Uthoff elevates into Hawkeyes’ go-to player

IOWA CITY - Clearly it was a bailout play.

Iowa trailed Northwestern by three points, and junior Jarrod Uthoff was defended tightly by Northwestern's Scottie Lindsay. Iowa point guard Mike Gesell handed Uthoff the ball on the left wing with four seconds left. Gesell shielded Lindsay, and Northwestern defender Vic Law switched to Uthoff. It didn't matter.

Uthoff buried the 3-point shot in front of Law to send the game into overtime. It was Uthoff's fifth 3-pointer, fourth in the final eight minutes and second in the final 12 seconds. He finished the game with 25 points in an overtime loss. But with each clutch shot he makes, Uthoff elevates his status as the Hawkeyes' go-to player.

'The shot he made was a tough shot, a big shot,” Iowa senior Josh Oglesby said after that game. 'That's what you're going to get out of Jarrod each night. He's a really talented offensive player.”

Uthoff, a 6-foot-9 forward, displayed his late-game theatrics at Minnesota in mid-January. With the score tied, Uthoff buried a jumper over Gophers guard Andre Hollins with 3.5 seconds left to give the Hawkeyes a 77-75 win.

That's two end-of-game situations converted by Uthoff. But he's also been strong at other pivotal junctures. In the Big Ten opener at Ohio State, Uthoff scored 18 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished five assists. With the Hawkeyes leading 65-60, Uthoff drilled a 3-pointer, then hit a jumper in the final 2:13 to keep the Buckeyes at bay. He followed up against Nebraska with 15 points, including a 3-pointer that gave Iowa (17-10, 8-6 Big Ten) a lead midway through the second half. He earned Big Ten player of the week honors for those two games.

Uthoff has earned the coaching staff's trust. Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said Uthoff has the green light to shoot, no matter the situation.

'He's just not a guy that rattles,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. 'He's going to shoot the same shot at the beginning of the game as he's going to shoot at the end of the game. There's not much difference with him. I think that's a good quality to have.”

'That's something as a coaching staff that you've got to learn who your players are, who will take those shots, who feels comfortable taking those shots,” Uthoff said. 'I think each team is different, each player is different. Coaches have to learn who those guys are who are comfortable taking those shots.”

Among Uthoff's intangibles is his on-court demeanor. Outside of a pregame ritual where he stands in a huddle with his teammates and shouts, Uthoff rarely changes his expressions. He doesn't drop his head if he misses a shot. He doesn't punch toward the sky if he makes a 3-pointer.

'You look especially on his face, there's never any expression on his face, no matter what happens, good or bad, early, late. That's just the way he is,” McCaffery said. 'He's a very unique guy that way, and I think it's a really good quality to have. He doesn't seem to get caught up in anything, trash talking, crowd, noise, score, time, nothing really affects him.”

'Sometimes you make them, sometimes you miss them. You've got to understand that,” Uthoff said. 'You can't be worrying about missing it. If you're worrying about missing it, you're not going to make it.”

Uthoff sits second on the team in scoring (12.2), rebounding (6.0), blocked shots (41), assists (51) and steals (30). He's the leader in 3-pointers (46) and 3-point percentage. In Big Ten-only games, he leads the team at 13.7 points per game. He's the only player nationally with at least 45 3-pointers, 40 blocked shots and 30 steals.

Over Iowa's last six games, Uthoff has elevated his level of play. He's averaged 15.0 points while hitting 53.3 percent. He's missed just one free throw (14 of 15), 10 blocks, nine assists, seven steals and just four turnovers. He played 31-plus minutes in every game except for the 34-point blowout win against Rutgers. His statistics show his unselfishness, which his teammates have found contagious.

'Jarrod doesn't care where he's playing,” Iowa senior forward Aaron White said. 'He just kind of goes out there and plays his game, whether we're at home, whether there's 15,500 there or whether we're on the road and there's 20,000 there. It doesn't matter. He just goes out and plays his game.”

That also applies to trash talk. A few opponents try to engage Uthoff but they quickly avoid it because it's one-way communication. But that doesn't mean he doesn't pay attention.

'I try to tear them up when they try to say something to me,” Uthoff said. 'Not too often do they say something to me. I'm not a big trash talker. ... It never really gets going with me. I just take it out on them on the court.”

The way he's playing, the only sound he might hear from now on is silence.

l Comments: (319) 339-3169; scott.dochterman@thegazette.com