Owen Freeman Ready for Wisconsin

By John Bohnenkamp 

GAME NOTES

Owen Freeman will be back on the court for Iowa on Friday when the Hawkeyes play at Wisconsin.

He knows the Badgers will come after him to make sure he doesn’t stay on the court very long.

Freeman is one of the more effective front-court players in the Big Ten, but he has had the tendency to get into foul trouble in his first 1 ½ seasons. And with Wisconsin’s size inside, Freeman figures the Badgers will be looking to go at him.

“Kind of seems like teams are trying to get me in foul trouble, which I had struggled with last year,” Freeman said Thursday. “And obviously, there have been a couple games this year where I've gotten that early foul trouble, but that's honestly a compliment, because they don't want me on the floor, so yeah, that could be something that they go to.”

Freeman is tied for second on the team with 27 fouls, but he hasn’t fouled out of a game this season.

“I think it’s just making smart plays, like knowing when to go for blocks, knowing, OK, I’ve got to let this one go because I'm going to be late,” he said. “Just kind of playing smart and having the IQ to go for some things and not go for some things.”

“He's working at it, sliding his feet and sprinting up and down the floor and doing his work early,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “I think that's the key, especially when you're guarding guys in the post.”

The Badgers start 7-footers Steven Crowl and Nolan Winter, who combine to average 20 points and 11.2 rebounds.

“Obviously they've had some great bigs come through there,” Freeman said. “They have two really talented bigs that they put in the starting lineup that obviously have been playing at a really high level, so I'm looking forward to competing against them.”

Freeman missed Monday’s home game against New Hampshire with an ankle injury.

“Obviously me and (trainer) Brad (Floy) didn't think that my ankle was good enough to go, so I just had to cheer my teammates on,” Freeman said. “And it feels good now — I'm ready to go on Friday. Just had a little tweak, but yeah I feel really good.”

It’s all Big Ten games for the rest of the regular season for the Hawkeyes (10-3, 1-1, 48 NET). Getting a road win against the Badgers (10-3, 0-2, 31 NET) would be an important step in the conference race.

“It’s huge obviously,” Freeman said. “Because I feel like this year the Big Ten is up for grabs, and I feel like we have a really great shot at taking it. Especially after last year, starting 0-3 in the conference, and (this year) going up 2-1 would be big.”

“I think when you look at this league, every team is really good, so road wins are going to be difficult,” McCaffery said. “So you want to play well at home, and then obviously try to go on the road and compete.”