It wasn't against great competition, but Iowa's youth movement led them to a much-needed victory.

Four Factors in Review

Iowa 1st half SU 1st half iowa 2nd half SU 2nd half iowa game SU game Points Per Possession 1.12 0.71 1.39 1.09 1.25 0.90 Possessions 39 37 76

Shooting

(Shot chart courtesy of ESPN . Iowa is in black on the right.)

Iowa 2pt Near Rim 2pt Jumper 3pt FG FT Attempts 50.7% 17.8% 31.5% N/A FG% 67.6% 38.5% 26.1% 60.7% Stetson 2pt Near Rim 2pt Jumper 3pt FG FT Attempts 30.6% 23.6% 45.8% N/A FG% 45.5% 41.2% 24.2% 62.5%

Stetson was clearly overmatched in this one. Despite everyone but Isaiah Moss struggling to shoot the three-pointer for Iowa, the Hawkeyes more than made up for the cold outside shooting by getting the ball in the paint. Iowa got the ball to the basket so much that less than a third of their attempted field goals were threes in this game. That percentage that is easily their lowest of the season, and only the third game all year in which at least 40% of their attempts weren't from long distance.

In the first half, neither Iowa's threes or mid-range jumpers were falling, but they helped offset the poor jump shooting by getting the ball in the paint and by getting to the free throw line at will. In the second half, Stetson cut down on fouling as much, and while Iowa still couldn't make any threes, they did continue to score in the paint and their mid-range jumpers started falling to the tune of 63%. Overall, though, it was the Hawkeyes' 50 points scored in the paint (18 by Pemsl) that was the key to this victory.

On defense, it was clear again that Stetson was overmatched. Iowa looked a lot more energetic and confident on the defensive end of the court, but a lot of that seemed to stem from the fact that Stetson looked really, really bad. They more than lived up to their reputation of shooting and missing a ton of threes. And while Iowa contested some of them, there were still a number of open looks that the Hatters flat out missed that other quality teams won't (and haven't this year). At the end of the first half, Stetson hit a trio of three-pointers in the final three minutes on four attempts. Of those four attempts, I can honestly say that one of them wasn't an open look. Similar things happened in the second half, but fortunately Stetson couldn't make Iowa pay.

In the second half, the Hawkeyes also had some issues with ball screens and keeping guards out of the lane. As a result, Stetson's field goal percentage near the basket went from 27% before halftime to 64% after.

The Hatters' defense could never get enough stops for it to mean anything, but they clearly did most of their damage from inside the paint in the second half. And they also upped their trips to the free throw line because of it. All together, the increased efficiency inside made it so Stetson averaged 1.09 points per possession in the second half. That's a stat that can't be fully blamed on the reserve players because that number was actually higher for most of the second half, including when the starters were in there.

Essentially, Iowa's offense shot the ball well, while their defense still looked questionable. Fortunately, Stetson isn't a team that could take advantage of that.

Advantage: Iowa

Turnovers

Turnovers Turnover% Steals %of Turnovers Forced by Steals Points Off Turnovers Pts Off Turnovers Per Turnover Forced Iowa 5 6.6% 5 50.0% 8 0.80 Stetson 10 13.2% 3 60.0% 5 1.00

Iowa only turned the ball over five times the whole game, and twice in the second half. The lack of turnovers was good to see, but keep in mind that Stetson is one of the worst teams in the nation at forcing them.

On the other hand, don't be too discouraged about Iowa forcing only 10 turnovers in a 76 possession game. That isn't a huge number, but Stetson is one of the best teams in the nation at not giving up the rock. That's one of the very few things they are any good at.

Advantage: Iowa

Offensive Rebounding

Off. Rebounds Off. Rebound% 2nd Chance Points 2nd Chance pts/Off. Rebound Iowa 15 34.1% 23 1.53 Stetson 14 27.5% 9 0.64

The Hawkeyes started off slowly on the offensive glass, grabbing just 23% of their misses in the first half. However, that number went up significantly after halftime, as the Hawks corralled 46% of them. Also of importance was the fact that Iowa actually capitalized on their offensive rebounds for the first time in a while. They had 23 second chance points for the game, eight of which came from Cordell Pemsl alone. Pemsl led Iowa with five offensive rebounds, scored three baskets on putbacks from offensive boards, and earned his fourth second chance basket off an Isaiah Moss rebound and dish that is the lead picture for this post.

On the other end of the court, the Hawkeyes dominated on the defensive glass all game long. Stetson had almost the same number of total offensive rebounds that Iowa did, but they also missed many more shots. In all, they were able to come away with about 28% of all offensive rebounds that were available to them. That's not very good, and it's even worse when you consider they averaged just 0.64 second chance points per offensive rebound. Peter Jok was Iowa's leading defensive rebounder with seven, but Moss, Ahmad Wagner, and Christian Williams all had five apiece. Stetson was an extremely undersized team, and Iowa took advantage.

Advantage: Iowa

Free Throw Rate

FT Made FT Attempted FT% FT Rate (FTA/FGA) Iowa 17 28 60.7% 38.4% Stetson 10 16 62.5% 22.2%

The Hawkeyes lived at the free throw line in the first half, attempting 22 of their 28 free throws in the first 20 minutes of play. They only made 13 of them in the first half, but the sheer volume of attempts helped offset the fact that they shot just 3-12 from three-point range. In the second half, though, Iowa continued to pound the paint with 28 points inside, but Stetson stopped fouling and Iowa visited the line just six times.

As for Stetson, they had two things working against them. First, Iowa was simply more athletic than them, so the Hawkeyes rarely found themselves in a position to foul. Second, 70% of their field goal attempts were jumpers of one type or another, and those don't lend themselves particularly well to drawing fouls.

Advantage: Iowa

Overall: Iowa Won All 4 Factors

Players

Needless to say, Cordell Pemsl and Isaiah Moss were the players of the game for Iowa. Moss was Iowa's lone outside threat on the night, making five of his eight three-point attempts, while the rest of the team shot 1-18 from out there.

Moss also made some acrobatic layups in transition, and looked solid on defense. Overall, he finished with a career high 21 points on 13 field goal attempts. He also gave Iowa six rebounds (one offensive), two assists, and two steals. He did have two of Iowa's five turnovers, but he also played 32 minutes in this one, so you can live with that.

Pemsl, on the other hand, was Iowa's main post presence, per usual. He took 11 shots from the field on the night -- all of which came around the basket -- and unsurprisingly the smooth-finishing freshman made nine of those attempts.

Like I already said above, he was Iowa's best offensive rebounder and he scored eight of his points on second chance opportunities. He also continued to show off some really nice passing skills for a big man, dishing out two assists, and missing out on one when he made a nice over-the-top pass to Ahmad Wagner who couldn't finish in traffic. Pemsl only grabbed three defensive boards on the night, but plenty of other Iowa players ate them up. Pemsl did block two shots, though, including a very emphatic one when Stetson had beaten Iowa's 1-2-2 press.

Cordell Pemsl does not appreciate that weak shit. pic.twitter.com/Fx21MQlmE6 — Go Iowa Awesome (@IowaAwesome) December 6, 2016

Other things of interest from this game include:

Peter Jok struggled from the field again, but still ended up with 15 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists.

Ahmad Wagner got the start over Nicholas Baer and scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds (one offensive). He was aggressive in the paint early, scoring six of those eight points in the first five minutes of the game. He also had an emphatic block of his own.

Nicholas Baer came alive for a stretch in the middle of the second half, where he had five points, three rebounds (one offensive), two assists, and a steal over the course of four minutes. The highlight of that outburst, being his dunk, of course.

Overall, the outcome of this game was what we expected. It wasn't perfect, but Iowa still won by 27 points, and it was a victory that was badly needed after dropping the last four games. Obviously Stetson isn't very good, and Iowa still has a lot to prove. After all, they have yet to beat a team with a winning record or anyone ranked inside the top 290 by Kenpom.

An Iowa State team that just beat Nebraska Omaha 91-47 is up next on Thursday. Needless to say, it's going to take a much better defensive effort than we've seen this year for Iowa to win that game. Hopefully they figure something out and maybe they got a little bit of confidence back after this mollywhopping of Stetson.