Iowa and Ole Miss are both 5-0, but neither has played away from home.
Both teams will get a better idea of the challenges that will greet them down the road in conference play when they meet Tuesday night in the first round of the Acrisure Classic in Palm Springs, Calif.
The Hawkeyes have won all their games by at least 19 points and have an average margin of victory of 27.6 points against Robert Morris, Western Illinois, Xavier, Southeast Missouri and Chicago State. The Rebels will provide competition similar to what awaits in Big Ten play.
Ole Miss has two wins by single digits, yet still an average margin of victory of 17.2 points in wins against Southeastern Louisiana, UL Monroe, Memphis, Cal State Bakersfield and Austin Peay.
The reverse is true — Iowa will supply competition akin to what awaits in SEC play.
“I think you just want to show up and compete,” Iowa first-year coach Ben McCollum said of the tournament, which also features Grand Canyon and Utah. “That’s kind of always our thing — making sure that we can play harder than our opponent.
“Ultimately that’s what wins you games because you can come up with all the cool stuff you want, but if you don’t compete at a high level it really doesn’t matter. So hopefully our guys can compete and fight for the full 40 minutes in both games.”
Ten Hawkeyes are averaging at least 5.8 points per game, led by senior guard Bennett Stirtz at 17.6 ppg. Stirtz is also distributing the ball well with 6.2 assists per outing. Alvaro Folgueiras, a transfer from Robert Morris, comes at 12.4 points per game and paces the team with 5.8 rebounds per contest.
Iowa is shooting 57.6% from the floor and 40.0% from 3-point range.
Rebels coach Chris Beard is looking for a complete performance from his team, which hasn’t played since a 72-65 victory against Austin Peay last Tuesday.
“We have to play better basketball,” Beard said. “We have to play better against good basketball teams. We don’t have a non-good basketball team left on our schedule this season. Discipline is what we’re lacking right now.”
Beard lamented his players’ lack of consistent boxouts after allowing 17 offensive rebounds to Austin Peay as well as the fact that point guards Ilias Kamardine (four) and Kezza Giffa (three) combined for seven of the 11 turnovers by a team that had been averaging just 8.5 per game.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do around here,” Beard said.
Kamardine has done a lot correctly in his first year in Oxford, leading the team with 15.8 points and 5.2 assists per game. The France native has scored in double figures in all five outings.
–Field Level Media
