Iowa

USC 99, Iowa 89: Still Winless on the Road

Published

12 months ago

January 15, 2025

USC 99, Iowa 89: Still Winless on the Road

LOS ANGELES, CA — Iowa put together yet another dreadful defensive performance on the road, dropping Tuesday night’s matchup with USC (11-6, 3-3) by a score of 99-89. The Hawkeyes dug themselves too deep of a hole to climb out of and remain winless on the road in Big Ten play.

Here are three takeaways from the loss.

Still Winless on the Road

Iowa is 0-3 in true road games this season, all of which have come in conference play. With losses to Michigan, Wisconsin and now USC, all of Iowa’s losses in the Big Ten have come away from home.

“[USC] is a driving team,” Fran McCaffery said after the loss. “I thought our defense was not what it needed it be. … Our rebounding was not good.”

The latter portion of the quote is definitely accurate in all three road losses. Over the three games, Iowa has allowed an average of 100 points per game. In the same three contests, Iowa was out-rebounded by an average of 16 rebounds per game(opponents averaging 39.7 to Iowa’s average of 23.7).

“There are a lot of good teams in this league,” McCaffery added. “It’s not going to be easy to win on the road, so you try to protect home and stay in the fight. We made a nice comeback, had a chance, didn’t get it done. Onto the next.”

The teams Iowa has lost to aren’t slouches by any means — Michigan is the No. 20 team in the country, Wisconsin was ranked at one point and was able to hit 21 three-pointers against the Hawkeyes and USC is fresh off an upset win over No. 13 Illinois on the road.

However, if Iowa is going to be competitive in the Big Ten this season, they’ll need to start winning against teams with solid resumes, and if they’re going to make the tournament, they’ll need to start doing it sooner rather than later — and doing it on the road.

More Hot Shooting vs. the Hawks

Going into Tuesday’s contest, the Trojans were shooting 47.8% from the field. Against Iowa, they shot 64.9%. Prior to the contest vs. the Hawkeyes, USC was shooting 33% from three. They shot 66.7% from deep on Tuesday.

“They got comfortable,” McCaffery said. “They they made a bunch of threes tonight. It’s not typically their strong point, but they made them tonight and you can see that they’re a team that’s gaining confidence.”

Four Trojans scored in double-figures, with junior guard Desmond Claude leading the way with 25 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.

“He dribbles a lot,” McCaffery said regarding the difficult of guarding Claude. “I thought a lot of things that I can’t say, but I want to give the kid credit because he’s a really good player. We had some success with the trap a little bit, but our reactions out of it were not good enough [to stop Claude].”

Redshirt-freshman guard Wesley Yates posted a career high 21 points on Tuesday night as well, hitting four 3-pointers, which was also a career high. Each of those triples came in the first half.

Dug Too Deep of a Hole

Iowa went into halftime trailing 48-32, an all too familiar scenario for the Hawkeyes, even within the last week.

With recent performances by senior forward Payton Sandfort that have earned him the nickname “Second Half Sandfort” — scoring 30 in the second half against Nebraska and 21 in the second half against Indiana — trailing by double-digits doesn’t seem terribly difficult to overcome for the Hawkeyes and their senior leader.

This time, it came back to bite them. With just five first-half points, Sandfort had trouble getting going early yet again.

“It’s hard for him because he’s getting mugged,” McCaffery said. “You try to screen for him, he’s getting held. But to his credit, he keeps moving and he keeps screening and he figures out a way. … We want to run stuff for him, but teams are really, really mugging him.”

With the Trojan defense so focused on the perimeter, things opened up inside for Owen Freeman, who looked to take advantage over USC’s center and former Iowa portal target, Josh Cohen.

The sophomore big did just that with a myriad of post moves, soft touch around the rim, going up strong for dunks and making his first three since December 12, to score 13 points in the first half and finish with a career high of 23. He also led Iowa in rebounds with six.

Thanks to the first half lead, and the continued advantage on the glass and from the perimeter, the Trojans were able to keep the Hawkeyes at arms length for the majority of the second half, building a lead of up to 19 points.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Iowa trimmed the deficit to nine points with just with 6:50 to go. The game, appearing to be within reach, was promptly taken over by guard Drew Thelwell. He hit the gas, scoring eight of his 16 points over the ensuing two minutes.

Not only did the Morehead State transfer drive to the bucket at-will, but he made four-of four free throws over that stretch — a rarity for the senior, who was shooting 64.2% going into Tuesday’s contest.

“I thought his energy level was really impressive at both ends,” McCaffery said. “He was really fighting defensively, pushing it hard, driving the ball, being aggressive offensively — that’s what we need from him. I’m really proud of him.”

Pair Sandfort’s trademark second half and adding 15 points, it looked as though McCaffery’s squad had a real opportunity to steal a win in the LA.

The attempt to will iowa to victory came up just short for Thelwell, as with 4:06 to go and the Trojan lead cut to five, he lost control of the ball and turned it over out of bounds. USC scored on the following two possessions to extend its lead to 89-81. It never felt as though Iowa had its chance to get back into the contest, and USC pulled away for the win at home.

NEXT: Iowa will travel across town to take on UCLA (11-6, 2-4) on Friday night at 8 pm CT. The game will be broadcast on FS1.

Don’t miss out on any of our exclusive football, basketball, and recruiting coverage. Sign up with Hawkeye Beacon here.

Source link

Iowa

Iowa Great Lakes businessman Butch Parks dies at 81

Published

9 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

Iowa Great Lakes businessman Butch Parks dies at 81

SPIRIT LAKE, Iowa (KTIV) – The Iowa Great Lakes community is remembering Leo “Butch” Parks, a longtime lakes-area businessman and founder of Parks Marina.

He died Tuesday, Jan. 6, at the age of 81.

Parks established the marina on East Lake Okoboji in 1983, growing it from a small fishing boat operation into a business with marinas, sales, service, rentals, storage, and popular destinations like the Barefoot Bar.

Parks and his wife, Debbie, also owned Okoboji Boat Works for 23 years.

Funeral services are set for Friday, Jan. 16, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Spirit Lake. It will be followed by a celebration of life at Snapper’s restaurant in Okoboji that evening.

Want to get the latest news and weather from Siouxland’s News Source? Follow these links to download our KTIV News app and our First Alert Weather app.

Source link

Iowa

Iowa woman accused of pandering for prostitution and harassment after incidents at Casey’s and a daycare

Published

21 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Iowa woman accused of pandering for prostitution and harassment after incidents at Casey’s and a daycare

AURELIA, Iowa (KTIV) – A Northwest Iowa woman is facing charges of harassment and pandering for prostitution after two incidents took place in December 2025.

Forty-seven-year-old Kristal Miller of Odebolt was taken into custody on an arrest warrant and faces three charges: one count of pandering for prostitution and two counts of first-degree harassment, according to court documents.

Kristal Miller(Cherokee County Jail)

The charges stem from two separate incidents that took place on Thursday, Dec. 18. 2025.

According to court documents, at 6:15 a.m., Miller reportedly went to the Casey’s General Store, located at 100 Pearl St. in Aurelia. Documents state Miller approached an employee and customers, requesting money from them.

Authorities state Miller claimed she was wanted by the FBI and told people, if anyone called the police, “she would kill them.”

During this encounter, she also allegedly asked an employee to remove the string from her hooded sweatshirt. Documents state when the employee refused this request, she threatened to strangle them.

That same day at 7 a.m., Miller reportedly approached a female employee outside an Aurelia daycare and asked them for money.

Court documents stated Miller suggested the unnamed employee leave her boyfriend. Miller reportedly told the employee, if she did, then she and Miller would both be paid.

Authorities say when she was told no by the employee, Miller became upset and started yelling at them.

Miller also allegedly threatened to “steal her car” and ”take her away to her guys to start a new life.”

She was booked into the Cherokee County Jail on a cash-only bond of $5,000. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled in Cherokee for Friday, Jan. 9, at 10 a.m.

Want to get the latest news and weather from Siouxland’s News Source? Follow these links to download our KTIV News app and our First Alert Weather app.

Source link

Iowa

Iowa law on police appeals ‘constitutionally vacuous,’ prosecutor says

Published

1 day ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Iowa law on police appeals ‘constitutionally vacuous,’ prosecutor says

The Iowa Supreme Court is reviewing a 2024 law that allows law enforcement officers to appeal their placement on a Brady-Giglio list.
A dispute between Jefferson County’s attorney and sheriff led to the sheriff being placed on the list, which identifies officers with credibility issues.
The county attorney argues the law is unconstitutional because it lets judges interfere with a prosecutor’s duty to disclose evidence to defendants.

A feud between two Jefferson County officials has landed before the Iowa Supreme Court, which must decide if a 2024 addition to Iowa’s Rights of Peace Officers law is unconstitutional.

Jefferson County Attorney Chauncey Moulding is asking the state’s high court to overturn what he calls the “constitutionally vacuous” law, which allows officers to petition the courts to be removed from their county’s Brady-Giglio list.

Named for two U.S. Supreme Court decisions, the lists compiled by prosecutors identify law enforcement officers and others whose credibility is in question, and it can provide grounds for questioning their testimony in court.

After a dispute over a case involving a sheriff’s deputy’s use of force, Moulding in 2024 notified Jefferson County Sheriff Bart Richmond he was placing him on the Brady-Giglio list. Richmond petitioned a court to reverse Moulding’s decision, and a district judge did, finding Richmond’s actions in connection with the case, while unprofessional, did not bring his honesty or credibility into question.

In his appeal, Moulding argues that’s not up to the court to decide, and that the law lets judges improperly intrude on prosecutors’ professional judgment and, ultimately, defendants’ rights.

“The practical real application of (the 2024 law) is to create a Kafkaesque scenario where a criminal defendant could face the prospect of criminal charges involving a State witness who is so lacking in credibility that the State’s attorney has qualms about even calling him to testify, but is prevented from disclosure,” Moulding wrote. “Such a situation is unconscionable, and underlines the constitutional vacuousness of the statute itself.”

The court has not yet scheduled arguments for the case, which could have impacts far beyond Jefferson County. Attorney Charles Gribble, representing Richmond, said this is just one of three Iowa Brady-Giglio appeals he personally is involved in.

What is a Brady-Giglio list?

Under the Fifth Amendment, criminal defendants are entitled to due process of law. In Brady v. Maryland in 1963 and in subsequent cases the U.S. Supreme Court held that due process requires a prosecutor to disclose any known exculpatory evidence to the defense. That includes anything giving rise to doubts about the credibility of the prosecution’s witnesses, including law enforcement officers.

In 2022, Iowa formalized that process by mandating prosecuting agencies maintain a Brady-Giglio list of officers whose credibility can be questioned due to past dishonesty or other misconduct. The law requires agencies to notify officers when they are being put on a list and allows them to seek reconsideration.

Being placed on a list can damage or destroy an officer’s career, as prosecutors generally will decline to call them as witnesses or to bring charges that would depend on their testimony.

2024 law gives courts a role in Brady-Giglio lists

Iowa’s 2024 law went beyond requiring officers be notified of their placement on a Brady-Giglio list by giving them the right to appeal to a district court if their prosecuting agency refuses to take them off a list. The law requires judges to confidentially review evidence and allows them to affirm, modify or reverse an officer’s Brady-Giglio listing “as justice may require.”

In less than two years, courts have reversed local prosecutors on several Brady-Giglio placements, including a messy Henry County dispute in which prosecutors accused a sheriff’s deputy of making misleading statements on a search warrant application.

What happened in Jefferson County?

The lawsuit before the Iowa Supreme Court involves an April 2024 traffic stop by a Jefferson County deputy. As laid out in a subsequent memo by Moulding, video recordings show the deputy handling the driver roughly and, when the man complains, telling him “I can do whatever I want” and, “You’re not going to tell me what I can and can’t do. … You’re going to learn what respect is, young man.”

After learning about the incident, Moulding wrote, he repeatedly emailed Richmond, asking if the deputy’s actions had violated any county policies. Richmond did not respond. Concerned about possible litigation against the county, Moulding then asked another county to conduct an investigation. While the details are disputed, Moulding accuses Richmond of stonewalling both his office and the outside investigators and instructing his subordinates also not to cooperate.

“A county sheriff ordering deputies not to cooperate with an inquiry into a deputy’s use of force represents a fundamental lapse in judgment and raised serious concerns regarding the Sheriff’s honesty, candor and ethics as a law enforcement official,” Moulding wrote.

He scheduled a meeting that Richmond did not attend and then placed him on the county’s Brady-Giglio list. In an emailed statement, Moulding called the entire matter “unfortunate.”

“Frankly, I am shocked that instead of attempting to address this matter with my office cooperatively, the Sheriff instead decided to stonewall an investigation, stonewall the Brady-Giglio investigation, and then take this matter to court instead of sitting down and addressing the matter like an adult and an elected official,” he said.

In a letter, Moulding warned Richmond that he would no longer be called as a law enforcement witness and advised him to limit his involvement with criminal investigations, as “your engagement in such activities could likely negatively impact the outcomes in court.”

Judge disagrees with sheriff’s placement on list

After Moulding denied Richmond’s request for reconsideration, Richmond filed suit. In February 2025, Judge Jeffrey Farrell ruled Richmond should be removed from the list.

Farrell’s order criticized both parties, finding that Moulding had failed to comply with some procedural elements of the law but that Richmond could have avoided the whole situation with “basic and professional” responses to Moulding’s emails. Nonetheless, he found Richmond’s actions did not demonstrate dishonesty or deceit that would justify placement on a Brady list.

“This is not a case in which an officer lied to a court, was convicted of a crime, manufactured or destroyed evidence, or committed some other act that would serve as the basis for impeachment in any criminal case,” Farrell wrote. “Game-playing the county attorney is not the standard of professionalism that Iowans expect of our elected county sheriffs,” he added, but does not constitute grounds for a Brady-Giglio listing.

Prosecutor appeals, argues law is unconstitutional

In his appeal, Moulding does not address Farrell’s factual findings, instead asking the court only to decide whether the law is constitutional.

“The most glaring constitutional defect in (the 2024 law) is that it impedes a criminal Defendant’s substantive and procedural due processes of law, and right to a fair trial,” the appeal says. “These fundamental rights constitute the bedrock raisons d’être for the entire body of Brady-Giglio jurisprudence in the first place.”

Iowa appears to be the only state with a law allowing officers to sue to be removed from a Brad-Giglio list, but Moulding cites a recent federal lawsuit where a judge rejected a South Dakota officer’s attempt to get removed from a list, finding the request “in essence, asks this Court to require a State’s Attorney to violate the constitution.” He further argues that the law violates the constitutional separation of powers and is “so poorly drafted as to be unenforceable and void for vagueness.”

Sheriff’s attorney says single lapse of judgment is not grounds for listing

Gribble, Richmond’s attorney, argued in his Supreme Court brief that the law is constitutional and that the sheriff’s actions fall well short of Brady-Giglio standards.

“Under (the 2024 law), placement on the Brady-Giglio list results not from a single lapse of judgment but rather from repeated, sustained, intentional and egregious acts over a period of time,” he wrote. “Thus, while a singular act of bad judgement may undermine a police officer’s credibility in a particular case, placement on the Brady-Giglio list places a permanent and unreviewable scarlet letter on the officer that he/she is unlikely to be able to ever overcome.”

He also suggests that a court order removing an officer from a list “does not in any way alter the prosecuting attorney’s duty to provide exculpatory evidence in all cases.” In an interview, he argued there should be a legal distinction between prosecutors disclosing concerns about an officer’s conduct in the case in which it occurred, and doing so in every future case involving them.

“To me, that’s what Brady-Giglio is for, not for occasional or first-time wrongs, even if established of a police officer, but those that have a history of that sort of thing,” he said.

The Supreme Court has not yet set a date for arguments in the case.

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.

Source link