Augustana beat Iowa in an exhibition game 76-74. Augustana is coached by Tom Billeter former Rice asst to Scott Thompson. Last year Augustana was 31-3 falling in the DII finals.
The only Iowa native on Augustana University's roster sank a memorable shot on Friday night to topple the flagship school from his home state.
Daniel Jansen buried an off-balance 18-foot buzzer beater over ex-AAU teammate Adam Woodbury, lifting Augustana to a memorable 76-74 exhibition victory over an Iowa team that won 22 games last season and reached the NCAA tournament's round of 32.
Exhibition losses against lower-division opponents typically inspire panic in a fan base, but Iowa supporters should at least recognize that this wasn't the typical overmatched Division II team that upset the Hawkeyes.
Augustana enters the new season ranked No. 1 in the NABC Division II Top 25 poll thanks to the return of five starters from a team that went 31-3 last season.
Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said he scheduled Augustana because he knew the matchup would provide a barometer for where his team stands before it begins a difficult non-conference schedule that includes games against Iowa State, Florida State and Marquette. The Hawkeyes return four starters from last season but must replace leading scorer and rebounder Aaron White.
"There's two ways to look at this game," Iowa coach Fran McCaffery told the Des Moines Register after the game. "You can schedule it or not, OK? We could have found a team that won eight games last year very easily. We scheduled a team that won 31 games. Most teams won't play them, OK? But I felt like we needed a game like this.
"We better play somebody good who is going to expose some of our weaknesses as opposed to you win by 25 and you don't really know where your weaknesses are yet."
Among the weaknesses Augustana exposed in Iowa were subpar rebounding and a glaring lack of depth.
Augustana built a 15-point second-half lead in part because it grabbed 12 offensive rebounds and converted them to 15 second-chance points. Forwards Jansen and Casey Schilling combined for 39 points and 15 rebounds.
Iowa relied almost exclusively on its starters to rally from that deficit and tie the game on a 3-pointer from Peter Jok with 28 seconds to go. Four of
Iowa's five starters logged at least 31 minutes and Brady Ellingson was the only reserve to play more than 11 minutes off the bench.
Thus, while the outcome itself shouldn't inspire sky-is-falling-level alarm at Iowa, there certainly are a couple concerns to address. To enjoy another season as strong last year, the Hawkeyes need to get better play from their frontcourt and develop a capable bench.
(Y'know, it's a shame they didn't even mention Coach Billeter by name and his tremendous career record at Augustana.)
Quote:"There's two ways to look at this game," Iowa coach Fran McCaffery told the Des Moines Register after the game. "You can schedule it or not, OK? We could have found a team that won eight games last year very easily. We scheduled a team that won 31 games. Most teams won't play them, OK? But I felt like we needed a game like this.
"We better play somebody good who is going to expose some of our weaknesses as opposed to you win by 25 and you don't really know where your weaknesses are yet."
Quote:"There's two ways to look at this game," Iowa coach Fran McCaffery told the Des Moines Register after the game. "You can schedule it or not, OK? We could have found a team that won eight games last year very easily. We scheduled a team that won 31 games. Most teams won't play them, OK? But I felt like we needed a game like this.
"We better play somebody good who is going to expose some of our weaknesses as opposed to you win by 25 and you don't really know where your weaknesses are yet."
This is a great attitude.
And a very smart decision for an exhibition game. No reason to just skate by in a game that doesn't matter. Like McCaffery basically said, what good is it to a team if you aren't challenged in a game that has no bearing on your final record?
Augustana won the D2 national title today, beating the #1 overall seed who was on a 24-game win streak. Congrats to Coach Billeter and his team for its first national title in men's basketball.
(This post was last modified: 03-26-2016 08:45 PM by Fort Bend Owl.)
