Ahmad Wagner’s 3-pointer a sign of Iowa’s scoring versatility

IOWA CITY — Ahmad Wagner told everyone on Thursday that he's been shooting it well from 3-point range in practice. To be more accurate, he said he's 46 percent from 3 in practice.

'Now it's 100 (percent),' Wagner said through a smile Sunday after he hit his first 3-pointer as a Hawkeye in Iowa's 92-58 domination of Alabama State at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The big smile on the junior forward's face was matched by his teammates, who cheered him on the floor and from the bench. Wagner was wide open when he hit the shot, sure, but it was in rhythm and certainly was no gimme.

Isaiah Moss, who finished with 12 points on 4 of 7 shooting, laughed when asked if Wagner was going to come for his, Jordan Bohannon and Brady Ellingson's sharpshooter status.

'You saw the 3,' Moss said. 'It's definitely possible.'

Moss and Wagner's joking were indicative of a second straight dominating day and the jovial attitude of the team in general, but even if they were smiling and laughing about something that had been out of the norm, Wagner was dead serious on Thursday and Sunday about his shooting.

So was head coach Fran McCaffery. No, Wagner isn't going to be pulling up on a fast break from 3 or dribbling off screens and firing. But it's something he's worked on a lot, and as McCaffery said after the game, 'the one he made today are kind of the ones he's been shooting. If he's in rhythm and he's wide open, he'll shoot it and he's been making some.'

'I got accustomed to shooting more in practice this year and building that confidence,' Wagner said. 'When my time came in the game, I was ready to take it. I'm going to take shots when I'm open. I'm not going to play out of character.

'I'm going to have confidence in myself that I can make it. It's a lot of hours in the gym put to use in practice. It's easy to come in and work by yourself and shoot, but you've got to implement it in live ball.'

Wagner's 3 was just one moment early in another runaway win against a team it's supposed to beat by a lot, but it points to something larger about the Hawkeyes this year and their variety of scorers.

Iowa (2-0) had five players in double digits scoring, with Cordell Pemsl leading at 15 points and five rebounds. Along with Moss' 12, Luka Garza had his first college double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds, Maishe Dailey had 11 points and three assists and Tyler Cook had 10 points and six rebounds.

That makes the Hawkeyes 2 for 2 on different players leading the team in scoring.

It is well-documented Iowa has a variety of weapons, and whatever concern there is about when and how often each of those weapons sees the floor doesn't just vanish. But that variety can obviously be a tremendous asset if the scorers don't get hung up on when and how often.

There's a very real chance 2 for 2 on different leading scorers could extend to 3 for 3 on Thursday against Grambling State, and so on when the Hawkeyes go to the Cayman Islands. Wagner, Moss and Garza all agreed on that point, and each said they don't really care who it is who leads the team.

McCaffery doesn't care either.

Maybe it won't come via Wagner making 3s every night, and maybe no one will lead the Big Ten again this year, but it's nice, they said, to be able to let that fall into place each night.

'Sometimes it'll be our inside guys, sometimes it'll be our 3-point shooters,' McCaffery said. 'Like Bohannon only had five (points) tonight, but I thought he really was good — early especially — with six assists and one turnover.

'Our interior passing was really good post to post in particular because all of those guys enjoy that part of the game, they're good at it, they want to do it, and as a result guys are cutting, guys are open; they're flashing. … Our guys do a good job recognizing that.'

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