Three seniors helped the Hawkeyes take out 6th ranked Oklahoma 28-7 on Senior Day.
This is the first time Iowa had its starting lineup wrestle all ten weights.
What a great way for Spencer Lee to end his career at Carver.
Spencer got this first win at Carver in 2017 with a 46 second pin. Last Sunday, Spencer got the fall in 51 seconds.
Some of Spencer’s notable achievements include:
• Three-time NCAA Champion
• Two-time Big Ten Wrestler of the Year
• Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
• 2020 NCAA Most Dominant Wrestler
• Iowa’s 21st four-time All American
The thing that has always impressed me about Spencer is his strength.
He powers over almost every opponent and can pick up back points any time.
Spencer was rated the top recruit coming out of high school and he lived up to that ranking.
In his first match in a month, senior Abe Assad, ranked 11th, got a 4-2 win at 184.
Abe had 22 wins in 2019-20, which were the most wins for Iowa that year.
At 197 senior Jacob Warner ended his career at Carver with a 3-2 decision.
Jacob is Iowa’s 23rd four-time All American and placed second at the NCAA Champions last season.
All three have been good leaders.
Crunch Time 2023
The season is winding down for wrestling and basketball.
The Hawkeye women have two games left traveling to Maryland Tuesday, February 21 and hosting Indiana at sold-out Carver Sunday, February 26.
The Hawkeyes took care of Wisconsin last week 91-61.
That is Iowa’s 27th straight win over the Badgers.
The last time Wisconsin beat Iowa was February 11, 2007, 84-73.
That team had Abby Emmert, current coach for Iowa, as a starting point guard.
Johanna Solverson, Wendy Ausdemore and Megan Skouby were some off the top players.
Kachine Alexander was a freshman.
Iowa finished 14-16 in 2007 and was knocked out in the first round of the Big Ten tournament 67-53 to Indiana.
Caitlin Clark was five years old in 2007.
Caitlin is currently 21 years old and led the Hawkeyes to a 91-61 win over the Badgers last week.
How about 9-12 from the floor, 4-7 from three, 2-2 from the free throw line, eight assists and six rebounds. Caitlin has scored in double figures 78 straight games, has made a 3-pointer in 45 straight games and has hit at least one 3-pointer in 86 of the 88 career games she has played.
Monica Czinano scored 19 on 8-11 from the floor and McKenna Warnock chipped 16 with four.
assists and two steals.
Iowa 80 Nebraska 60
For the second time this year the Hawkeyes put up 80 against the Cornhuskers.
Nebraska scored 76 in the first game at Carver on January 28, but the Iowa defense locked down the Huskers at Lincoln.
Nebraska shot 42% from floor and 32% from three in the first game. Last week, Iowa held the Huskers to 34% from three and 21% (7-33) from three.
Nebraska has the largest crowd ever (14,289) to watch a women’s game, but Caitlin Clark and Monica Czinano seem to play better when the opposing crowd starts to rocking.
“I love playing in front of a big crowd,” said Caitlin who finished with 30. “I feel like we play Nebraska pretty well every time.”
That is the eighth straight win over the Huskers.
Iowa has played in front of over 10,000 fans nine times including six at home.
The game at Maryland should top 10,000 and Iowa’s final home game on Sunday is already sold out.
The Hawks are playing their best basketball.
When Iowa has four starters hitting threes, they are tough to stop.
McKenna Warnock (1-2 from three) is shooting 43% from behind the arc.
Kate Martin (2-4) shoots 41% from three.
Gabbie Marshal (2-2) is shooting 29% from three but is 6-9 from 3-point range in the last five games.
Caitlin shoots 38% from three but is 26-61 (43%) from deep in the last six games.
The outside shooting opens up the middle for Monica and takes the pressure off Caitlin.
Lisa Bluder has led the Hawks to seven straight 20-win seasons.
Hawkeye Men
When I watched the Hawkeyes beat the Buckeyes last week at Carver 92-75, I wondered how the Hawks lost 93-79 at Columbus on January 21.
In the loss, Ohio State had a 50-32 advantage on points in the paint, they shot 56% from the floor, 50% from three and the Buckeyes controlled the boards 36-29.
Last week at Carver, Iowa controlled the paint (44-36), had more rebounds (30-22) and shot 57% from the floor. Five Hawkeyes were in double figures with 24 points.
The Hawks had 23 assists and only seven turnovers with Conner McCaffery having a career high 13 assists. Conner leads the team with 89 assists and 37 steals and is putting up his best numbers shooting 41% from the floor, 37% from three and 93% from the free throw line.
Northwestern 80 Iowa 60
You start with 3-24 (12.5%) from three.
The Hawkeyes came into the game shooting 35% from three.
Kris Murray, who scored 14 against the Cats, was shooting 35% from three; he was 0-6 against the Wildcats.
Tony Perkins, who scored 11, was shooting 33% from three was 1-2.
Payton Sandfort shot 38% from three was 1-5.
Conner McCaffery was a 34% 3-point shooter was 0-3.
One or two players having an off night shooting is one thing, but to have all seven who shot 3-pointers be off is not going to get you a win.
The most discouraging part of the game came in the first half when the Hawks had five straight shots at the basket and came away with zip.
“We didn’t get in sync,” said coach McCaffery. “Our transition, our half-court offense, nothing was flowing correctly. You can’t blame anybody. You just have to be better.”
I don’t know about you, but I am so happy the both the men’s and women’s basketball teams like to run and gun.
The Hawk men have led the league in scoring the last five years.
The women are leading the Big Ten and the nation in scoring this year.
How do they compare?
The Hawkeye men average 81.0 points and give up 73.4 after 26 games.
The women average 88.5 and give up 70.7.
The men shoot 46% from the floor, 35% from three and 74% from the free throw line.
The women, 51% from the floor, 37% from three and 75% from the free throw line.
The men average 36.7 rebounds, 16.7 assists, ten turnovers and 6.8 steals per game.
The women, 40.4 rebounds, 21.0 assists, 14.1 turnovers and 7.6 steals.
The men have four scoring in double figures led by Kris Murray (21 ppg.).
The women, Caitlin Clark (27.4), Monica (17.7) and McKenna (11.3) are the top three.
Both Kris and Caitlin will get many votes for All American.

Gallery • 3 Photos

Hawkeyesports.com • Contributed Photo

Abe Assad competes in the 2020 Big Ten Championships.