• Iowa fans saw Adam Haluska play for the first time. He went scoreless in 15 minutes of action. Alford said he just wanted to play Haluska long enough to prove to him that he was over his injury and expects him to play better next week. I know I was a little disappointed that Haluska didn't have the ball much, and that he only got three shots off. I'm still expecting him to be a solid player this year - he should look better when he gets in sync with the offense and plays a few more minutes.
• Erek Hansen had an ugly game. He shot 1-7 and only grabbed two rebounds. Sure, he also had his token 5 blocks, but a few of them went out of bounds and right back to Laval, so they didn't matter much. What mattered was that he couldn't keep his guy off the glass. You could hear Alford bark at Hansen more than once to block out, and he kept the big man's minutes down to 18. Alford spoke briefly on the radio after the game, and one thing he mentioned was the slow starts the team has gotten off to in the first two exhibition games. He hinted that the lineup might get shaken up to get a better team out there early on. Hmmm, team starts slowly, center rebounds poorly. . . . how could we remedy this situation? Why not kill two birds with one stone and start. . . .
• Doug Thomas? I don't know if I expect this to happen, but I know I like the team better when he's on the floor. I don't usually give credit for intangibles, but this guy infuses the lineup with energy every time he steps onto the court. The crowd seemed to love the alley-oop he caught from Jeff Horner.
• Horner had a decent game himself. He scored 11 points and had seven assists for the second straight game. Alford lamented the fact that Horner hasn't been to the line yet. Of course it would be nice if he got there (and could put his 86 FT% to good use) but he's doing a good job so far of finding other guys who can score.
• Another solid game today from Reed. He knocked down three treys without missing any. If you count the B&G Blowout, he's now 8-12 from downtown in three games. Alford commented that he's been the team's most solid newcomer so far. He's especially been impressed with Carlton's consistency, in games and in practice.
• Carver-Hawkeye was empty today. They announced a crowd of 8,000+, but there was maybe half that. I was one of the first students there and sat in about the 5th row, and there were plenty of seats open in front of me for the entire game. I hope attendance picks up as this team gets a few wins.
• Pierre Pierce was his usual self today, scoring in bunchs in a performance that included flashy moves, a couple ill-advised shots, too many turnovers, and a poor day at the free throw line. I'm usually a little critical of Pierce, but hey, he still led the team with 23 points. There were two times that he got a steal in the backcourt with no teammates nearby, but decided to attack Laval 1-on-3 anyway. He somehow made it work. The first time, he used a nifty behind the back dribble to evade a couple guys and hit a layup; the other time he got bailed out with a questionable blocking foul.
• Pierce shot 8-13 from the line, and the team as a whole didn't do much better, going 24-36. Iowa needs to improve here if they expect to win those close games come conference time.
• Oh, almost forgot Greg Brunner. He had another solid game, finishing with 11 rebounds and 13 points in only 27 minutes. He missed a couple shots in close but sill shot 6-10.
• Seth Gorney made his debut but only played one minute.

Box Score

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