Iowa's defensive woes continue in loss to Memphis

The Iowa men's basketball team has had better road trips.

The Hawkeyes took a pair of losses at the Emerald Coast Classic in Destin, Fla., one in demoralizing fashion and the other frustrating. Iowa fell to Memphis on Saturday in the third-place game, 100-92, in a contest that saw 42 points from guard Peter Jok, but also 54 points in the paint from the Tigers.

It was another example of defense being the glaring weakness for an Iowa team that goes into Tuesday's Big Ten-ACC Challenge game against Notre Dame at 3-3.

'Our defense is still not where it needs to be, obviously,' Coach Fran McCaffery said to the Hawkeye Radio Network after the game. 'We gave up 100 points and 54 points in the paint. Those numbers are unacceptable.

'We have to do a better job of protecting the basket, whether it be in transition, whether we're in zone; whether we're in man-to-man.'

Memphis (5-1) collecting 54 points in the paint is the second time in Iowa's six games the Hawkeyes have allowed an opponent to get 50 or more from that distance (Seton Hall).

Tigers' forward Dedric Lawson finished the game with 35 points and 11 rebounds — six of which were offensive rebounds — on 15 of 22 shooting. Like the Seton Hall game, the Hawkeyes struggled protecting the rim in every way they were attacked. Dedric Lawson's brother, K.J., led the way for the Memphis guards with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Iowa also had 18 turnovers Saturday, which gets the Hawkeyes to 16.8 turnovers per game, with a low of 15 against Savannah State in their second game. Those turnovers led to 21 points for Memphis.

'We've got to do a better job taking care of the ball,' McCaffery said. 'We're turning the ball over way too much — especially when we're making a run. We have an ill-advised turnover at the wrong time trying to force the ball somewhere. We just have to move the ball somewhere and we'll get good shot opportunities.'

Other than Tyler Cook's 17 points and seven rebounds, Jok's career-high 42 points was the primary source of hope for the Hawkeyes, who mounted a few comebacks — and even led multiple times in the second half.

Jok is the first Hawkeye to break the 40-point barrier since Bruce King also had 42 against Pittsburgh in 1976. The senior also broke the 1,000-point barrier Saturday. McCaffery said Jok 'is just playing at another level right now.'

His day almost took a turn for the worst for Iowa, when he went out briefly in the second half with an apparent shoulder injury. Jok told the Hawkeye Radio Network after the game he'd be good to go for Tuesday's game at Notre Dame, and McCaffery added that Jok has been dealing with a shoulder issue since 'the summer time. He's getting treatment for it every day. It's a little bit of an impingement. It's painful, but we'll work through it.'

Jok was heaped with understandable praise for his performance, but politely dismissed it in lieu of the team's struggles defensively.

'We didn't do (well) on defense, and that's the main reason we lost,' Jok said on the radio broadcast. 'They had a lot of offensive rebounds and second chances. You can't win games at this level giving up that many points in the paint.'

Iowa-Memphis box by Jeremiah Davis on Scribd

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