After soaring to No. 19 in the AP Top 25 rankings last week, Iowa will surely fall after back-to-back losses.
The Hawkeyes were back at Carver-Hawkeye Arena for a chance to get right and get a big win over No. 16 Illinois, but another slow start doomed their chances.
Iowa has started poorly in back-to-back games and has not been able to crawl out of the early hole it has dug.
The Illini led 58-41 with a little over 11 minutes to play, until Iowa rallied to go down only four with two minutes left.
The comeback ultimately fell short as No. 16 Illinois knocked off No. 19 Iowa 75-69, and McCollum was less than happy with how the team started the game.
During McCollum's postgame press conference (posted by 247Sports), he had some harsh words for his team, starting the presser by saying he was "disappointed in a few guys."
He followed that up by saying that Tavion Banks, who has been sick and probably lost ten pounds in two days, looked fine out there, but multiple others did not.
Ultimately, McCollum was very disappointed in the way the Hawkeyes started and is adamant they can win these types of games, but it is time they started doing it.
Iowa isn't built to make big comebacks after early deficits
Iowa has shot itself in the foot in back-to-back games and has created too big a hole to climb out of.
In the loss to Minnesota and now to Illinois, the Hawkeyes came out lethargic and, even with a big second-half push, have not been able to overcome those deficits.
Iowa has been above average defensively all season, but they have stretches on offense when they can't score, putting way too much pressure on the defensive end.
Teams have started to figure out that if they can limit or take away Bennett Stirtz, the Hawkeye offense goes to sleep, and that happened again on Sunday.
Iowa's grit and determination are clear, and they have fought hard in every game, but at the end of the day, they have not found an offensive solution when Stirtz is ineffective or taken away.
This was a bad way to end the week, and the Hawkeyes now have to travel to West Lafayette to take on their toughest opponent thus far in No. 5 Purdue.
The Hawkeyes fought hard to get back into the game against Illinois, but they have to start games better if they want to have any success in the Big Ten this season.