Iowa Hawkeyes Fall To Seton Hall Pirates, 91-83

The Iowa Hawkeyes men’s basketball team struggled to score free throws and had two many turnovers, and eventually lost to the Seton Hall Pirates 91-83 at home on Thursday night.

Iowa Hawkeyes Fall To Seton Hall Pirates, 91-83

Iowa (2-1) got 30 points from senior guard Peter Jok and 24 from freshman forward Tyler Cook, who had a breakout performance.

Nevertheless, the Hawkeyes also missed 13 free throws and committed 17 turnovers. Adding to Iowa’s troubles was a defense that continually struggled to stop the Pirates from dribbling into the lane. Seton Hall had a 50-24 lead in points in the paint.

“I would like to have seen us play better defense collectively for the duration, but certainly in the second half,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “We went to the press, we went to a zone, and we just didn’t perform to the level that’s necessary.”

The Pirates misfired on some close-range shots in the first half, though improved to shoot 65.5 percent after the break.

Jok and Cook led the hosts on offense, with Jok making 11-of-21 shots and adding a career-high 11 rebounds with four assists. Cook also demonstrated his skills, opening the scoring with a 3-pointer before racing into the lane to make an impressive 8-of-12 shots from two-point range.

His only weakness was at the free-throw line, where he converted on just 5-of-12.

“He ran the floor. He really did a good job fronting the post,” McCaffery said of his freshman star. “We went to him and he got to the free-throw line. Unfortunately, he missed seven free throws.But he got there 12 times.”

Six of Iowa’s 17 turnovers came from point guards Christian Williams and Jordan Bohannon. 

The Pirates got 26 points from freshman Myles Howell, 25 from Desi Rodriguez and 20 from Khadeen Carrington to hold off their opponents.

And this began in the first half, with far too many easy shots to the basket.

“This is a team that is particularly good at that. They have a number of different guys that go off the dribble and they play small a lot,” McCaffery said. “They didn’t get a lot of post-ups. It’s all drive-and-kick 3s. Turn the corner. We just have to challenge better at the rim.”

Iowa next hosts Texas-Rio Grande Valley on Sunday.

NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 20: Mike Gesell #10 and teammates of the Iowa Hawkeyes walk off of the court after their 68 to 87 loss to the Villanova Wildcats during the second round of the 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Barclays Center on March 20, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)