Iowa runs good offense, downs Bison

IOWA CITY - Iowa's offense may lack a high-profile player in the backcourt, but the Hawkeyes so far have turned a potential negative into a positive.

In its 87-56 pounding of North Dakota State on Monday, Iowa's men's basketball team took 11 fewer shots and scored 12 more baskets than its opponent. Five players scored in double digits, but only one player took more than eight shots. It was an unselfish performance by a team that so far understands its collective efforts mean greater success.

'It's a little bit different where it's motion. Move the ball. If you have something, take it. If you don't, move it on. So far, so good,” said Iowa forward Aaron White, who scored 10 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished a team-high five assists.

The Hawkeyes (2-0) lost all-Big Ten guard Devyn Marble, who now plays for the NBA's Orlando Magic. That leaves an obvious hole in the lineup, but Iowa has compensated for Marble's loss by running crisp offense rather than handing the ball to one player for bailout shots.

'This year, we do have great scorers with Aaron White, Josh Oglesby, Jarrod Uthoff, Peter Jok,” said Iowa center Gabe Olaseni, who scored a team-high 14 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. 'Those are great scorers, but they aren't necessarily going to take their guy off the dribble with 10 seconds and we're going to get a great shot. So we just have to have a team mind-set, a team-oriented offense we have to turn good shots into great shots. I think that's what you saw (last night).

'For the most part guys aren't shot-chasing. They're letting it come to them naturally. It's definitely easier to play with guys like that. Hopefully we can keep it up.”

Iowa started strong and took a 9-2 lead on an Anthony Clemmons' 3-pointer. The Bison (0-2) kept pace and trailed 31-24 with 5:41 left in the first half. Then the Hawkeyes clamped down defensively, holding the Bison to two points and no field goals over the next 11:42. Iowa scored almost at will, putting up 27 points during that stretch to take a 58-26 lead by the time North Dakota State scored its next basket.

'We know what (Iowa Coach) McCaffery wants, move the ball side to side,” said Iowa guard Anthony Clemmons, who scored 11 points and produced three big steals. 'Nobody's selfish. We all just moving the ball and we're making sure we're taking good shots instead of rushed shots and sped-up shots that other people try to get us to take.”

Ball movement was key for Iowa. Guards Josh Oglesby and Mike Gesell each scored eight points and they combined for seven assists. Center Adam Woodbury connected on 5-of-6 shots for 10 points and he also grabbed 11 rebounds. Uthoff added 12 points.

The Bison seemed to focus on White in the half-court, which left his teammates open. Rather than force shots, White simply passed it.

'Basically what I just did was move the ball and gets shots for everybody else,” White said. 'I think that's the great thing about our team. Not one of us needs the ball in our hands constantly. We do a great job of swinging the ball back and forth. We do a great job of picking our spots and playing together.”

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