Fran McCaffery regrets skipping handshake line in ESPN interview

IOWA CITY — Iowa won a basketball game Tuesday night, but that's not what most anyone was talking about afterward.

The Hawkeyes beat North Dakota, 84-73, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in a game that got chippy by the end — a few hard fouls and one dead ball technical included.

Coach Fran McCaffery left the court without shaking hands with Fighting Hawks head coach — and former Iowa assistant — Brian Jones. His players left the court without doing so as well. Everyone involved was unhappy with things that happened on and off the court.

It dominated TV, print and social media in the hours after the game Tuesday night and well into Wednesday. After the game, McCaffery said, 'Whenever there is a contentious situation, I'm always worried about (what might happen in the handshake line),' in explaining his decision.

On Wednesday morning, in an interview with ESPN, McCaffery expressed regret for what happened.

'I feel bad about it. I have a lot of respect for Brian Jones,' McCaffery said to ESPN. 'I wish it didn't happen. I wish I shook hands.'

In that interview, McCaffery said he was 'being protective of my players,' reiterated — as he said Tuesday night — he has respect for Jones, and that 'I feel terrible about what happened."

The seventh-year Iowa head coach, in his postgame media availability, said he had done that previously.

'I have a lot of respect for Brian and certainly Jeff Horner. I don't think they teach that kind of stuff, but I was not having it. That's not the way to play,' McCaffery said. 'The last time I did this, that's exactly what it was. I took my whole team in the locker room. I didn't do that this time. I was disappointed in what happened. Like I said, I'm sure that Brian does not teach that. The kid — when it happens three times, that's disappointing.'

North Dakota, down 11, tried to beat the buzzer. December 21, 2016

North Dakota, down 11, tried to beat the buzzer. https://t.co/PLkItzgxq0

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork)

Fran McCaffery wasn't a fan, so he had Iowa walk off the court.

As for the players' perspectives, the common thread from those asked was confusion with what exactly was going on.

Forward Cordell Pemsl echoed his coach in saying, 'we weren't happy with the way the game played out.' Senior Peter Jok said he didn't see what happened and followed McCaffery and other Iowa assistants off the court and back to the locker room.

Jordan Bohannon, who was called for the dead ball technical that served as one of the on-court moments that sparked the walk off, said he reached out to the North Dakota player involved. He also used the word 'weird' multiple times to describe the ending — another sentiment shared by many in the wake of the game.

'We were kind of tangled up in there and my arm kind of got thrown out there. It was unintentional. I went up and apologized to him after. It was just that kind of chippy game all around,' Bohannon said. 'We all really didn't know what to do with a weird ending like that. We just followed (McCaffery).

'It was just a weird ending.'

COOK'S CHANCES 'SLIM' FOR THURSDAY

Freshman forward Tyler Cook took a step closer to returning to the court this week, but how much closer still is to be determined.

Cook took part in warmups for the North Dakota game on Tuesday — shooting and dunking in the process. Iowa's second-leading scorer was available for the game, but did not play. Coach Fran McCaffery said in a teleconference Monday that Cook's return was being taken with precaution in effort to prevent further injury.

When asked Tuesday night Cook's chances for playing Thursday against Delaware State, McCaffery responded with a single word: 'Slim.'

If that's the case, it is most likely Cook will make his return to the Iowa lineup when the Hawkeyes make the trip to Purdue on Dec. 28.

Cook has missed the last six games after surgery to his right index finger, which was injured during practice on Thanksgiving Day while Iowa was at the Emerald Coast Classic in Destin, Fla.

DELAWARE STATE THE FINAL NON-CON TILT

Iowa welcomes Delaware State into Carver-Hawkeye Arena for the final non-conference game of the 2016-17 season and the first meeting between the two programs.

The Hornets enter Thursday's game at 3-10, and have four of their five starters averaging double figures in points. The Hawkeyes seek their fifth straight win headed into Big Ten play, which begins Dec. 28 at Purdue.

Iowa and Delaware State tip off at 8:06 p.m. and the game can be seen on BTN.

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