Iowa 68, Louisiana-Monroe 40

The Hawks got up close and personal with the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks on defense tonight, helping Fran McCaffery notch his first win as head coach.

Freshman Zach McCabe lead Iowa with 15 points, but the story of the night was the Hawks’ much improved D. The Warhawks were not the same team the Jackrabbits were, but Iowa stepped up to force turnovers and stifle ULM’s offensive scheme. In the second half, the Hawk’s applied full court pressure and forced a 10-second violation.

However, a lot of work still needs to be done to cut turnovers. The Hawks had 22 of them (ULM had 26). I have never seen two teams travel so much. At one point in the first 10 minutes, it looked like Ed Hightower and company were putting on a dance recital, spinning their hands on almost every trip down the court. The Hawks went through a long scoreless drought when each possession ended in a walk, a bad pass, or an offensive foul.

Despite the sloppiness, the Hawks looked good tonight. It was the first Iowa win since their February 28 drubbing of Indiana.