Iowa to see old buddies like Olu Ashaolu, Devoe Joseph in NIT second-game game

IOWA CITY - Oregon hasn't played Iowa since 1962 and never has beaten the Hawkeyes. But two Ducks have had personal success facing Iowa in recent years.

Senior guard Devoe Joseph had a major role in a pair of Minnesota victories against Iowa in the 2010 season. As a sophomore Joseph scored 12 points and had five assists in an 86-74 Minnesota win. In the Gophers' second win against Iowa, an 88-53 beatdown in Minneapolis, Joseph scored 17 points and was 6-of-7 from the field. He made 3-of-4 3-point attempts.

"Later in the year when he was at Minnesota, he kind of started playing a bigger role and now he's playing a big role out there (in Oregon)," said Iowa senior Matt Gatens, whose Hawkeyes will face Oregon in the NIT's second round Sunday afternoon. "He's an aggressive scorer. He can handle it. He can shoot it. He does a lot of different things. He's at the top of their press a lot. He's an active guy that we need to concentrate on - which we have already - along with another guys. He's a good player."

Joseph, a 6-foot-4 Canadian native, averaged 11.2 points a game in Minnesota's first eight games in the 2010-11 season but quit the team after ongoing issues with Coach Tubby Smith. Joseph was suspended the first six games that season and left mid-year for Oregon.

Joseph sat out the Ducks' first six games this year, but provided an immediate impact when he joined the team's seventh game on Dec. 10. He's Oregon's leading scorer at 17 points a game, and has scored at least 10 points in 25 of the Ducks' 26 games. Against LSU in the NIT first-round game, Joseph led Oregon in both points (25) and assists (six).

"He's playing really well," Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. "He's great in transition, but he's also really good in half-court. He can get his own shot. He moves well without the ball. He's great at the point of the press with his length and his quickness and his anticipation."

Gatens likely will draw Joseph and will rely on the Iowa coaches' scouting report to look for Joseph's tendencies.

"We do so much scouting here, we'll soak it up enough and not really think about what he did a couple of years ago," Gatens said. "I remember playing against him, what he's like, what he does. But we'll get a good reminder of what he can do."

Joseph isn't the only Duck to have success against Iowa. Olu Ashaolu scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Louisiana Tech in a 77-58 Iowa win last year. Ashaolu completed his degree by the end of the 2011 spring semester and was eligible to play immediately for Oregon.

Ashaolu, a 6-foot-7 forward, started only 10 games this year, but he averages 8.5 points and 5.1 rebounds a game.

"He's got a real unique skill set to be that powerful," McCaffery said. "He can put it on the deck, he can go either way, he runs the floor. Tenacious offensive rebounder, and he's coming off the bench."

Oregon also has a player with Iowa roots. Center Chris Larson, a 6-foot-11 junior, hails from Hudson and played two years at Black Hawk College in Moline, Ill., before leaving for Oregon. Larson has yet to play this year.