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Iowa Basketball: Hawkeyes can’t get out of its own way

By Kenny Levine

BLOOMINGTON, IN - FEBRUARY 11: Head coach Fran McCaffery of the Iowa Hawkeyes looks on against the Indiana Hoosiers in the second half of the game at Assembly Hall on February 11, 2016 in Bloomington, Indiana. Indiana defeated Iowa 85-78. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
BLOOMINGTON, IN - FEBRUARY 11: Head coach Fran McCaffery of the Iowa Hawkeyes looks on against the Indiana Hoosiers in the second half of the game at Assembly Hall on February 11, 2016 in Bloomington, Indiana. Indiana defeated Iowa 85-78. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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After losing to Michigan on Tuesday, Iowa basketball returned to action on Thursday.  The result was a 92-81 loss to Ohio State that featured many of the same problems that have plagued the Hawkeyes for most of the 2017-18 season.

Coming into the 2017-18 season, the Iowa Hawkeyes were a team that had a ton of returning talent, two impact freshman, and a team that looked poised to return to the NCAA Tournament.  Instead, what has resulted is a team with an inconsistent offense, a team that often looked lost on the defensive end and a team that is now 0-4 in Big Ten play with three losses coming at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The first troublesome signs of the season occurred in a November tournament in the Cayman Islands.  Iowa inexplicably lost its first two games to Louisiana and South Dakota State.  Although they did beat UAB to gain 7th place, that tournament was the first we saw of the issues that have hurt Iowa basketball all year.

In that tournament there was bad defense and inconsistent offense, including lots and lots of turnovers.  The bad stretch would continue past the Cayman Islands.  Iowa would go on to lose its next 4 games, including its first 2 Big Ten games and the CyHawk game against Iowa State.  Suddenly all the expectations and excitement from the preseason were dashed and Iowa was sitting at 4-6.

AMES, IA – DECEMBER 7: Maishe Dailey
AMES, IA – DECEMBER 7: Maishe Dailey /

After rattling off five consecutive wins, Iowa looked like it had the chance to turn its season around.  BIg Ten play started up again and Iowa had two winnable home games to start.  Unfortunately, Iowa instead reverted back to the team that lost 6 of 7 in November and December.

The last two games have followed a similar pattern.  Iowa establishes Tyler Cook early and gets out to a fast start.  However, what follows is the opponent making a majority of its outside shots and taking advantage of Iowa turnovers.  As a result they go ahead by double digits.

Unfortunately for Iowa basketball, its defense is not good enough to come back from double digit deficits and overcome the amount of turnovers the offense accumulates.  Every time the Hawkeyes got within 6-8 points, Ohio State or Michigan would score six in a row to push the lead back to double digits.

Poor defense and turnovers on offense are not a good recipe for success.  Iowa basketball has found that out the hard way.  It does not get any easier for the Hawkeyes as its next three games are all on the road.  It starts with a trip to Maryland on Sunday night followed by games at Illinois and at Rutgers.

Be prepared Hawk fans, it looks like it might be a long season for the 2017-18 Iowa basketball team.

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