ball away. Defense has obviously been a concern for Iowa in the last couple of years, but an increased role for Perkins as well as Patrick McCaffrey getting faster and stronger should help that. Nonetheless, you usually see trends with teams forcing turnovers on live ball turnovers.

Iowa will now get some time off as they don’t play until next Monday against Omaha at home. The Hawkeyes have reloaded and look to be a threat in the Big Ten once again.