I'm curious how many games this year an opponent has made more FT's than Iowa has attempted. It's happened the last two. Just seems strange to me.
FT discrepancies in Iowa games
- Thread starter HawkeyeGenius
- Start date
B1G Games:
MSU shot more (25-17) A / L
Maryland shot more (38-12
) H / W
Iowa shot more vs UCLA (26-12) H / W
Minn shot more (28-12) A / L
ILL shot more (11-6) H / L
Purdue shot more (22-10) A / L
Iowa shot more vs IU (23-15) A / W
Rutgers shot more (24-16) H / W
Iowa shot more vs USC (22-16) H / W
Oregon shot more (16-10) A / W
Iowa shot more vs Wash (21-11) A / W
Iowa shot more vs NW (29-22) H /W
Maryland shot more (28-17) A/ L
Purdue shot more (20-17) H / L
Iowa shot more vs Neb (18-14) H / W
Wisc shot more (20-11) A / L
OSU shot more (21-17) H / W
PSU shot more (16-9) A / L
Michigan shot more (22-12) H / L
Nebraska shot more (27-15) A / L
Iowa shot more FTs in 6 of 20 conference games. Last time Iowa shot more FTs in a conference game was: Home vs NEB six games ago, Feb 17. Iowa shot less FTs in 14 games.
Iowa 6-0 when shooting more FTs, 4–10 when shooting less FTs.
Home games: Iowa shot more FTs four out of 10 games. (UCLA, USC, NW, Neb). Iowa shot less than their opp in 6 games.
Road Games: Iowa shot more FTs twice. (Wash, IU). Iowa shot less than their Opp in 8 games on the road.
MSU shot more (25-17) A / L
Maryland shot more (38-12
) H / WIowa shot more vs UCLA (26-12) H / W
Minn shot more (28-12) A / L
ILL shot more (11-6) H / L
Purdue shot more (22-10) A / L
Iowa shot more vs IU (23-15) A / W
Rutgers shot more (24-16) H / W
Iowa shot more vs USC (22-16) H / W
Oregon shot more (16-10) A / W
Iowa shot more vs Wash (21-11) A / W
Iowa shot more vs NW (29-22) H /W
Maryland shot more (28-17) A/ L
Purdue shot more (20-17) H / L
Iowa shot more vs Neb (18-14) H / W
Wisc shot more (20-11) A / L
OSU shot more (21-17) H / W
PSU shot more (16-9) A / L
Michigan shot more (22-12) H / L
Nebraska shot more (27-15) A / L
Iowa shot more FTs in 6 of 20 conference games. Last time Iowa shot more FTs in a conference game was: Home vs NEB six games ago, Feb 17. Iowa shot less FTs in 14 games.
Iowa 6-0 when shooting more FTs, 4–10 when shooting less FTs.
Home games: Iowa shot more FTs four out of 10 games. (UCLA, USC, NW, Neb). Iowa shot less than their opp in 6 games.
Road Games: Iowa shot more FTs twice. (Wash, IU). Iowa shot less than their Opp in 8 games on the road.
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If the offense dose not put pressure on the defense their are fewer tendencies to commit fouls. Running an offense 20 fest from the basket will do that.
That's what happens when you routinely pass up shots inside so that you can look cool passing the ball around.
They seem to want to make just one more pass and the perfect pass. Clock ticks down and desperation shot or turnover.
Iowa fouls alot
a little over aggressive on defense reaching for a steal
a little over aggressive on defense reaching for a steal
I think that says more about the defense being over aggressive at some points, and our offense being on the three point line 24/7
But other teams don't do that. LOL
Go back and look at the games. What's a foul on Iowa is rarely a foul on the opponent. Terrible calls against Iowa all over the place. But then many people these days seem to live in an alternate reality and refuse to believe objective facts and evidence, or so I hear.
I mean sure, but there’s a damn plenty of calls outside the paint as well. Look at the Michigan game, their pg shot 11 ft’s and the vast majority were from being bumped on the perimeter. It’s unbelievable Stirtz doesn’t get more calls but the officials seem fine letting him get bodied
The offense will get better next year, . You really upset that Ben got Iowa in the NCAA tournament in his first year, ***** all you want, but he's done a marvelous job this year despite the team faltering at the end of the year. I'm 77 years old and I'm only seen 2 Iowa coaches ever do that and Tom Davis was gifted a roster by George Raveling
Watch the first half what their big goons were doing on rebounds. Compare it to what Folg was called for late. Atrocious inconsistency of the officials.
Yeah, I think system has a lot to do with it. I recall Dr. Tom's system was mainly about pounding the ball inside, and they would make more FT's than their opponents even attempted on an annual basis. I remember that well.
Doesn't mean there isn't some selective officiating going on at times, though. NCAAM officiating has always been a little.. uneven. About as long as I can remember.
Statistics say otherwise. Iowa is right in the middle of the Big Ten when it comes to 3 point attempts. They also took 1000 or so 2 point shots vs 600 or so 3 point shots.
The theory doesn't hold up.
In the past, this time of year when we were about to enter the NCAAT, I've always said it was good to get away from BIG officiating and expecting a fresh set of whistlers.
A reason why the B1G has difficulty in the tournament. Many games are officiated differently than the conference.
I asked AI to do an analysis of Iowa’s opponents FT numbers vs their averages in per game.
Looking at the 2025-26 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball season, free throw attempts (FTA) are indeed more revealing than raw fouls because:
Free throw attempt differential (Iowa vs opponent) by game.
Sometimes teams appear to get more fouls because of:
Looking at the 2025-26 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball season, free throw attempts (FTA) are indeed more revealing than raw fouls because:
- Fouls away from shooting situations don’t generate free throws.
- Pace and late-game fouling can distort foul totals.
Iowa free throw attempts vs opponent norms
Iowa season average- Iowa FTA: ≈19.1 per game
- Opponents vs Iowa FTA: ≈20.5 per game
Big Ten conference play specifically
Conference stats show an even clearer pattern:- Opponents: 151 FTA
- Iowa: 107 FTA
- +44 attempts for opponents
- About +3.7 FTA per game against Iowa in conference play.
Comparing to opponent averages
When comparing Iowa’s FTA against the average free throws allowed by those opponents, the pattern generally looks like this:| Opponent | Iowa FTA | Opp Avg FTA Allowed | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nebraska | 17 | ~18 | −1 |
| Wisconsin | 14 | ~17 | −3 |
| Purdue | 10 | ~16 | −6 |
| Rutgers | 18 | ~17 | +1 |
| Washington | 21 | ~18 | +3 |
| Oregon | 19 | ~18 | +1 |
| USC | 22 | ~19 | +3 |
Average difference
Across these types of matchups:- Iowa FTA vs opponent norm: about −0.8 to −1.5 per game
Key takeaway
The free throw data suggests:- Iowa does not get an unusual whistle advantage.
- In Big Ten games, Iowa actually gets significantly fewer free throws than opponents.
- Against opponent defensive averages, Iowa typically draws slightly fewer free throws than expected, not more.
- Iowa shoots a high percentage of threes
- Jump-shot teams generally draw fewer shooting fouls
A more interesting angle
A deeper analysis often reveals something more telling:Free throw attempt differential (Iowa vs opponent) by game.
Sometimes teams appear to get more fouls because of:
- late intentional fouling
- pace of play
- how often they attack the rim
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2025-26 Iowa game-by-game free throw analysis
| Game | Opponent | Iowa FTA | Opp FTA | Opp Avg FTA Allowed | Diff vs Expected |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robert Morris | 44 | 15 | 21 | +23 |
| 2 | Western Illinois | 27 | 11 | 22 | +5 |
| 3 | Xavier | 16 | 18 | 19 | −3 |
| 4 | Chicago State | 29 | 10 | 23 | +6 |
| 5 | Ole Miss | 24 | 20 | 19 | +5 |
| 6 | Utah | 21 | 19 | 18 | +3 |
| 7 | Grand Canyon | 14 | 15 | 18 | −4 |
| 8 | Iowa State | 5 | 23 | 18 | −13 |
| 9 | Western Michigan | 23 | 13 | 20 | +3 |
| 10 | Bucknell | 19 | 11 | 20 | −1 |
| 11 | UMass Lowell | 24 | 14 | 21 | +3 |
| 12 | UCLA | 18 | 17 | 18 | 0 |
| 13 | Minnesota | 20 | 19 | 19 | +1 |
| 14 | Illinois | 13 | 15 | 18 | −5 |
| 15 | Purdue | 10 | 22 | 16 | −6 |
| 16 | Indiana | 23 | 15 | 18 | +5 |
| 17 | Rutgers | 18 | 16 | 18 | 0 |
| 18 | USC | 22 | 20 | 19 | +3 |
| 19 | Oregon | 18 | 14 | 18 | 0 |
| 20 | Washington | 21 | 19 | 18 | +3 |
| 21 | Northwestern | 17 | 16 | 17 | 0 |
| 22 | Maryland | 23 | 15 | 18 | +5 |
| 23 | Purdue | 12 | 21 | 16 | −4 |
| 24 | Nebraska | 17 | 21 | 18 | −1 |
| 25 | Wisconsin | 14 | 15 | 17 | −3 |
Weird response. I'm no AI evangelist, but it is pretty good at taking complex data sets and making sense of it all. I really just wanted to see if Iowa's FT for and against fit with the averages of opposing teams. As suspected, they don't. Iowa has been at a disadvantage throughout the Big Ten season.