Iowa’s Baer lives up to Big Ten stage

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Nicholas Baer is quickly becoming — if he isn't already — Iowa men's basketball fans' favorite Hawkeye.

As he's shown throughout his red-shirt freshman campaign, he's much more than a walk-on from Bettendorf. He's proved on several occasions he belongs, and Coach Fran McCaffery has already said he'll get a scholarship at some point.

But before this week, no one knew if what Baer's done would transfer to Big Ten play — especially on the road in a hostile environment.

Asked, and answered.

'What's great about that is he played the way he's been playing in the second half, but he didn't play that way in the first half (against Purdue),' McCaffery said. 'You're talking about a guy without a lot of experience, on the road in this kind of environment. He turned it over, we put him in and he fumbled it a couple times, but he did get on the glass and he did block a shot. He got a little bit involved. But in the second half he was what he usually is — an impact player.'

Baer finished the Hawkeyes' 70-63 comeback win on Saturday with seven points on 3 of 3 shooting, four rebounds and two blocks. But almost all of that came after two early turnovers in the first half that saw him look like a walk-on for the first time this season.

The biggest testament to what he's been able to bring to Iowa (11-3, 2-0 Big Ten) in these two upset wins to begin Big Ten play has been his short memory.

Baer has shrugged it all off — good and bad — for the most part.

His tunnel vision in both Big Ten games has served him well. Baer missed a wild layup in the first half against the Spartans, but as soon as he gathered himself up, he raced to the other end and blocked MSU guard Matt McQuaid's 3-point attempt into the second row.

'I missed the layup and ran down because McQuaid is a great 3-point shooter and we didn't want to give him any open looks. I just tried to make a play,' Baer said after that game. 'You can't control which shots go in, but you can control your effort, and that's what I was trying to do.'

He echoed that exact sentiment Saturday when asked about shaking off the early turnovers.

'You can't worry about turnovers. It's over and done with,' Baer said. 'You've got to get back and get a stop; try to make a play some other way. It's always good to have a short term memory.'

Not being affected by the stage nor the environment against both the No. 1 Spartans and No. 14 Boilermakers has put him on the floor in some of the biggest situations, and has helped him come through. He had 11 points (4 of 7 shooting), five rebounds and two blocks against Michigan State before Saturday's effort.

His 3-pointer from the corner with 6:30 to go Saturday gave Iowa a lead they didn't relinquish again. Then he had a turnaround jumper with 2:43 to go and a wide-open layup with 1:11 to go that went a long way to icing the victory.

Those plays and the confidence with which he made them have made his teammates — and everyone else, for that matter — take notice.

'He got it back together. It's hard. When you have a couple early turnovers, you get a little sideways,' said Jarrod Uthoff. 'It's hard to come back, especially on the road when you're a younger guy. To his credit, he hit a couple big shots down the stretch. That corner 3 and that turnaround were huge shots. Those were big-time plays.'

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