After a meltdown loss in Carver Hawkeye on Jan. 2nd to the Wolverines, the Hawkeye Hoops team is desperately in need of a conference victory.
The Hawkeye Hoops team has now lost their third Big Ten match up this season. This time, it’s from the foe from Ann Arbor, Michigan. A loss that not only hurts the Hawkeyes momentum coming off of a 5-game winning streak and straight off of a 23-point blowout win against Northern Illinois, it hurts the chances of a post-season appearance for the Hawkeyes.
This game wasn’t necessarily a must-win for Iowa but it certainly would’ve been helpful, obviously. As we reach the midway point of the 2017-18 NCAA Hoops season, the Hawkeye hoops team is in need of answers for this downfall of a season thus far. Yes, the team is indeed young and inexperienced and without a true leader so far. With the departure of Peter Jok last season, it is blankly obvious that it definitely hurt the Hawkeyes in terms of playing a well-managed game. Peter Jok was the quarterback of the team all throughout last season and without him makes it difficult for the Hawks to get something going both offensively and defensively in games where it matters most.
Iowa couldn’t get anything done offensively and attempted poor shots overall.
The against Michigan on Jan. 2nd exposed tons of inefficiencies both offensively and defensively. Although, this most certainly wasn’t the only game that taught us the obvious struggles of the team thus far. The Hawkeyes accounted for 13 turnovers, although, wasn’t terrible considering Michigan had 10. Looking at the box score of this game, you’d definitely think that this was a game where it came down to the wire and was competitive. It was… in a sense. If you had watched this game, you would be asking yourself how the Hawkeyes only lost by 7.
The energy that came from the Hawkeyes on Tuesday night just didn’t feel right. It felt like these guys haven’t played together ever before and it seemed like a random pick-up game at the park. Jokes aside, Michigan is definitely a good team with tons of talent. However, Iowa definitely needs to shape up and figure out key components that will bring this team back together and finish out the year strong for a hopeful, yet doubtful, shot at the NCAA Tournament, which is at a 1% chance, by the way.
The Hawkeyes next match up is against the Buckeyes of Ohio State in Iowa City, IA. Now this is definitely a must-win situation for Iowa to get back on track and find their rhythm that will hopefully drive this team to success for the rest of the season and build chemistry.