It was a nerve-wracking end to the season for Iowa Men's Basketball fans. Iowa waited until the last game of the season to punch their ticket to the Big Ten Tournament. The Hawkeyes traveled to Lincoln, Nebraska, and knocked off rival Nebraska 81-63.
The win guaranteed Iowa a spot in the tournament as the 15th and final seed. They travel to Indianapolis to take on 10-seed Ohio State in a tough first-round matchup. The Hawkeyes aim to carry their momentum into their first tournament game.
Off to Indy. 🛫#Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/VLJMPm1rID
— Iowa Men’s Basketball (@IowaHoops) March 11, 2025
It's all smiles for the Iowa Men's Basketball team as they head to Indy. They will need a miraculous run in the Tournament to get to the final and punch their ticket to March Madness.
Big Ten Tournament Information
Single-session tickets for the 2025 TIAA Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament at @GainbridgeFH are on sale NOW!
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) March 10, 2025
Get your tickets here: https://t.co/fS9jDWQSva pic.twitter.com/j4dwcZczMQ
The 2025 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament will take place from March 12-16 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Tournament begins with three games of the bottom five-seeded teams.
Each of the top four seeds has double byes in the first round, and the next four have single byes to start the tournament.
In game one, 13-seed Northwestern will play 12-seed Minnesota at 2:30 p.m. Central Time. Each remaining game will occur 25 minutes after the previous one.
In game two, 15-seed Iowa will take on 10-seed Ohio State. In the final match of round one, 14-seed USC will take on 11-seed Rutgers.
The first round of the tournament will be streaming on Peacock. The second and quarterfinal rounds will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network and the semifinals and the Championship will air on CBS.
How Iowa can make a miraculous run
The Iowa Hawkeyes have a tough road ahead as they enter the Big Ten Tournament. They struggled at the end of the season, winning three of their final ten games. They will need to flush their previous struggles if they expect to make a run.
The Hawkeyes' NCAA tournament metrics are not good. They are 1-14 in Quad One games this year and have 16 wins this season. They will have to win the tournament if they want to make March Madness, and here is how they can achieve that.
The "big three" need to be involved every game
Iowa's offense has never been the issue. They are second in the Big Ten in scoring at 82 points per game and shoot an efficient 49 percent from the field. This is the fifth consecutive year the team has averaged 80-plus points per game.
The "big three" of Payton/Pryce Sandfort and Josh Dix must have their fingerprints on every game if they hope to have a chance. They combined for 53 of the team's 81 points in their previous game against Nebraska and will need to replicate that performance moving forward.
The trio also must shoot efficiently from deep. The Sandfort brothers and Josh Dix have combined for 189 made threes this season. When Iowa makes ten plus threes in a game, they are 11-4 on the year.
The Hawkeyes cannot afford to go cold on offense to begin the tournament, or they will be bounced early. They must get the ball to their best players and work to take and make efficient shots.
Take care of the basketball
A simple but effective rule: you cannot score efficiently if you give the ball away. Iowa is second best in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio with 1.85, and they must be efficient on offense if they hope to succeed.
The Hawkeyes' defensive efficiency is near the bottom of the conference, so they must make up for that by being hyper-efficient on the offensive end. Iowa has less than ten turnovers in six of their last nine games and they must continue that trend in the tournament
Avoid second-half collapses
Iowa has been in most games this season when they are close or leading at the half. The problem the Hawkeyes have is their collapse on the defensive end in the second half. In the previous meeting with the Ohio State Buckeyes, they were down 30-26 at halftime, but let the Buckeyes score 52 second-half points.
A similar story happened against Michigan State at home on senior night. The Hawkeyes held a seven-point lead at halftime but surrendered 61 points to the Spartans in the second half.
Iowa cannot afford to have mental lapses on defense, especially in the closing minutes of games. We all know they are not efficient on that end of the floor, but they must put together a complete performance if they expect to win four games in four days.
Iowa's journey to the Big Ten Championship begins March 12 around 4:00 p.m. Central time.