Hlas: Ho hum, another 25 points and 4 blocks from Jarrod Uthoff

IOWA CITY — Lately, singing the praises of Jarrod Uthoff has become as trendy as Fitbits, Apple Watches and Greek yogurt.

Iowa's senior forward had a typical game Tuesday night in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, which is to say he was the most-dominant player on the floor. Although, senior guard Mike Gesell took the reins in the second half and finished with a great stat line with 22 points and 10 assists.

Gesell repped Iowa in the Big Ten Network's postgame interview. Uthoff can't do everything.

Still, Uthoff had a game-high 25 points in the Hawkeyes' fairly routine 77-66 win over Nebraska. It was his second-straight 25-point night, and seventh 20-point performance in first-place Iowa's 15 games.

That's right. First-place Iowa, as in sharing the Big Ten lead with Indiana at 3-0. As in nationally ranked Iowa. Hot Iowa. Trendy Iowa.

As Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery accurately summarized after the game, Gesell 'was great.' But Iowa climbed out of a 10-0 hole and into a 31-22 halftime lead because Uthoff asserted his will on the opposition and scored in a variety of smooth and savvy ways.

He scooped up an errant Nebraska pass, dribbled down the floor, then stopped on an invisible dime and casually sank a 3-pointer. He drove the paint for a jam off an inbounds pass. He put a sweeping left-handed shot off the glass and in on a drive down the lane.

That was all during a period of 2:36 midway through the first half in which he scored nine points.

'He's a hard cover,' said Nebraska Coach Tim Miles. 'He's a terrific basketball player.

'He's just a really, really hard one to deal with.'

Then there were the blocked shots, a Uthoff staple this season. He had all four of his in this game by halftime, contributing mightily to Iowa holding the Huskers scoreless in the final 7:35 of the half.

That's 50 blocks for Uthoff this season after 56 all last season. He is fourth in the nation in blocks per game, and the 50 is second only to Florida International's Adrian Diaz's 52.

Fifty blocks in 15 games? Man! It isn't as if Uthoff is flailing his arms every which way trying to block everything opponents put up and coming up with air more times than not. His movement has been so efficient, so purposeful. And he blocks shots with both hands.

Basketball has had countless great shot-blockers. But how many were ever inside-outside threats at the offensive end? The nation's top three shot-blockers have a combined zero 3-point tries. Uthoff made a pair of treys Tuesday to give him 30 this season.

As people have begun to note with understandable amazement, Uthoff is displaying a skill set few players in the sport can claim. Maybe the best current comparison is New York Knicks rookie forward Kristaps Porzingis, who is averaging one 3-pointer and two blocks a game.

'It's rare that you see kind of a small forward with that kind of shot-blocking,' McCaffery said. 'He can guard a small forward, he can guard a power forward, he can post.

'He gives you a lot of flexibility as a coach in terms of how you can use him. He can play fast, he can play slow.

'When it's all said and done, he doesn't rattle, he doesn't get nervous. He's going to make big shots. He's going to take shots.

'If you get on him, he looks at you funny like 'Coach, I have everything under control. No need to worry.' '

Given what we've seen from Uthoff through 15 games, who would argue with him?