Iowa hoops wins uneven exhibition opener

IOWA CITY — Iowa won its exhibition opener against Regis University, 95-73. Peter Jok had 28 points in 28 minutes, and freshman Tyler Cook finished with 15 points and six rebounds in his debut as a Hawkeye. That was the good.

The Hawkeyes also didn't score for a 3:36 stretch, and went 7:25 without a field goal while the Rangers went on a 13-0 run in the second half. Iowa also finished with 16 assists and 15 turnovers, a ratio Coach Fran McCaffery has dissected all through the preseason. That was the bad.

Yes, it was an exhibition. But McCaffery's assessment of the consistency of effort and execution — especially on defense — certainly wasn't glowing.

How the Hawkeyes develop in those terms, he said, will determine the difference between Iowa being an OK team and one that will be able to achieve what they want to achieve.

'There was a lot of good, but a lot that needs some work,' McCaffery said. 'I thought our cohesiveness defensively was not what it needs to be. We just have to do better. I think we got a little complacent there, so I wasn't happy about that at all.

'You can't play that way. You can't play this game in spurts and be a really good team. You can be OK, but you can't be really good.'

McCaffery let his guys know his thoughts on that during Regis' run to pull the game within nine points, and at the under-12 timeout of the second half, laid into his team to get his message across.

That's obviously nothing new for McCaffery, but it was the first instance in which many of the guys on that bench had experienced it. McCaffery's message — and that of Jok, as well, who added his own bit of fiery inspiration to his teammates — was well-received by the Hawkeyes, who turned a nine-point lead back into 20 over the next four or so minutes.

McCaffery said 'they can't take it personally, and they have to recognize that what I'm saying is for their benefit,' and added that he was happy to see Jok interject and add his own push on the young group Iowa has this season.

'What you're looking for in situations like that is corrections,' McCaffery said. 'To their credit, that's what they did.'

Jok's night was one that surprised no one, either, and had his teammates grinning when asked about it. He had 16 straight for Iowa, from 4:04 to go in the first half through the first 1:31 of the second, and hit a pair of 28-foot 3-pointers — one each from both edges of the midcourt Tigerhawk logo.

Starting point guard Christian Williams said when Jok gets going like that, 'it's a no-brainer. Just find Pete wherever he's at. Find Pete and he'll get it in the hole.'

As for Cook, he thought he started the game a little fast, with 'a little too much energy,' but 'eased into it' and found his rhythm. He had a handful of post moves into dunks that showed a glimpse of what's to come — feeding McCaffery's desire for the other Hawkeyes to find the freshmen more — and ran the floor well, leading multiple fast breaks.

The starting five of Williams, Jok, Cook, Nicholas Baer (nine points, seven rebounds) and Dom Uhl (six points, four rebounds) was one McCaffery liked. Williams and Jordan Bohannon were nearly identical in minutes at point guard, which both said took a little adjustment to find their comfort level.

The positives outweighed the negatives, but every player asked — Jok, Cook, Baer, Williams and Bohannon — all echoed their coach in saying defense has to be much more consistent by the time the regular season kicks off Nov. 11 against Kennesaw State. That, they said, is what will determine the course of this season.

'As we start playing better teams, we're going to have to go down and play defense,' Jok said. 'Because we can score. We've got players who can score offensively, but how we're going to win games this year is by our defense.'

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com