Iowa men's basketball: Drew Thelwell status update for Hawkeyes' matchup with Rutgers

Iowa men’s basketball: Drew Thelwell status update for Hawkeyes’ matchup with Rutgers

Posted by author February 12, 2025 Basketball

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IOWA CITY — The status of Drew Thelwell for Iowa basketball’s matchup with Rutgers on Wednesday is still up in the air, according to head coach Fran McCaffery.

“Hard to say,” McCaffery offered Tuesday, before noting that Thelwell did not practice on Monday.

With about six minutes remaining in Saturday’s contest against Wisconsin, Thelwell was driving to the basket when he went down with an apparent non-contact ankle injury and looked to be in serious pain. After being tended to on the court, he hopped off into the tunnel on one leg.

But somewhat surprisingly, Thelwell came back into the game just a few minutes later.

“I’m sort of amazed he came back in,” McCaffery said after the game. “Because I was right there right after it happened. He was in a lot of pain. And he’s in a lot of pain right now. But he really wanted to go back in.”

Thelwell was continuing to fight, even if that meant returning to Saturday’s contest after going down with an injury.

“I think it says what we already knew,” McCaffery said after Saturday’s 74-63 loss. “He’s a character guy. I’ve said that, as I try to categorize who he is for you guys. That dude has character. The only disappointment in it for me is I only get to coach him one year.”

The Hawkeyes (13-10, 4-8) have been decimated by injuries this season. That includes star sophomore Owen Freeman, who is done for the remainder of the 2024-25 season after undergoing finger surgery on his right hand.

If Iowa is without Thelwell at Rutgers, it would be yet another hit to a season that is falling apart.

Thelwell has been a fantastic addition from Morehead State via the transfer portal and one of Iowa’s most consistent players this season. He impacts the game on both ends of the floor and is shooting a career-high 42.2% from deep.

Thelwell’s availability remains an important storyline to track ahead of Wednesday’s contest.

Scouting Rutgers basketball

The Scarlet Knights have one of the best duos in the Big Ten — if not the best. And both are just freshmen.

Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey both could be lottery picks in the upcoming 2025 NBA Draft. They are the only two players averaging double figures for Rutgers this season, and they are a handful.

Bailey is a ridiculously talented 6-foot-10 shot-maker who is averaging 19.4 points and 7.7 rebounds per game this season. Harper is just behind his counterpart at 19.1 points per game and is dishing out 4.1 assists per contest.

“They have continued to grow, despite being very good from the beginning,” McCaffery said of Harper and Bailey. “They have great feel for the game. Right away you think these guys are great players, they’re just super talented. Yeah, they’re super talented but they really understand how to play. They understand how to get open. They know how to make plays for other people. They know how to impact the game at the right time. They don’t play like freshmen at all. Nor did we expect that, quite frankly.”

As a team, Rutgers has not quite lived up to the high expectations placed on them in the preseason. The Scarlet Knights are just 12-12 overall, including 5-8 in the Big Ten. But having two players like Bailey and Harper makes Rutgers a threat to erupt at just about any time.

Wednesday’s contest will consist of the two worst defenses in the Big Ten based on points allowed per game (including conference and non-conference games). Normally, that could favor an Iowa team that thrives at an up-tempo pace. But that becomes less certain given Rutgers has a pair of such lethal scorers and Iowa is without Freeman.

Iowa basketball’s road woes

Iowa still hasn’t won a true road game this season.

The Hawkeyes are 0-5 in such games. Only one of those games was decided by single digits, which came in the form of a two-point loss at Michigan in December. Since the calendar turned to 2025, Iowa has lost its road games by 31 (Wisconsin), 10 (USC), 24 (UCLA) and 17 (Ohio State).

That doesn’t provide much comfort for Iowa’s next two games, both of which are on the road, starting with Rutgers on Wednesday and followed by Maryland on Sunday.

“I think we’ve just had a real big trouble kinda withstanding runs,” Payton Sandfort said earlier this month about Iowa’s road struggles. “It feels like the lead goes from six to 20 like that. And that’s kinda where we’ve got to come together and we’ve got to have a little more fight than we’ve had in those moments. I think that’s been the big thing. We’ve shown we’re capable of coming back, but it’s that much harder on the road.”

Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, New Jersey, is not an easy place to win. Though Rutgers has been up and down this season, all of its losses at that venue have come to quality teams. The Scarlet Knights have also knocked off UCLA and Illinois at Jersey Mike’s Arena this season.

Maryland doesn’t present better circumstances. The Terrapins will enter Sunday’s contest having lost only one game at home this season.

The Hawkeyes’ season could sink even lower over the next handful of days should they fail to turn around their road shortcomings.

Iowa vs. Rutgers prediction

This has the ingredients to be a disastrous pair of games for the Hawkeyes, starting with Rutgers. Containing Harper and Bailey presents the type of challenge that Iowa might not be equipped to handle, especially if Thelwell isn’t available. For an Iowa team that has lost six of its last seven games, there aren’t many reasons to believe the Hawkeyes will leave New Jersey with a victory. Rutgers 84, Iowa 72