Things didn’t go Iowa’s way in the second half of a Cy-Hawk loss to Iowa State on Thursday.
They had plenty of chances to win the game, but couldn’t quite execute enough down the stretch to pull the upset. Luckily for the Hawkeyes, they didn’t have to wait long to get back on track. A Sunday afternoon matchup with Western Michigan provided the perfect opportunity for Iowa to get in the win column. And they did exactly that.
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The result of this game was never in doubt, as Iowa handled business with a dominant 91-51 win over the Broncos. Here are the biggest takeaways from the win on Sunday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Defense was stifling
Iowa has seen so much improvement on the defensive side of the ball under Ben McCollum this season. And that was more than evident on Sunday. Anytime you hold an opponent to 51 points in a game, you did something right. The Hawkeyes held Western Michigan to a paltry 30% shooting percentage from the field and an equally as bad 6-24 from behind the arc.
They didn’t do it with a whole bunch of turnovers in this game. Iowa did a great job of contesting shots without fouling and closing out quickly. The Hawkeyes did give up 16 offensive rebounds, which is more than you’d like to give up in a game. Rebounding aside, this was a dominant defensive game for McCollum’s bunch, who continue to display so much growth on that side of the ball.
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Depth shines
The Hawkeyes didn’t have a player score more than 13 points in this game, despite scoring BLANK points as a team. That speaks to the performance of the entire roster on Sunday. All 11 Hawkeyes who took the court against the Broncos scored, including five different players scoring in double figures. Bennett Stirtz and Alvaro Folguerias led the way with 13 points each, but it was the rest of the roster who got the chance to shine.
Freshman Tate Sage was impressive again, scoring 11 points in 20 minutes. He’s playing his way into a lot more minutes as conference play looms. Senior transfer Brendan Hausen made the most of his minutes, draining four triples and scoring 13 points off the bench. His shooting could be a game-changer for the Hawks in Big Ten play. It seems like all the pieces are coming together at just the right time for this team. This was a great confidence booster for the Hawks.
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Cam Manyawu’s underrated contributions
Cam Manyawu had another strong game on Sunday. The junior transfer from Drake isn’t the flashiest player, but he does so many of the small things right for this team. In just 13 minutes on Sunday, Manyawu scored 11 points on 5-5 shooting from the field, while adding three rebounds, two assists, and a block. While the counting stats are great, it’s the things that don’t show up in the box score that are the most impressive for Manyawu.
He’s a smart player on the defensive side of the ball, always in the right spots, and knows where his rotations are. On the offensive side, he’s a great cutter, which leads to lots of easier looks for the Hawkeyes. He won’t wow you with a huge point total, but Manyawu is a key glue guy for this year’s team, and he’s playing some great basketball right now. Don’t sleep on Manyawu’s contributions to this team.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa basketball takeaways from commanding win over Western Michigan
