(Iowa City, IA) — Just when Iowa was hitting a tough stretch in their men’s basketball season, things got even worse today when it was announced that starting center Owen Freeman will miss the rest of the season with a hand injury. Head Coach Fran McCaffrey says the injury was serious enough that it requires surgery — if he had played any more it might have jeopardized his future career
Freeman is the team’s leading scorer at 16.7 ppg so there will be more pressure on Peyton Sandfort who is not far behind at 16.0 ppg. Freeman is also the leader in rebounds at 6.7 per game so its a big void on the team. Iowa does have depth at center and McCaffrey could turn to a guy like 6-7 Seydou Traore
The Hawkeyes are entering a tough stretch in their schedule where they are playing teams that have talented big men — #21 Wisconsin, at Rutgers, at #18 Maryland and especially Tuesday night hosting #7 Purdue
Iowa is 13-8 and 4-6 in the Big Ten; the Boilermakers are 17-5 and 9-2, tipoff is at 6 pm, it will be televised on Peacock.
