Taking the court against the nation’s No. 1 team will be a new experience for most of the Iowa basketball team.
But for Hawkeyes sophomore guard Adam Haluska, the game at Illinois on Thursday night will be somewhat-reminiscent of three games he played against Kansas two years ago when he started for Iowa State.
For the first three weeks of the 2002-03 season, Kansas was the nation’s No. 2 team in the coaches’ poll. The Jayhawks’ season ended with a loss to Syracuse in the NCAA tournament final.
Haluska played against the Jayhawks at home, on the road and in the Big 12 tournament, but Iowa State lost every game.
“They had a lot of great players,” he recalled. “Kirk Hinrich, Nick Collison and some of the guys who are still there–Wayne Simien, Aaron Miles and Michael Lee.”
With Illinois students back on campus to resume classes this week, Assembly Hall will be a madhouse as the undefeated Illini attempt to win their 19th straight game.
A significant subplot to the clash of border rivals is the backcourt battle that pits Luther Head, Deron Williams and Dee Brown of the Illini against Iowa’s Pierre Pierce, Jeff Horner and Haluska. On both teams the three guards are 1-2-3 in scoring.
“They have the type of offense that can be very explosive because of their guard play, a lot like us,” Illinois coach Bruce Weber said.
“Pierce is a slasher; he can get to the basket, he can post up, he’s real good in transition. Horner is a solid, steady kid who knows how to play and can shoot the three. Haluska is a definite positive addition. You can’t let him get on a roll.”
The 6-foot-5-inch, 210-pound Haluska got on a roll one night for Carroll (Iowa) High School and wound up with 47 points. He was a four-year starter, averaging 17.6 points as a freshman, 21.5 as a sophomore, 29.8 as a junior and 30.1 as a senior.
Growing up, Haluska was an ardent Iowa fan, but he decided to go to Iowa State because he “took a liking” to former coach Larry Eustachy and his assistants. They also liked him. He started every game, averaged 9.2 points and made the Big 12 All-Freshman team.
But when Eustachy resigned after it was revealed the coach had been drinking and partying with Missouri and Kansas State students after road games, Haluska decided to transfer to Iowa. The move was big news in the state because athletes from Iowa State almost never transfer to Iowa and vice versa.
“You go to a school basically for the coaching staff,” Haluska said. “I admired coach [Steve] Alford and his staff here and the players they had, so I transferred. Everybody in my family was a Hawkeyes fan. When I committed to Iowa State everybody kind of switched over, but they switched back pretty quickly when I decided to come here.”
As a transfer, Haluska was allowed only to practice with the team last season, but his eligibility extends through 2006-07.
“Adam is strong and athletic,” Alford said. “He can really guard and he’s a great long-range shooter.”
A back injury limited Haluska to three points in the loss at Ohio State. It also affected his shooting in Saturday’s home game against Minnesota. He made 3 of 12 field-goal attempts but converted 8 of 10 free throws in the last 7 minutes 47 seconds. Haluska also played strong defense as the No. 23 Hawkeyes (13-3, 1-2 Big Ten) won 66-60.
“I had a lot of good open looks, but I didn’t put the ball in the hole,” said Haluska, who averages 13.1 points. “That’s going to happen some games. I had to fight through a little bit of [back] pain but nowhere near as much as in the Ohio State game.
“It’s a little premature to compare the Big Ten and the Big 12, but I’ve found out already that the Big Ten is more physical than the games we played in our preseason schedule.”
Former Illinois coach Bill Self, now the head coach at No. 2 Kansas, has said he believes Big 12 teams played more up tempo than Big Ten teams last season.
“He’s right,” Haluska said. “In the Big 12 there were a lot of teams that tried to run the score up. When we played Kansas, the ball would be in the basket and before you could turn around it was down at the other end.
“Defense is such a big-time presence in the Big Ten and there are a lot of real gritty, tough physical teams. You see a lot more low-scoring games.
“The Big 12 was loaded when I was there. We played some really good teams–like Kansas and Texas and Missouri–but this Illinois team is big-time. It’s great for the Big Ten to have a team having that kind of success. They’re playing like they should be No. 1.”
Adam Haluska
%%
POINTS FG % 3-PT. % FT %
13.1 48.1 39.7 82.1
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BRUCE WEBER’S SCOUTING REPORT:
“A definite positive addition. You can’t let him get on a roll.”
Jeff Horner
%%
POINTS FG % 3-PT. % FT %
14.1 44.7 47.1 79.7
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BRUCE WEBER’S SCOUTING REPORT:
“A solid, steady kid who knows how to play; can shoot the three.”
Pierre Pierce
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POINTS FG % 3-PT. % FT %
17.9 47.7 28.8 52.4
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BRUCE WEBER’S SCOUTING REPORT:
“A slasher; he can get to the basket, post up . . . real good in transition.”
Backcourt battle
Average per game totals of Iowa starting guards Pierre Pierce, Jeff Horner and Adam Haluska and Illinois starting guards Luther Head, Deron Williams and Dee Brown:
%%
IOWA MIN PTS AST REB TO ST
Pierce 32.8 17.9 3.9 5.8 3.9 2.6
Horner 34.9 14.1 5.8 4.6 2.6 1.7
Haluska 27.6 13.1 1.3 3.4 1.1 0.9
ILLINOIS
Head 31.9 16.3 4.4 4.0 1.4 1.7
Williams 32.0 13.4 7.0 3.7 2.9 0.7
Brown 31.6 13.3 5.2 2.7 1.9 1.6
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