<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div>The Hawks are now number THREE in the nation on the AP Poll! Wow! Craig B.<br><br>Sent from my iPad</div><div><br>On Jan 25, 2016, at 12:13 PM, Mike Waller <<a href="mailto:hawkifann@gmail.com">hawkifann@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div></div><div>Hawks up to #4 in the coaches' poll behind UNC, Oklahoma and Kansas.</div><div><br>On Jan 25, 2016, at 12:54 PM, Sue Bailey <<a href="mailto:minburnsb@gmail.com">minburnsb@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<p class="maintitle"><span class="Fid_18"> Shooting stars spark
Hawks to rarefied air </span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_6"> IOWA CITY - When a basketball
team can shoot, it becomes both stylish and savage at the same
time.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_6"> Here was Iowa from the 14:56
to the 13:26 marks of Sunday's second half here: Brady Ellingson
for 3: Good. Nicholas Baer for 3: Good. Dom Uhl for 3: Good.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_6"> A 47-41 Hawkeyes lead was
56-41. The explosion left the Purdue Boilermakers in the dust,
and Iowa's two point halftime deficit quickly became a distant
memory.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_6"> The Hawkeyes continued their
swath of devastation through the Big Ten with an 83-71 win in
Carver-Hawkeye Arena.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_6"> Those three players are</span><span class="Fid_6"> all substitutes, by the way.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_6"> They were among the six
Hawkeyes who made threes as Iowa upped its conference record to
7-0.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_6"> For any dissertation you can
give about why Iowa will be elevated into the nation's Top Five
today, 3-point shooting has to be in the opening remarks.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_6"> Last season, when the Hawkeyes
went 12-6 in the Big Ten, they were just 34.4 percent from
3-point land, and made 5.4 threes per game in Big Ten play.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_6"> This season they're averaging
8.9 threes in league games after going 11-for-20 from that
distance Sunday.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_6"> They shoot 41.0 percent
overall (10th-best in the na</span><span class="Fid_6"> tion)
and lead the Big Ten in league games at 43.7 percent. Only four
previous Iowa teams have made 40 percent of their 3-pointers
over a</span><span class="Fid_6"> full season, and each played
when the 3-point line was 19 feet, 9 inches from the </span><span class="Fid_5">basket, not the current 20-9. Why is this year's
team so good from so deep?</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_20"> ►</span><span class="Fid_21">
HLAS, PAGE 2B</span></p>
<Image_4.jpg><span class="Fid_14"> Adam Woodbury (34), Andrew
Fleming (2) and Ahmad Wagner (0) celebrate as the Iowa bench
reacts to a 3-pointer by Iowa guard Brady Ellingson (not
pictured) during the second half against Purdue on Sunday at
Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. Ellingson came off the bench
to hit a pair of 3-pointers for Iowa.</span><p></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_13"> Cliff Jette/The Gazette</span></p>
<Image_3.jpg>
<hr><span class="Fid_5">'We're better at spacing on the floor,' Iowa
senior Jarrod Uthoff said. 'We have four people who can shoot
threes, maybe five at any given time, so that enables us to space
the floor a lot better.' Oh, there's also Uthoff himself. He
canned 4 of his 5 3-pointers Sunday in a typical 22-point effort.
Over the seven conference games, he's 17-of-33 from behind the
arc. That's 51.5 percent, great for anyone, ridiculous for a
6-foot-9 player.</span>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_5"> 'They're proficient shooting
3-pointers against people of size, and that brings us out,'
Purdue Coach Matt Painter said. 'That's what really gives us a
problem, when (we) have two 7-footers.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_5"> 'Iowa does a good job of
getting threes, but also getting drives and getting the ball to
the rim. They have a well balanced attack.' Defenses can't key
on Uthoff and Peter Jok without leaving themselves subject to
burn marks. Uhl has made 10 of his 15 3-point tries in Big Ten
games. Baer has made 43.9 percent of his threes this season. Uhl
is 6-foot-9 and Baer 6-7.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_5"> Ellingson went the first six
Big Ten games without making a 3-pointer. He played sparingly
the last two games and didn't take a shot. So he comes in
Sunday, plays 11 minutes, and pops in a pair of 3-pointers.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_5"> 'I always have confidence in
my shot,' Ellingson said. That may be the team's mantra.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_5"> Maybe the shot of this game
that best defines this team, however, was a 2-point jumper. With
5:10 left, Iowa ahead 68-56 and Jok driving 1-on-1 against ace
Purdue defender Rapheal Davis in transition, Jok pulled up and
took a long 2-pointer with no one under the basket to rebound.
Had he missed, it would probably have been the equivalent of a
turnover. But he didn't miss.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_5"> 'You never know who's going to
get hot,' said Jok, who has made 43.9 percent of his threes in
Big Ten games. 'Anybody can go off at any second.' Anybody and
almost everybody. Jok. Bang! Uhl, Baer, Ellingson. Bang, bang,
bang! Uthoff. Bang, bang, bang, bang!</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_5"> Iowa's first Top Five
appearance since the 1988-89 season comes today. The Hawkeyes
are going in with, well, a bang.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_6"> •</span><span class="Fid_4">
Comments: (319) 368-8840; <a href="mailto:mike.hlas@thegazette.com"></a><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:mike.hlas@thegazette.com">mike.hlas@thegazette.com</a></span></p>
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