Anthony Hubbard puts up 26 in PTL debut (with action videos)

NORTH LIBERTY - Anthony Hubbard laughed when he saw the media horde waiting for him minutes after his team's Prime Time League game Sunday afternoon.

"Are you all here for me?" he said with puzzlement and then a smile. He then answered the questions with relaxed candor.

Hubbard, an incoming Iowa junior guard, scored 26 points in his team's PTL win Sunday afternoon. His first-half play was unselfish, scoring just six points and staying active on the boards with eight rebounds.

"I want to get the guys to trust me with the ball," Hubbard said. "Part of that is getting other people the ball and finding people whether they catch the ball or drop it and don't make the bucket they can work that much harder on the defensive end and just all around."

By late in the game, Hubbard joined UNI guard Anthony James (24 points) as their team's top offensive options. Hubbard drove to the basket and often drew contact. He scored 20 points and hit 10-of-13 free-throw attempts in the second half.

"(Coach Kevin Lehman) kind of put me in a situation where I could make some things happen, coming off a screen, if I had a little guy on me put me in the block ...," Hubbard said. "When I had the bigger guy on me, he put me out on the wing and used my quickness. It's part of the game, I guess. I think that's what Coach (Fran) McCaffery wants me to do."

Hubbard was hit hard a few times in the lane, but he took it in stride. He engaged in some light trash-talking with his opponents but nothing profane.

"(It was) a little physical, but I take it on," he said. "It's a part of basketball. My mom was like basketball's not a physical sport. I was like you must not have played in a long time. But it's pretty physical."

It was a whirlwind week for Hubbard, a Woodbridge, Va., native who arrived in Iowa City last Monday. He's spent most of his time trying to acclimate himself with his Iowa teammates and the community including Iowa City's Which Wich.

He was impressed by the overflow crowd on Sunday, which became standing-room-only by the games end with fans jammed in the hall outside the gym

"I looked up and I was like, 'Oh, OK.' It was packed," Hubbard said. "A lot more people than I expected to be there."

He also made a favorable impression on his teammates. Iowa senior Jordan Stoermer plays on Hubbard's team and called him "a friendly guy."

"You can see it on the court that he's a leader," Stoermer said. "He's vocal. He's a good player on our team tonight. He took us on his shoulders and scored a lot."

It was one game of summer-league basketball, and Hubbard keeps that in perspective. But it's a start, and Hubbard will take the final results.

"I was playing with some new guys so it was kind of getting a feel for the guys and knowing what guys do best, I guess," Hubbard said. "It was fun. I had fun out there, because we won."