Iowa seeks first road win, faces Rutgers frosh phenoms Ace Bailey, Dylan Harper

The only Big Ten player selected as high as fourth in the last six NBA drafts was Iowa’s Keegan Murray, at No. 4 in 2022.

No Big Ten player has been drafted as high as third since Ohio State’s D’Angelo Russell was No. 2 in 2015.

Rutgers, Iowa’s opponent Wednesday, has two players projected to go in the top three in June’s draft.

Catch Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper on Wednesday, Hawkeye fans, because your team won’t play them again unless they get paired in March’s Big Ten tournament. Iowa (13-10 overall, 4-8 Big Ten) plays the Scarlet Knights (12-12, 5-8) Wednesday in New Jersey at 5:30 p.m. (Iowa time).

Bailey is a 6-foot-10 wing, Harper a 6-6 lead guard. The consensus among NBA mock drafts is Bailey and Harper will go second and third in this year’s draft after Duke freshman forward Cooper Flagg.

Of the nation’s freshmen, Bailey is second in scoring at 19.4 points per game, Harper third at 19.1.

“They have continued to grow, despite being very good from the beginning,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said Tuesday. “They have great feel for the game right away.

“Yeah, they're super-talented, but they really understand how to play. They understand how to get open, they know how to they know how to make plays for other people. They know how to impact the game at the right time.”

Bailey scored 39 points at Indiana. Harper had Rutgers’ first triple-double in 41 years. Both have two games of 35-plus points.

About Harper, none other than LeBron James called him “a special kid, a special talent. He’s going to be really good in this league.”

For Iowa to break a three-game losing streak, it must play considerably better than it has in its last four Big Ten road games, all losses. The Hawkeyes were outscored by an average of 20.5 points in those four.

Iowa senior guard Drew Thelwell’s status for the game is unknown. He sprained an ankle in last Saturday’s 74-63 home loss to Wisconsin and didn’t practice Monday. Thelwell averaged 29.8 minutes and 13.5 points over his last four games.

Sophomore Brock Harding, who has come off the bench the last two games after starting the first 21, would start if Thelwell can’t play. Harding played a season-low 10 minutes against Wisconsin.

McCaffery said sophomore Pryce Sandfort would play some at the point if Thelwell is unavailable.

The coach also said freshman forward Cooper Koch, who was in the team’s rotation but hasn’t played since Jan. 3 because of a health issue, would probably pursue a medical redshirt. He played in 10 games.

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