Tag: Filip Rebraca

Headed home: Filip Rebraca inks first professional contract

Filip Rebraca is officially a professional basketball player, inking his first pro deal with Borac Mozzart of the AdmiralBet ABA League.

One of Iowa’s key cogs over the past two seasons has his first professional contract. Filip Rebraca is heading home after signing with Borac Mozzart of the AdmiralBet ABA League.

Borac Mozzart is a professional team in Čačak, Serbia. The team ended last season with a 7-19 mark in the ABA standings.

Naturally, adding Rebraca to the equation should be an immediate boon for Borac Mozzart. The 6-foot-9, 230 pound forward from Sombor, Serbia, has been terrific for Iowa each of the last two years.

Rebraca played in and started each of the Iowa Hawkeyes‘ 69 games over the past two seasons. After arriving as a transfer from North Dakota, Rebraca morphed into one of the Hawkeyes’ most important pieces.

The Serbian product averaged 5.8 points and 5.6 rebounds during Iowa’s 26-10 (16-8 Big Ten) finish during the 2021-22 season. Alongside Keegan and Kris Murray, Jordan Bohannon, Patrick McCaffery, and Tony Perkins, Rebraca helped guide Iowa to its third all-time Big Ten Tournament title and the program’s first since 2006.

Then, after Keegan Murray and Bohannon moved on, Rebraca was asked to take on a larger role. Rebraca responded by upping his averages to 14.1 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Both of those marks ranked second on the Hawkeyes’ squad last season. Thanks to his big contributions, Iowa finished with a 19-14 (11-9 Big Ten) mark and captured its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament berth.

Ahead of its first-round NCAA Tournament date versus Auburn, Iowa head men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery discussed how Rebraca helped replace the production the Hawkeyes lost after Keegan Murray was selected No. 4 overall by the Sacramento Kings.

“Coming into the season, we thought we could be a good team. But, you know, we lost a lot from last year, he was the fourth pick. You lose a guy that scored 2,000 points. We lost quite a bit. And other people had to step up in different roles, and they did that. And Filip Rebraca I think took his game to a whole new level which was critical to our success. One of the main reasons why we are here,” McCaffery said of Rebraca.

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PHOTOS: Iowa men’s basketball roasts Bethune-Cookman to open 2022-23 season

All five starters finished in double-figure scoring, including Tony Perkins’ game-high 16. Here were the best photos from the season opener.

Iowa wasted no time illustrating promise for the 2022-23 men’s college basketball season. All five Hawkeye starters finished with double-figure scoring, including point guard Tony Perkins who finished with a game-high 16 points on 7-of-9 field goal shooting.

“Tony Perkins has aggressiveness. He has skills. He is shooting the ball outside. He is driving the ball. He always had a pull-up game. He is getting to the rim. We put the ball in his hands a little bit more, so now he has more space, and he is even more effective.

“Five assists and one turnover, that is the thing that impressed me the most. When you put him at the point, you are going to have to give it up, and he does. But he did that from the first day he got here. He said, yeah, he was a scorer, he was a scoring guard, but you can put the ball in his hands. He will just get better,” Iowa head men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery said of Perkins’ performance.

Filip Rebraca also recorded his 20th career double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

“He is aggressive offensively, he is aggressive in his ball-screen defense, he is aggressive in post defense. He is aggressive on the glass and running the floor. He is taking the ball, dribbling it, driving it and finishing the play, posting hard.

“Quite frankly, all the stuff he did when he was at North Dakota. He was dominant. For us he was really good. His role was different. We got to keep him here, and now he has taken charge. That’s what I wanted him to do. It was always in there, and now you’re seeing it,” McCaffery said of Rebraca.

Meanwhile, Kris Murray had 14 points, Payton Sandfort had 13 and Patrick McCaffery finished with 12.

With the win, Iowa begins its season 1-0. The Hawkeyes have now won 12 consecutive season openers, 78 of their last 83 nonconference home games and improved to 92-3 when holding opponents to fewer than 61 points during McCaffery’s tenure.

There are plenty of takeaways and Hawkeye social media was certainly delighted to have Iowa basketball back. It was a fun night from inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Take a look back at the season debut that was through these sensational still photos.

Iowa Hawkeyes safely in the 2023 NCAA Tournament in Joe Lunardi’s summer Bracketology

A summer Bracketology? You better believe it, and the Iowa Hawkeyes are safely in the 2023 NCAA Tournament per ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.

It’s never too early to start thinking about next year!

While we are nowhere near the start of the 2022-23 men’s college basketball season, it’s still right in season for ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi to start piecing together his March bracket.

In his most recent version of Bracketology, Iowa is in with one of the last four byes of the tournament, landing as the No. 10 seed in the East region. The Hawkeyes’ opening date would be against seventh-seeded Saint Louis with a likely date against No. 2 seed Texas looming after that.

Iowa is one of seven Big Ten teams that Lunardi currently has making the Big Dance. That’s tied for tops nationally of any conference according to Lunardi’s projections, joining the Big 12, Big East and SEC as seven-bid leagues.

In addition to Iowa, Lunardi has No. 7 seed Purdue and No. 8 seed Ohio State in the West region, No. 6 seed Illinois and No. 8 seed Michigan State in the East region and No. 4 seed Indiana and No. 7 seed Michigan in the South region.

For the Hawkeyes, Lunardi is expecting a bit of regression from the past two seasons. Iowa was a No. 2 seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament and a No. 5 seed last year entering March Madness after winning the Big Ten Tournament title over Purdue, 75-66.

Over the past two seasons, Iowa basketball has lost their star player. Luka Garza was possibly the greatest player in Hawkeyes history, a two-time Big Ten Player of the Year and consensus All-American. He graduated on to the NBA at the end of the 2020-21 season.

Then, Keegan Murray broke out and was also a consensus first-team All-American. He also probably should have been won the Big Ten Player of the Year last year. Instead, he goes down as Iowa’s highest-ever draft pick, going fourth to the Sacramento Kings in the 2022 NBA draft.

That’s two straight years that Iowa has to replace a historic player. While that’s routine for a team like Duke that rules the top-10 player recruiting list every year, it is a tough task for a team like Iowa. There are a lot of returning pieces coming back, including potential breakout star Kris Murray.

“Well, first of all, I’m really excited for him. First time in his life that he hasn’t played with his brother. He accepted the challenge of coming back,” Head Coach Fran McCaffrey said in a recent interview about the returning Murray. “As I said before, he bet on himself. A lot of guys, if they have a two-way, they take it. He could’ve gone to a two-way if he wanted, but he wanted to come back. He loves his teammates and he wants the responsibility that’s going to be placed on him. And he’s ready for it, he’s worked hard for it and I’m excited for him.”

The Hawkeyes open their 2022-23 season on Nov. 7 at home against SWAC opponent Bethune-Cookman.

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Iowa set to play Seton Hall, full 2022 Gavitt Tipoff Games schedule released

Per CBS Sports Jon Rothstein, Iowa is headed to Seton Hall in the 2022 Gavitt Games. Plus, a look at the entire 2022 Gavitt Games slate.

While official dates and times are still to be determined, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reported that the matchups for the 2022 Gavitt Tipoff Games are officially set.

The annual inter-conference challenge between the Big Ten and the Big East features eight games. Introduced in the 2015-16 men’s college basketball season, Iowa is set for its fourth appearance in the Gavitt Tipoff Games.

The Hawkeyes will reportedly travel to take on Seton Hall. Iowa owns a 1-2 mark in the Gavitt Tipoff Games, beating Marquette in 2015, 89-61, losing to Seton Hall in Iowa City in 2016, 91-83, and falling to DePaul in 2019, 93-78.

In Iowa’s 2015 win over Marquette, the Hawkeyes were paced by guard Peter Jok’s 20 points and 4-of-6 made 3-pointers. Jarrod Uthoff, Anthony Clemmons, Mike Gesell, and Adam Woodbury all added double-figure scoring for Iowa in the win over the Golden Eagles.

In 2016 against Seton Hall, Jok had another monster night, registering 30 points and 10 rebounds. Tyler Cook added 24 points for the Hawkeyes, but it wasn’t enough as Seton Hall shot 47.1% from 3-point range, 50.8% from the floor and had three different 20-plus scorers that night. The Pirates’ Myles Powell scored 26, Desi Rodriguez added 25 and Khadeen Carrington chipped in with 20 points.

The Hawkeyes will be looking to exact some revenge for that setback in 2016 and have a chance to regain the all-time series lead over Seton Hall as well as even their mark in the Gavitt Tipoff Games. Iowa and Seton Hall have met just twice. The first meeting took place in late December of 1982 when Iowa routed Seton Hall, 85-63.

Here’s a look at all of the 2022 Gavitt Tipoff Games matchups with last season’s overall and conference records attached.

Iowa guard Payton Sandfort pegged for breakout season by CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein

CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein feels Payton Sandfort can emerge as one of Iowa men’s basketball’s best players in the 2022-23 season.

Is there a young Iowa guard flying under the radar?

While, yes, most of the attention for next year’s men’s basketball team is firmly placed on Kris Murray, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein tweeted out about another potential breakout star for the Hawkeyes.

That breakout candidate is sophomore-to-be Payton Sandfort. The 6-foot-7 wing out of Waukee High School in Iowa earned praise from Rothstein following an inaugural campaign where he averaged five points and 1.9 rebounds per game in just 10.5 minutes of average floor time.

As demonstrated by Rothstein, Sandfort didn’t play a ton of minutes in the 2021-22 season. When on the court for extended periods of time, he looked like a guy Iowa could count on in the future. As Rothstein noted, Sandfort averaged 11.7 points per game in contests where he logged 15 or more minutes of floor time.

Hawkeye fans saw early in the season Sandfort’s potential against some tuneup opponents in early November. Sandfort scored a career-high 21 points against SWAC opponent Alabama State. He then dropped 19 the following game against Western Michigan, sinking five of his seven 3-point attempts.

His performance under the bright lights of the Big Ten Tournament was encouraging as well. In his 15 minutes of action against Northwestern in the tournament’s opening round, Sandfort scored 13 points and added three buckets from long range. Against Purdue in the conference championship game, he scored 10 points off the bench and didn’t miss a single shot.

There is a lot of hope for a big sophomore breakout from Sandfort this upcoming year, and it would really boost Iowa’s chances of repeating as Big Ten Tournament champions. Iowa lost some key contributors this offseason. Recent No. 4 overall 2023 NBA draft selection Keegan Murray is the obvious one, but Jordan Bohannon started for about a half-decade.

The hope is that Kris Murray can follow in the footsteps of his twin brother, Patrick McCaffery can live up to some of the preseason love he’s garnered and then Iowa can find production in other places as well.

Sandfort showed a lot of potential as a shooter coming off the bench his freshman year, and those key performances in the Big Ten Tournament are very exciting. If he can take his game to another level, his partnership with Murray alongside a returning Patrick McCaffrey and Filip Rebraca could take Iowa back into the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

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Full 2022 ACC/Big Ten Challenge matchups released, Iowa Hawkeyes set to host Georgia Tech

Iowa is set to host Georgia Tech in the 2022 ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Here’s a look at all of next season’s matchups.

First reported by CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein, the Iowa men’s basketball team will host Georgia Tech on Tuesday, Nov. 29, in the 2022 ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Hawkeyes have won seven of their past nine Challenge games, including their last four.

After last season’s thrilling 75-74 road triumph at Virginia, Iowa now owns a 9-12 overall mark in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Former Hawkeye guard Joe Toussaint banked home the game-winner with eight seconds remaining to propel Iowa past the Cavaliers that night inside John Paul Jones Arena.

Jordan Bohannon knocked down 6-of-9 3-pointers and scored 20 points and Keegan Murray added 18 points and nine rebounds to lead the Hawks.

During its four-game winning streak in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, Iowa also topped Pittsburgh in 2018, 69-68, Syracuse in 2019, 68-54, and North Carolina in 2020, 93-80.

Six of Iowa’s nine Challenge wins have come inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena, including each of the past four Challenge games at home. In addition to the aforementioned wins over Pittsburgh and North Carolina in 2018 and 2020, respectively, Iowa also beat Notre Dame in 2013 and Florida State in 2015 at home.

The contest against Georgia Tech represents the third all-time meeting between the two programs. In 2000, Iowa rolled Georgia Tech in the second year of the Challenge inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena, 85-67. Then, in the second round of the 2003 NIT in Iowa City, the Yellow Jackets just clipped the Hawkeyes, 79-78.

Iowa returns three of its starters from last season, forward Patrick McCaffery, forward Kris Murray and forward Filip Rebraca. Last season, McCaffery averaged 10.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per game, Murray added 9.7 points and 4.3 boards per night and Rebraca chipped in with 5.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.

Across the board, the Hawkeyes return five of its top seven scorers. Iowa ended the 2021-22 season as Big Ten Tournament champions and with an overall record of 26-10.

Meanwhile, Georgia Tech is led by seventh-year head coach Josh Pastner and the Yellow Jackets finished last season with an overall mark of 12-20. Georgia Tech does return a pair of starters from last year’s squad, guard Kyle Sturdivant and center Rodney Howard. Sturdivant averaged 7.6 points and 2.5 rebounds per game, while Howard added 6.5 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.

Game times and television information will be announced at a later date. ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU will combine to televise all 14 games of the three-day event matching top college basketball programs playing for conference supremacy and the Commissioner’s Cup. The Big Ten won last season’s Challenge, 8-6.

Here’s a look at the full list of ACC/Big Ten Challenge matchups.

An early look at the Iowa Hawkeyes’ nonconference basketball matchups in 2022-23

A challenging nonconference slate should have the Iowa Hawkeyes ready for Big Ten play in the 2022-23 men’s college basketball season.

The 2021-22 season was a dream for Iowa up until the NCAA Tournament. Led by sophomore forward Keegan Murray, a likely 2022 NBA draft lottery pick, the Hawkeyes took home the Big Ten Tournament crown over Purdue.

Sadly, all of that momentum came to a screeching halt immediately in the first round of the tournament as 12th-seeded Richmond sent Iowa packing. Despite having one of the better seasons in recent memory for the program and delivering hardware back to Iowa City, the shame is that some will just remember the 2021-22 season for its disappointing end.

There will be some changes for the Hawkeyes heading into next year. Keegan Murray is off to the NBA and longtime starter Jordan Bohannon has graduated.

Iowa did receive a massive boost as Keegan’s twin brother, Kris Murray, announced his return. Patrick McCaffery is a capable player. If Iowa wants to improve upon its anticlimactic end to 2021-22, there are a big set of challenges already loaded up on the Hawkeyes’ nonconference 2022-23 schedule.

Let’s take a look at all of the important nonconference dates that have been finalized for Iowa below.

5 things to know after Iowa basketball hires Matt Gatens as assistant coach

Here’s five things to know about a familiar face in new Iowa men’s basketball assistant coach Matt Gatens.

After a pair of changes with his assistant coaching staff this offseason, Iowa head men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery has officially filled out his coaching staff with the addition of former Drake assistant Matt Gatens.

Let’s take a look at five things fans should know about Gatens entering his stint as one of Iowa’s new assistant coaches.

Best photos of former Hawkeye, new Iowa basketball assistant coach Matt Gatens

Iowa announced Matt Gatens as its newest assistant coach. Take a look back at his time with the Hawkeyes with these stunning still photos.

Iowa has its newest assistant coach and it’s a familiar face. Iowa head men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery tabbed Matt Gatens as the Hawkeyes’ second new assistant coach, filling the void left by former longtime assistant Kirk Speraw’s decision to retire.

McCaffery and Iowa also recently elevated Courtney Eldridge after Billy Taylor left to become the new head men’s basketball coach at Elon University.

Gatens was a four-year starter for Iowa during the 2009-12 seasons and his final two seasons coincided with the first two years of McCaffery’s tenure in Iowa City. McCaffery raved about the latest addition to his coaching staff.

“We are excited to have Matt Gatens rejoin our program as an assistant coach. Matt was a respected leader on my first two teams as Iowa’s head coach. I could tell right away that he exhibited all the necessary attributes to be a successful coach. Since transitioning to the coaching profession, Matt has gained valuable experience working on the staffs at Auburn and Drake. He will have an immediate impact on our program,” McCaffery said.

Gatens spent the past four seasons with the Drake Bulldogs. The first two he served as the program’s director of operations and then each of the past two seasons he was one of the Bulldogs’ assistant coaches.

Take a look back at Gatens playing career with the Hawkeyes through these stunning still photos.

Iowa reportedly set to square off against Duke in the 2022 Jimmy V Classic

Iowa will meet the Duke Blue Devils in the 2022 Jimmy V Classic. Here’s a look at the all-time series history and Duke’s projected starters.

The start of Iowa’s 2022-23 men’s basketball season is still every bit of five months away. Still, the Hawkeyes just received fantastic news with the return of forward Kris Murray to Iowa City.

Paired with several other decisions by Iowa players to either return or exit via the transfer portal, fans now have a pretty clear idea of what the Hawkeyes’ starting five and key reserves will look like entering next season.

Now, Iowa fans know they can book flights and start planning a trip to New York City for a battle against a blue blood.

CBS Sports and College Hoops Today’s Jon Rothstein reported that Iowa is set to meet the Duke Blue Devils in the 2022 Jimmy V Classic from historic Madison Square Garden. Rothstein also reported that the other game in the event is expected to feature the Texas Longhorns against the Illinois Fighting Illini.

Duke is one of the pillar programs in all of college basketball and will enter next season fresh off the Blue Devils’ 17th all-time appearance in the Final Four. Of course, legendary head coach Mike Krzyewski’s 13th and final Final Four appearance ended with the Blue Devils’ archrivals in the North Carolina Tar Heels sending Duke packing, 81-77.

The Kansas Jayhawks would go on to win the national championship over North Carolina, erasing a 16-point deficit in a historic second-half flurry for the largest title game comeback in NCAA Tournament history, topping the Tar Heels, 72-69.

In its history, Iowa has met up with Duke on eight different occasions. The Blue Devils lead the all-time series 7-1. The Hawkeyes and Blue Devils last played on Nov. 27, 2001, in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. It was not to be from the jump for an Iowa team led by guard Luke Recker and forward Reggie Evans.

Duke point guard Jason Williams scored 25 points, center Carlos Boozer added 22 and forward Mike Dunleavy chipped in with 18. The then-No. 1 and defending national champion Blue Devils routed Iowa, 80-62, inside the United Center.

Duke is set to replace some serious star power from last season’s Final Four team, but the Blue Devils have reloaded their roster with some serious talent. Here’s a look at the all-time series matchups between Iowa and Duke and a look at the Blue Devils’ projected starting five.