For Texas fans who had a chance to see the newest edition of their Longhorn basketball team take the court this weekend, there was ample cause for excitement. Opening the season as a Top 10 team, the experienced Longhorn squad thumped North Dakota State and Alcorn State by a combined 67-point margin, showing off a massive frontcourt and incredible depth in the process.

As dominant as Texas looked in those two victories, fans had to temper their excitement, due to the level of competition. Alcorn State will likely finish as one of the worst teams in Division I this season, while North Dakota State lost a ton of talent from last year’s team that upset Oklahoma in the NCAA tournament’s Round of 64. The real tests for the Longhorns begin this week at Madison Square Garden, where they will take on Iowa tonight and either Syracuse or Cal tomorrow.

Tonight’s matchup with Iowa is one in which the two teams will find many similarities between their own squad and their opponent. Both the Longhorns and Hawkeyes have quite a bit of size in the frontcourt, and both benches can easily go 10 deep. While no one will confuse Iowa’s roster with that of Kentucky and its platoons, tonight’s game will be an excellent measuring stick to give us all an idea of just how good these Longhorns truly are.

By the Numbers

Through two games, Iowa has been sound on both sides of the ball, while playing at a breakneck pace against North Dakota State and Hampton. The Hawkeyes have averaged an adjusted tempo of 72.6 possessions per game according to Ken Pomeroy, while their adjusted offensive efficiency of 1.107 points per possession is in the Top 25 nationally, and their adjusted defensive efficiency lands in the Top 50.

On offense, Iowa shares the ball and has been deadly from long range. The team has logged assists on nearly 68% of its buckets, and has knocked down almost 44% of its threes. The Hawkeyes have also taken advantage of their size against the smaller Hampton and North Dakota State lineups, snagging 36.4% of their offensive rebounding chances, a number that is in the top quarter of D-I teams.

The one struggle for Iowa offensively this season has been turnovers, as they’ve coughed it up on roughly one in five possessions. While some of this was due to the second team getting extended minutes in the two blowout wins, the core rotation also had problems with Hampton’s double teams in the season opener. In addition, Iowa’s focus on pushing the pace has also resulted in some rushed passes that cost them possessions.

On the other end of the court, Iowa has done a stellar job forcing teams into bad looks when they attack inside the arc. Hawkeye opponents have shot 29.6% from two-point range in the first two games, a stat that is made even more impressive when you learn that Iowa also hasn’t been sending opponents to the line. Iowa’s defensive free-throw rate, which measures how often opponents take free throws, is just 24.6, ranking them 41st out of 351 D-I teams.

Meet the Hawkeyes

After enjoying a pair of games against undersized opponents, the Longhorns will now have to contend with an Iowa team that has an equally formidable frontcourt. Aaron White (No. 30), a 6’9″ senior who was third-team All-Big 10 last year, is the most impressive member of that frontcourt. He has an impeccable knack for getting to the boards, and seems to have a hand on the ball every time Iowa misses a shot. White also moves incredibly well without the basketball, and has great speed and handles for a big guy.

Joining White in the frontcourt is 7’1″ junior Adam Woodbury (No. 34). The big man had a very rough outing against Hampton, repeatedly having trouble against the Pirate double-teams, and even struggling in one-on-one face-up opportunities. He bounced back against North Dakota State, fully exploiting his size advantage while posting a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double. Although Woodbury’s offensive skills have been inconsistent on the young season, he is a stout defensive presence who stands his ground down low.

The third starting frontcourt member for Iowa is Jarrod Uthoff (No. 20), a stretch forward who much prefers camping out on the perimeter and waiting for a kickout from one of his slashing teammates. Uthoff has made 6-of-10 from behind the arc so far this season, while only taking six total shots from two-point range.

Although he didn’t start either of the first two games, forward Gabriel Olaseni (No. 0) has been the most impressive Hawkeye this season. Olaseni is always moving without the ball, and knows how to perfectly time his cuts to the rim so that a teammate can find him for an easy layup. The senior is one of those crafty forwards who is much more dangerous when slipping into space than simply posting up down low.

Olaseni is also a beast on the boards and uses his length to clean up numerous shots in help situations. Through two games, Olaseni has blocked 16% of the two-point shots made by opponents when he’s on the floor, a block rate that is 16th-best in the country. His 37.6% defensive rebounding rate has also earned him a Top 20 individual ranking in that category.

Iowa has a pair of talented guards in their starting five who can both run the point in Mike Gesell (No. 10) and Anthony Clemmons (No. 5). Gesell is a deceptively quick player, who knows how to use the hesitation dribble to make his speed bursts even more effective. He has an insane assist rate of 38.8% through two games, but hasn’t played enough minutes to qualify for the national leaderboard.

Clemmons, meanwhile, is a guard with quick hands that has also made a big impact behind the arc. Even though the junior doesn’t take many shots, he’s made 5-of-6 from three-point range this year, and also owns a steal rate that is in the Top 100 nationally.

Backing up Gesell and Clemmons is six-foot sophomore guard Trey Dickerson (No. 11), who transferred to Iowa after one year at the juco level. Although he still is a little raw for major minutes, Dickerson has incredible hops and has shown range to about 17 feet. His shooting percentage is just 36.3% through two games, but he’s been fortunate enough to log solid minutes in those lopsided affairs, giving him quite a bit of early experience.

Sophomore forward Peter Jok (No. 3) is another reserve option for Coach McCaffery, and could end up being one steal of a recruit. Jok was one of the top local talents as a freshman in Iowa, but knee surgery took him out of action and put him under the radar. The Hawkeyes had pursued him early, and they were still interested after his rehab.

In the first two games, you could certainly see flashes of Jok’s diverse offensive skillset, and his length and hustle were also on display when he raced back against Hampton to shut down a fast break opportunity with an impressive block. Although Jok isn’t a starter and seems to be fourth in the forward rotation right now, it certainly seems that he’ll be a force in the Big 10 before he graduates.

Rounding out the rotation are senior guard Josh Oglesby (No. 2) and German-born freshman forward Dom Uhl (No. 25). Coming off a season in which he made 40% from behind the arc, Oglesby has not been shy about chucking it up from behind the arc, but he has yet to find his stroke this season, having made just 23% of his shots. Uhl has yet to make a major impact as a freshman, but did knock down some threes against Hampton and looked really smooth spinning around the Pirate defender for a layup on one baseline drive. Like Jok, Uhl’s role will likely shrink in a crowded frontcourt as the season wears on, but he’s shown signs of things to come.

Keys to the Game

1. Lock down the perimeter – Iowa moves the ball extremely well, which leads to quite a few wide-open threes for players who are good shooters even when there is a hand in their face. That’s a recipe for disaster for opposing defenses, and one that Texas must avoid tonight to fend off an upset at the Garden. The Longhorn bigs did a good job chopping their feet and closing out quickly on perimeter shooters in their first two games, and they’ll need to do more of the same tonight.

2. Crash the glass – Texas and Iowa both posted solid rebounding numbers in games against teams that were much smaller than their own. With these sizable frontcourts now facing off against one another, a team that can post a significant edge on the glass may find that those extra possessions end up being the difference in tonight’s game.

3. Stay poised against pressure – Iowa isn’t a team that constantly throws pressure defense at you, but they do have a variety of looks that they use to keep opponents guessing. Those multiple looks do include some backcourt pressure and half-court traps, so the Longhorn guards have to be aware of that danger tonight. In a game that looks to be fairly tight on paper, the only thing worse than wasted possessions are wasted possessions that lead to fast-break buckets.