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Among several concerns Iowa has as it works toward Sunday’s match-up with Michigan is a sophomore who has stepped to the forefront following the exits of DeShawn Sims and Manny Harris from the Wolverines’ program.
Sophomore Darius Morris leads Michigan in scoring with his average of 15.6 points per game but the 6-4 point guard does more than score wth his 51-percent touch from the field.
He ranks second in the Big Ten with his average of 7 assists per game while running an offense is turning the ball over just 10.5 times per game. Only four teams nationally average fewer turnovers per game.
It’s Morris’ relentless effort which impresses Iowa coach Fran McCaffery the most.
“He just keeps coming,” McCaffery said. “I think to me, he’s talented, he’s got good size for the position but it’s his relentlessness that separates him. When you cut him off, he goes that way and when you cut him off the other way, he goes the other way and just keeps coming at you.
“Just when you think he’s out of real estate and there’s nothing possible he can make out of the play, he ends up making a play some how.”
McCaffery has been impressed with the improvement he has seen in Morris’ shooting while watching recent tapes.
“His 3-point percentage is starting to creep up. It was in the mid 20s and is now over 30. If he gets that thing down, now you’re talking about an NBA guy I think.”
Morris is only part of the defensive concerns Iowa will have at Crisler Arena.
Zach Novak buried 6-of-8 shots from 3-point range on his way to a 19-point game at Michigan State on Thursday and freshman Tim Hardaway Jr. averages in double figures as well.
“They have a young team, but they have a terrific coach in John (Beilein) and I think they have a good blend of talent and they obviously are playing really hard,” McCaffery said. “I thought (Thursday) night they played well but I thought they really played hard. They really got after it.
“I think that’s the thing that’s most impressive because when Michigan State is at home and they make that kind of run at you that they made at them, a lot of teams just don’t hold on there. They held on and had a great win.”

Fran McCaffery picked up his sixth technical foul of the season Wednesday in Iowa’s loss at Penn State.
Asked Friday if he thought officials had a quick trigger when he offered opinions, McCaffery offered a quick response.
“I hope not,” McCaffery said.
The first-year Iowa coach, known to share his views with officials over the years, said he sometimes reflects as well.
“There are times I wonder if I am having a quick trigger with them,” McCaffery said. “I have to look intelligently at the situation. Am I jumping at them too quick? Am I being unreasonable? I don’t think I am and I don’t think I was in the most recent situation.
“I will handle things through proper channels.”
McCaffery picked up a quick technical in Wednesday’s game when he questioned a block called on Zach McCabe following contact with a driving Talor Battle midway through the first half.
Iowa led 21-13 at the time. Battle hit two free throws and Penn State failed to score on the inbounds but the Nittany Lions went on a 16-7 run over the final minutes of the half.

Iowa did not give proper due to the teammates and former players of Sharm Scheuerman who traveled to Iowa City to honor Scheuerman during Sunday’s game with Indiana.
Surrounded by some of the greatest players in Hawkeye history, director of athletics Gary Barta presented Scheuerman’s wife, Kathy, with a jersey bearing his retired number, 46, during a quick halftime ceremony.
Fans deserved to have a chance to acknowledge not only Kathy Scheuerman but the two dozen or so players who traveled to Iowa City to remember their former coach and teammate.
That didn’t happen.
Not a single player was introduced to the crowd. That’s a shame. Fans deserved a chance to salute the players they grew up watching during one of the most successful eras of Hawkeye history.
I spoke with Matt Getz of Iowa’s event management staff last Friday, asking him what the planned ceremony recognizing the Rock Island native would entail.
He said introductions and a video tribute to Scheuerman were part of the plans.
Scheuerman was briefly recognized on the video board, but the lack of introductions is inexcusable and a missed opportunity to salute players who provide much of the tradition that the current Hawkeye coaching staff if working to add to.
Instead, the group was rushed off the court so fans could watch an Iowa student attempt to shoot baskets for free tuition for an upcoming semester — and I use the word attempt loosely – before a group of young baton twirlers performed to a medley of Lady Gaga tunes.
Sadly, the baton was dropped long before the kids took the court.
Scheuerman’s teammates and players deserved better.

Devyn Marble enjoyed a breakthrough game this afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The freshman scored a career-high 18 points in Iowa’s 91-77 win over Indiana, knocking down 8-of-13 shots in 20 minutes of action. He also had a pair of rebounds and dished out an assist in the Hawkeyes’ first Big Ten win of the year.
After combining for 22 points in his first six conference games, the outing was one that Marble had been anticipating after going 10-of-35 from the field to open conference play.
“It felt pretty good to be out there making plays. I felt like I was back in high school again,” Marble said.
Credit Iowa coaches with an assist for getting Marble more involved in the Hawkeyes’ offense.
He has been filling the back-up point guard role in the absence of injured Cully Payne, seeing less time than even coach Fran McCaffery envisioned for Marble on the wing where he can take advantage of his slashing and driving skills.
“I need to find ways to get Marble going,” McCaffery said on Friday. “We need him to contribute to our team offensively.”
Marble did just that today, hitting 4-of-7 shots in the first half.
“I was able to do a lot of the things that I was known for in high school, slashing to the basket,” Marble said. “It’s been a little tough, a little frustrating before today, but I’m always going to do what I can to help the team. I’m not a selfish player. I’ll do what I can to help with Cully out and for me, that has meant spending more time at the point.”
Marble said his confidence did not diminish in recent weeks, including in a pair of scoreless games which preceded the 18-point performance against the Hoosiers.
“I just kept believing. I knew it was a matter of time,” he said.

Iowa plays the third of four consecutive Sunday games this weekend when Indiana visits Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
There is a reason for the plethora of early-conference Sunday dates and it has nothing to do with arena availability.
One of the scheduling guidelines used by the Big Ten during the conference season requires that teams have two days to prepare for their next game.
Wisconsin and Indiana played each other Thursday night in Madison, necessitating that both play on Sunday this week.
That is why Iowa will host Indiana and Wisconsin will visit Northwestern on Sunday as opposed to taking the court on Saturday, when no Big Ten are scheduled to play between 1-6 p.m.
There is an exception to the guideline. To provide flexibility for telecasts of late-season games that could impact conference races, exemptions to the two-day preparation rule are made for the so-called wildcard weekend picks.
Iowa’s schedule this season included three games that could be played on either Saturday or Sunday dates, based on decisions made by the networks holding Big Ten television contracts.
One of those decisions has already been made.
Iowa will host Michigan on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 3:30 p.m. The game, Iowa’s 30th of the season, will be just the Hawkeyes’ second Saturday home game of the 2010-11 season.

Any chance Iowa had of winning at Ohio State tonight probably ended around 10 p.m. on the night of Jan. 4.
The Hawkeyes threw a 73-68 scare at the Buckeyes that night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena when Iowa led by six points at the half and was within a 71-68 score with 28 seconds remaining.
A string of close games followed as the wins piled up for Ohio State — 67-64 over Minnesota, 68-64 at Michigan and 69-66 over Penn State.
The Buckeyes weren’t looking or feeling like the No. 1 team they became on Monday when they slipped into the top spot in both polls.
Buckeye players told coach Thad Matta during a film session on Monday that they were not playing the type of defense they were capable of playing.
Matta reminded them of that before they took the floor to face the Hawkeyes.
“It was our game plan to come in and play defense for 40 minutes,” senior David Lighty said. “We have been slacking for a couple of weeks. We have been preparing to play Ohio State defense.
“When we feel good about our defense, we’re a great team and it’s harder to beat us because we have so many weapons on offense. Coach is happy when we come out and play 40 minutes of good defense.”
The Buckeyes forced Iowa into a season-high 23 turnovers, a byproduct of the defense freshman Aaron Craft knew the Buckeyes were capable of playing.
“The first time against Iowa, we thought we could just go out and play,” Craft said. “This time we just went out and played harder, how you’re supposed to, and how you should play.”
Translation: What transpired at the Value City Arena was all about the Buckeyes and on this night, there was nothing Iowa could do to change that.
The loss was the Hawkeyes’ record sixth straight to open the Big Ten season, something not lost on coach Fran McCaffery.
“I think everyone understands who we’re playing against, but the reality is we’re still 0-6,” McCaffery said. “But, we are making strides to get where we want to get.”

Sunday’s 6-of-10 game from the field was just what the doctor ordered for Iowa sophomore Eric May.
After going a combined 1-for-7 in his two most recent starts since missing Iowa’s first game with Ohio State because of a groin pull, May returned to his early-season form with a 16-point game against Minnesota.
He also had two steals, two assists and three rebounds in a bounce-back performance that coach Fran McCaffery said was needed.
“I’m so happy for him because he had been struggling,” McCaffery said following Sunday’s game.
The Iowa coach talked with May after he recorded no points or rebounds in Iowa’s loss to Northwestern.
He was encouraged to rebound, get in the passing lanes and pick up a steal or two, things May had done with great frequency early in the season.
“He feeds off of his own energy,” McCaffery said.
That led to his best offensive game in weeks.
“He knocked down some big shots,” guard Matt Gatens said. “A game like that has to be a boost to his confidence and we need him playing that way. I think he’ll be fine from here on.”
May has been Iowa’s most accurate 3-point shooter this season, shooting at a 49-percent pace from 3-point range.
May did not play in Iowa’s first game against Ohio State, which hosts the Hawkeyes on Wednesday.
Last season, he averaged 17 points in two games against the Buckeyes. May shot a combined 12-of-22 from the field and 9-of-17 from 3-point range.

Fran McCaffery has mentioned more than once this season that he wishes that Matt Gatens would be a little more selfish.
His point is that he would like the Hawkeyes’ junior to look to shoot a little more in games.
That happened last night at Minnesota.
Gatens took a career-high 21 shots in Iowa’s 69-59 loss to the Gophers, but he said it wasn’t necessarily by design.
“I don’t go into any game thinking I need to shoot more or get more shots,” Gatens said. “I just look to take what’s there, whether it’s a jumper or a drive. If a good shot is there, I’m going to take it.”
Gatens’ previous high for shots was 15, a mark he reached in a 2009 game at Indiana and equaled against Idaho State earlier this season.
On Sunday, Gatens had taken 11 shots by halftime.
“I wish a few more of them would have went down,” he said. “I felt like I was getting some open looks, some shots I can make.”

When Fran McCaffery turns on tape and watches his Iowa basketball team’s next opponent, things never seem to get any easier.
Minnesota — fresh off a 70-67 victory over eighth-ranked Purdue — is the next challenge that awaits the Hawkeyes.
“A lot of things stand out about Minnesota, not the least of which is their athleticism,” McCaffery said at his weekly news conference today.
“That jumps right out at you. When you watch that team play, you see them rebounding above the rim, you see the shot blockers that they have go down the lane. I mean, they’re just wiping it off the glass. And then you see (Al) Nolen pushing it. He’s got some serious giddy-up and go.
“I keep saying that — seems like I say this about every team — but that’s why we have so many rated teams in our league. They have all the pieces. You can get up and pressure Nolan, but if you do and you hop off (Blake) Hoffarber, he’s going to kill you. You’ve got a shooter, you’ve got a point guard, you’ve got a high flier, you’ve got two big guys and you’ve got a beast (Trevor Mbakwe). Then you’ve got freshmen that come off the bench who can play. Typically, they’re starting three juniors and two seniors. Usually, that’s a recipe for a pretty good team.”
McCaffery views Sunday’s 5 p.m. game at Williams Arena as an opportunity for his team.
“We’ve got another shot at a ranked team. They just beat the eighth-rated team so they’ll probably move up. So, it’s an opportunity for us to go on the road and try to correct some of the mistakes that we made (in Sunday’s loss at Purdue and Wednesday’s game with Northwestern) and try to improve collectively.”
McCaffery has been stressing individual improvement with his team this week, believing that should help Iowa’s chances for team success.
“We need to get four or five guys playing consistently well and then we can plug other guys in. That’s how you do it,” McCaffery said.

Bryce Cartwright and Matt Gatens were pretty much a two-man offense for the Iowa basketball team tonight, combining for 45 points in the Hawkeyes’ 90-71 loss to Northwestern.
Cartwright finished with 25 points — topping his previous career best of 20 in a game for Fresno State against Cal Poly in 2008 — while Gatens finished with 20 points and has reached that level in three of his last five games.
Coach Fran McCaffery welcomes their production, especially given his vocal concern over the lack of offense Iowa received from its backcourt in Sunday’s loss at Purdue.
Still, he’d prefer that Cartwright and Gatens have a little help.
The pair combined to shoot 15-of-26 from the field while the rest of the team finished 11-of-24 and for the second time in three games, Iowa had a starter finish without a point.
“Talking about the defense which was obviously the problem (against Northwestern) makes sense, but where are we getting points?” McCaffery asked.
“Thankfully we had two guys go for 45, but that’s not going to happen every night. I need Melsahn (Basabe), I need Eric May, I need (Devyn) Marble, I need (Jarryd) Cole and (Andrew Brommer). I need four, six, eight from everybody to beat a team of this caliber.”
Iowa didn’t get that against the Wildcats, who have now scored 90 points in back to back Big Ten games for the first time since reaching that level in consecutive losses during the 1969-70 season.
Basabe finished with six — to go with 12 rebounds — and Marble had seven points, but Cole finished with just three points and May and Brommer both were held without a point.
May continues to show the lingering impact of the groin injury which sidelined him against Ohio State last week. He’s 1-for-7 over his last two games and played 17 and 15 minutes, respectively, against the Boilermakers and Wildcats.
“I think for (May), the injury set him back,” McCaffery said. “He was out for a long time, missed the (Ohio State) game, didn’t play particularly well at Purdue. I don’t think he was 100 percent,” McCaffery said.
“Tonight, he was clearly sideways so his game is not what it could be, what it should be. It’s incumbant upon us to challenge him and help him get it figured out, get some shots up, stay after it in the training room so he’s closer to 100 percent. We need to get him going because we need him.”
Iowa did put together its best shooting effort in 10 games — topping 50 percent for just the third time this season with a 52-percent effort from the field.
But, Iowa launched 12 fewer shots than the Wildcats, a byproduct of finishing with seven fewer offensive rebounds than Northwestern.
It all led to a two-headed scoring machine.
It hasn’t been that long since Iowa had a pair of players reach 20 points in the same game.
In an 80-78 overtime loss to Michigan on Feb. 16 last season, Aaron Fuller finished with 30 points and Gatens had 21 for the Hawkeyes.