Oregon Ducks will look for their third straight victory when they meet Iowa Hawkeyes on Wednesday in Iowa City.
Oregon (18-8, 7-8 Big Ten) completed a five-match losing line last week, registered consecutive home victory over Northwest, 81-75 on February 11 and Rutgers, 75-57 on Sunday.
The ducks are looking for a few more victories with regular season to increase their chances for an NCAA tournament in large bid.
Oregon made 13 out of 22 3-point shots against Scarlet Knights, with Jackson Shelstad which went 3 out of 6 from long reach. Shelstad, Duck’s leading goal scorer of 13.7 points per match, has posted at least 16 points in each of its last five competitions.
“This time of year is when you want to play your best basketball,” said Oregon assistant coach Tony Stubblefield after the Rutgers game.
Iowa (14-11, 5-9) is in a tough place without leading the score of Owen Freeman, who underwent seasonally finger operation earlier this month. The 6-foot-10 Sophomore, which logged 16.7 points per match, was also Hawkeye’s top recall at 6.7 per competition.
If 6-foot-11 Riley Mulvey is not available due to illness because he was Hawkeyes’ 101-75 loss at the then. 25 Maryland Due to an ankle injury, Hawkeyes would miss the depth of the post. It can create a great advantage for Oregon’s 7-foot Nate Bitt.
Iowa guard Drew Thelwell (10.5 ppg) also missed the game against terrapins.
The ducks are to look inside anyway, because Bittle can score from anywhere, plus he rebounds good and has good jump shooters that he can kick the ball if it is double the team in color.
Iowas Josh Dix has increased its crime in the absence of Freeman, an average of 17.8 points in the last four matches with two 20-point efforts. But he only got five in Maryland when Hawkeyes beat a half -time lead and ended to be routed.
“We quickly started shooting the ball, which you can’t do on the road,” said Iowa coach from McCaffery. “So it was unfortunate.”
It was IOVA’s fourth loss in the last five games.
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