Three takeaways from Iowa-Penn

Three takeaways from Iowa's 86-55 win against Penn on Friday night:

1. Uthoff is a  man. Sophomore forward Jarrod Uthoff has shaken off any rust he accumulated over two years of bench time to become a valuable player for the Hawkeyes. Uthoff has a smooth game, doesn't make mistakes and plays with poise. He also defends and passes with efficiency.

He's also got basketball smarts. He quickly deciphers his opponent and the defensive scheme. Penn primarily ran a 2-3 zone but sometimes switched to man. Either way, Uthoff knew how to exploit it. He attacked the zone's back side and shoots effectively from the perimeter. He was 6-of-7 from the field, hitting jumpers, sinking a 3-pointer and delivering a monstrous dunk over Cameron Gunter midway through the first half.

"You know, they played a lot more zone tonight than I thought they were going to play," Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. "They started with a bigger lineup, and they played more zone, OK? Well, now you've got to play differently than if they're in man. Where you getting the ball?  How are you going to score against the zone? He knows what to do. You don't have to tell him anything. He's an easy guy to coach."

McCaffery said Uthoff was the most consistent player during their pre-Europe practices and also in fall camp. Uthoff is excited to just get on the court and contribute.

"It's everything that I thought it would be and more," Uthoff said.

2. Olaseni taking charge. Junior center Gabe Olaseni continues to make strides on offense. He was 3-of-6 for eight points but was crucial early in the first half when Iowa struggled with Penn's 2-3 zone.

Penn led 11-10 with 13 minutes left in the half. Olaseni rebounded an Aaron White miss and scored inside to put Iowa ahead. Two possessions later, Olaseni dunked an alley-oop from Devyn Marble to give the Hawkeyes the lead for good. Later in the half he dunked off Uthoff's only miss.

"He's so much more confident," McCaffery said. "With him it was always there, but he never had the confidence to go out and do it in a game. He did it in practice. You'd put him in a game and he would fumble and he was jittery, but now he's so much more confident."

Olaseni wasn't as good in the second half and had three turnovers and three fouls. But he also had three blocked shots.

"I yanked him in the second half, and I told him, 'I'm going to put you back in,'" McCaffery said. "You're not getting buried here. But we've got to talk about what you didn't do and you go back in. And he was so much better. Last year that would have affected him in a negative way. This year he handles it like a pro and goes back in there and fixes up."

3. Defense forces the action. Penn couldn't get out of its way on offense, committing 25 turnovers. That includes 16 by its primary ballhandlers.

Penn Coach Jerome Allen said afterward he thought all but about five of the turnovers were unforced. Some of that is true. But most of Penn's problems stemmed from Iowa's aggressive defense.

The Hawkeyes scored 30 points off Penn's turnovers and held the Quakers to just 3-of-23 from 3-point range.

"Well, defensively we were really good because we forced 25 turnovers and did a really good job on their perimeter players," McCaffery said. "Offensively we shoot 39 percent, you know?  So it was critical that we really disrupt what they do.  They're a set play team. We did a great job against the man, and in the second half we played more zone and did a really good job there."

It wasn't quite as stellar of an effort from Iowa's interior. Penn and Iowa each scored 30 points in the paint and the Hawkeyes won the rebounding battle by just three.

McCaffery complimented Penn center Darien Nelson-Henry, calling him a potential Ivy League player of the year candidate.

"This is a team that was not going to go away," McCaffery said. "They're experienced. They've got size and quickness. So we were expecting them to make a run."

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