NCAAB Game Preview - Savannah State at Iowa

Sat Dec 22, 2018 1:00 PM EST

Saturday's weather forecast for Iowa City is temperatures in the 40s with a 10 percent chance of rain.

Inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena, there's a 100 percent chance Savannah State will be raining 3s when the Tigers visit No. 21 Iowa (9-2).

"Savannah State plays a unique style," Iowa coach Fran McCaffery explained.

The Tigers' run-and-gun attack has the team leading in the nation in 3-point attempts with 567 -- 161 more than second-place The Citadel. Savannah State connects on 12.8 of those per game, third in the nation.

"Kids love to score," Savannah coach Horace Broadnax explained. "Golden State set the tempo in the NBA. We can play up-tempo and fast, and I can still make demands of them."

Iowa's offense comes from all spots on the floor. Tyler Cook and Luka Garza control the paint, combining for nearly 30 points and 15 boards per game.

Joe Wieskamp and Isaiah Moss both shoot 41 percent from 3-point range and Jordan Bohannon and Connor McCaffery combine for 16 points and six assists per game.

The Tigers are in the midst of a 12-game road trip with Saturday's game against the Hawkeyes being their ninth straight game away from home. Savannah State lost 91-80 at Tennessee Tech on Thursday.

"(Thursday) night, they only shot 27 3s and that's a small number," Fran McCaffery said. "They are going to push it, shoot it quick, and they have multiple guys that can shoot 3s and go off the dribble."

Three Tigers average in double figures in scoring, led by Jaquan Dotson (13.2), Zach Sellers (11.3) and Zaquavian Smith (10.6). Dotson also is the top rebounder with 5.7 per game.

The Tigers' average time of possession is 12 seconds.

"We want to play fast and we like to shoot available shots -- open shots -- as long as it's an open shot. We want to keep people off balance and take the opposing coaches out of the game and play a fast tempo," Broadnax said.

The Tigers rank 351st of 351 Division I teams in scoring defense at 100.1 and 350th in scoring margin (22.2 points per game). Savannah State has allowed five opponents to reach the century mark. South Dakota State scored 90 points in the first half of a 139-72 win earlier this month,

That helps explain Savannah State's 3-10 record. The Tigers might not be good, but they are fun to watch.

The Hawkeyes are workmanlike and yet flashy in a different way than the Tigers. They play with a purpose and during the past few games that purpose is to get ready for Big Ten play.

Iowa has experience, size and depth. Four players have led the team in scoring as the Hawkeyes have won nine of their first 11 games.

Iowa's depth has been tested early in the season. Super frosh Wieskamp has been dinged up, Cordell Pemsl had surgery this week and will miss the remainder of the season, junior center Ryan Kreiner sprained an ankle against Western Carolina on Tuesday and freshman guard McCaffery suffered a concussion in the same game.

Wieskamp is healthy, but McCaffery has been ruled out of Saturday's game.

"There are a number of ways we could go," Fran McCaffery said. "Austin Ash is a guy that is ready to get minutes if we need him to. We have options."

Wieskamp could also slide over to the guard position.

Iowa's offense has been clicking and Savannah's style of play is perfect for the Hawkeyes.

"I'd like to see us run more, but our ball movement has been good, our ability to share the ball (has been good) and we establish going inside, and (our rate of) getting to the free throw line has been impressive," McCaffery said. "Our perimeter guys have done a good job of getting the ball inside and recognizing that we have players that can score in there."