IOWA CITY, Iowa -- After losing four senior starters, Iowa is in the midst of a major rebuild this season.The recent performances of its freshmen suggest that those efforts might not take very long.The Hawkeyes (5-5) have had serious struggles so far, most notably losing to Nebraska-Omaha at home. But that adversity has revealed reasons for optimism, because their freshmen have shown serious promise so far.Newcomers Cordell Pemsl, Isaiah Moss, Jordan Bohannon and Tyler Cook have all become major contributors. Pemsl, Moss and Bohannon started in last weeks upset of then-No. 25 Iowa State, and Cook (13.7 points, 5.3 rebounds per game) was a starter before a broken right finger set him back.Iowa plays Northern Iowa (5-4) on Saturday as part of an annual doubleheader in Des Moines.Getting them to understand how to prepare and how to work and how to put it together (is the challenge) because from the very beginning theyve been really good most of the time, Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said.The Hawkeyes were concerned about their interior play after center Adam Woodburys graduation. The 6-foot-8 Pemsl looks like he might be able to fix that problem.Pemsl was somewhat overlooked during the recruiting process because of shoulder and knee injuries. But he still led Dubuque (Wahlert) Iowa in scoring and rebounding in all four of his high school seasons -- and hes put up some impressive stats in his collegiate debut.Pemsl is one of just seven Division I players in the last 20 years to hit at least 75 percent of his shots in his first 10 games, which McCaffery said is a product of advanced shot selection. Pemsl (42 of 56 shooting) also averaging 17 points a game since taking the injured Cooks spot in the starting lineup, with 4.9 rebounds and roughly a block a game as well.Little things thatll help my game, help me get easy and efficient shots, Pemsl said when asked about his recent scoring binge. His teammates know that they can count on me to turn around and score or find them with a kick out.Bohannon is the youngest of four brothers to play Division I ball, including Zach (Wisconsin) and Matt (Northern Iowa).Although Bohannon was Iowas Mr. Basketball in 2016, he was expected to be Iowas backup point guard as a freshman. But like Pemsl, Bohannon jumped into the starting lineup four games ago and hasnt looked back, averaging over 13 points and 5.5 assists as a starter.Weve all prepared ourselves to be in the position we are in right now, Bohannon said of he and his fellow freshmen. Its hard as a freshman. Coach has been on me every day knowing I had to play right away.Moss, a 6-foot-5 guard who redshirted in 2015-16, had his breakout performance last week. He scored 35 points combined in wins over Stetson and the Cyclones to earn Big Ten freshman of the week honors.Hes got unlimited potential because very few people that are that quick and athletic have that kind of stroke, McCaffery said. Once he really believes hes as great as we think he should be, then hell become that great.McCaffery will have some serious shuffling to do when Cook, the most highly-touted recruit he ever brought to Iowa City, returns next week. And although the young Hawkeyes have had their moments so far, theyll much more likely to finish near .500 than near the top of the Big Ten.But the four seniors they lost led the program to three straight NCAA Tournaments. If Iowas newest core can continue to progress, they might someday match that feat.Youve got to be patient, McCaffery said.---More college basketball at www.collegebasketball.ap.orgVapormax Plus White Cheap . It was just business as usual for the Thunder at home. Durant scored 32 points and the Thunder beat the Bulls 107-95 on Thursday night for their eighth straight win. Vapormax Plus Store . -- The proud fathers huddled near the Dallas Stars dressing room, smiling, laughing and telling stories while wearing replica green sweaters of their sons team. http://www.airmaxplusstoresale.com/air-vapormax-plus-cheap.html .C. -- After a listless first half, the Washington Wizards used a big third quarter run to beat the Charlotte Bobcats Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Wizards used a 17-0 run in the third quarter to take control of what had been a close game and beat the Bobcats 97-83 on Tuesday night. Vapormax Plus Black Sale . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night. Air Max Plus 97 Cheap .Y. - General manager Billy King says the Brooklyn Nets are looking to add a big man and confirmed the team worked out centre Jason Collins, who would become the first openly gay active NBA player if signed.ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Two seconds for the Detroit Lions on Sunday made all the difference between being able to tie the Minnesota Vikings at the end of regulation or potentially losing the game entirely.And those two seconds came from Lions coach Jim Caldwell fighting for them.Detroit took its final timeout Sunday after Sam Bradford made a fourth-down conversion pass to Stefon Diggs with what appeared to be 1:11 left. Then, during the timeout, Caldwell lobbied the officiating crew to add two seconds to the game clock in the Lions 22-16 win over Minnesota on Sunday.Its not an unusual conversation, Caldwell said Monday. Typically when you call a timeout, by the time they get it relayed to get it done, sometimes a couple seconds will elapse and usually tell them, Hey, this is what I saw. I think we had a few more.Oftentimes they may not give you any back, but they gave us two back, which was good.At the time, the Lions couldnt have realizzed how much that would matter.dddddddddddd Minnesota scored a touchdown on the drive to take a 16-13 lead with 23 seconds left. The Lions then drove 35 yards in 21 seconds, spiking the ball with two seconds left to set up Matt Praters game-tying 58-yard field goal.If the Lions dont have those two seconds Caldwell previously fought for, they probably leave Minnesota with an under-.500 record and a much different conversation heading into the teams bye week.So what did Caldwell say to the official?Depends on what happened. Sometimes youve got your eye on it and you can see and you know, or your get a sense of it once you began to call timeout that it was immediate where they reacted, and so be it, Caldwell said. If not, then you know theres a little bit of a delay.And so were fortunate we got a couple back. ' ' '
