Iowa Basketball: Takeaways Against Indiana

I want to say I’m disappointed, but I didn’t expect the Iowa Basketball team to win last night’s game in the first place. They had their chances, but ultimately fell short against Indiana.

The loss last night now makes four straight losses and five losses in the last six games. This is a stretch that Iowa fans have seen before. Two years ago, Iowa lost seven of their final eight games en route to a 20-13 season. Oddly enough, the skid started in Bloomington, IN, just like it did this season. It didn’t start with a loss to the Hoosiers, it started with a postponed ball game. If you don’t recall, a large beam fell from the rafters inside Assembly Hall, and Indiana was forced to postpone the game.

It appears the Hawkeyes could be on their way to another disappointing end to a season that showed a lot of promise.

Despite the loss on Tuesday night, I think the game did a lot of good for Iowa. They got really good minutes from their bench, which has struggled over the course of this losing streak. And they were able to hang with the Hoosiers even though they could’ve easily folded when IU had a 14 point lead in the second half.

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Three takeaways I had were; the bench was fantastic, the free throw shooting ultimately killed Iowa, and despite the loss, they may have their confidence back.

The Bench

The bench had been criticized a great deal over the course of the last five games for not bringing anything to the table as far as scoring is concerned. Set aside yesterday’s game against IU and Iowa had scored 30 bench points in the five games prior. Last night, their bench scored 27 points. I’m not sure if this is just a flash in the pan, but it is encouraging to see those guys step up. They got contributions from Ahmad Wagner, who nearly tallied a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds, and Christian Williams, who was an unlikely hero with eight first half points.

Williams stepped in and took away Brady Ellingson‘s minutes a couple of games ago and it appears he has earned himself some more playing time as Iowa looks to turn this thing back around.

Free Throws Hurt Again

The late game free throws continue to be a problem for the Hawkeyes. They’ve struggled lately, and tonight was not any different. They went 18-27 from the line and missed some key ones down the stretch. With a minute remaining and Iowa trailing by two, Anthony Clemmons stepped to the line to shoot two. Clemmons ended up missing both of the free throws. That led to Yogi Ferrell burying a three at the other end of the floor to stretch IU’s lead to five. Just like that, it was a five point swing.

You expect seniors to step up and hit those free throws late in games, but Iowa hasn’t had that in their rough patch. Late game free throws will need to get better as March wears on.

Next: Hawkeyes Come Up Just Short on Senior Night

Confidence Coming Back

Despite the loss, I think the Hawkeyes got some of their confidence back. As I mentioned earlier, they could’ve easily folded when the Hoosiers took a 14 point lead midway through the second half, but they didn’t. They battled and clawed their way back into the game. And if you don’t believe me, well:

Adam Woodbury: “Season’s not over. We’re not going to quit.”
— Chad Leistikow🆑 (@ChadLeistikow) March 2, 2016

.@sapp_5: "We still have more regular season left. We’ve got the Big Ten Tournament. After that, it’s time to win a national championship.”
— Chad Leistikow🆑 (@ChadLeistikow) March 2, 2016

These guys still know how good they are. With how wide open college basketball has been this season, all it’s going to take is one game for Iowa. Once they start seeing more shots fall and get back on the winning trail, they could rip off enough to make a Final Four appearance. I know it seems crazy to think about right now, but a lot can change in a couple weeks. We already saw them go from the top of the mountain to the bottom, why not head on back up?

Iowa wraps up their regular season on Saturday in Ann Arbor against the Michigan Wolverines. After that, they’ll find out what seed they’ll receive in this years Big Ten Tournament. It doesn’t seem likely that they’ll get the two day bye at this point, but like I said, it’s been so crazy this year that it doesn’t matter.

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