Defense has led to Hawkeyes’ revival

IOWA CITY - There's a little more swagger to the Iowa men's basketball team right now. Not only is the confidence noticeable, it's pervasive.

The Hawkeyes (21-10, 12-6 Big Ten) have won their final six games this season and eight of their last 10. They did so in dominant fashion. Their average margin-of-victory in those eight wins was 17.4 points. Only twice over that span did Iowa win games by single digits.

For the first time since 1970, Iowa won at Michigan, Ohio State and Indiana. The Hawkeyes finished 6-3 on the road in Big Ten play, their best since 1986-97. It's easy to see why this team believes - not thinks - it has a chance to pull out a Big Ten Tournament championship this weekend.

'We're more than capable of that,” Iowa guard Anthony Clemmons said. 'We've haven't done it (won four games) in four days, but we've won at the end of the season. We're just trying to keep everything rolling, and the momentum is at our best peak right now.”

A primary reason for Iowa's late-season surge is its defense. In Big Ten games, the Hawkeyes ranked second in defensive field-goal percentage (41.0) and third in scoring (63.8). When the team was 6-6 after an overtime loss at Northwestern, Iowa ranked sixth in field-goal percentage (43.6) and 10th in scoring (66.9).

Considering Iowa's defensive performance last season, the numbers are even more striking. Last season through 12 Big Ten games, Iowa stood at 8-4 ranked third in field-goal percentage defense (41.3) and ninth in scoring defense (69.1). The Hawkeyes then lost five of their final six Big Ten games and finished last in scoring defense (73.6) and 11th in defensive field-goal percentage (44.8).

Of Iowa's final six regular-season games last year, every team shot better than 46 percent and all but one scored at least 76 points. Their opponents averaged 82.5 points and 52.4 percent shooting. Only two teams were NCAA tournament-bound.

This year, only one of Iowa's final six opponents has scored more than 63 points, and that was in overtime. Iowa's final six foes averaged 57.5 points and 36.1 percent shooting. Two teams - Indiana and Illinois - are competitive for an NCAA berth. A primary reason is Iowa's much-improved perimeter defense.

'If you look at the numbers - and they're a lot better - I think changing to bluffing on the perimeter, bluffing when your guy gives it up to jump toward the ball so there's not a huge gap (for the defender),” Iowa guard Josh Oglesby said. 'That's obviously the key because we were getting beat on the dribble and that causes help and recover, and they were getting wide-open 3s and beating our man and getting to the hole. So I think that was a step for us and just taking pride in our defense and doing what it takes to be able to defend for 40 minutes.”

Iowa mixes its defenses, sometimes on the same possession.

'We are committed to kind of doing what we do, and you want to be good at all of it,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. 'We press; we've had success with the press; we've had success with the zone; we've had success with the man to man. When it's all said and done, you have got to rebound, because if you're giving up second shots, doesn't matter how good your first line of defense is because they are going to make a good percentage of those second shots.”

The defense has led to offensive opportunities as well. Over its last six games, Iowa has outscored its opponents 96-60 in points off turnovers.

'We've got to do what we do and play to our strengths and limit our weaknesses,” Iowa center Adam Woodbury said. 'We're definitely capable of (winning the tournament). We've got some great teams in our league, but I don't think anyone is unbeatable and nobody went undefeated in the league so everybody has their weaknesses as well. We've just got to exploit them as best as we can.”

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