To say the Iowa Men's Basketball team had a rough end to February is an understatement. The Hawkeyes are 3-7 in their last ten games and closed February on a two-game losing streak. Iowa was run out of the gym in Champaign against the Fighting Illini, and followed it up with an 11-point loss in Evanston against Northwestern.
Iowa struggled against Illinois in a game where the Fighting Illini never trailed. Iowa grabbed more rebounds, but had a glaring disadvantage in points in the paint. Illinois outscored Iowa 42 to 30 in the paint and ran their win streak against Iowa to three games.
The Hawkeyes followed that game up with a bad loss at Northwestern, where the offense struggled. They shot 36 percent from the field and an even worse 32 percent from the three-point line. The most glaring stat from this game was Northwestern outscoring Iowa 14 to 4 on second chance points.
The Hawkeyes are licking their wounds after their double dip in Illinois produced two losses. The path ahead does not get any easier as they head home to Carever-Hawkeye Arena to take on the red-hot Michigan State Spartans.
The Spartans hold the number one seed in the conference, and have won four straight games. They run a unique style of offense, where they value defense and post-play, in spite of shooting a high percentage from behind the three-point line.
Iowa has struggled at defending the paint and rebounding, which are both strengths of Michigan State. The Hawkeyes will have to get back on track, or the Spartans will run them off of their home floor.
The Hawkeyes' next game is on the road in Lincoln, Nebraska, to take on the rival Cornhuskers. Nebraska sputtered down the stretch in February, losing three straight games. The Hawkeyes hold a 19-11 series advantage in the last 30 games against their rival, and won the first meeting this year by 10 points.
Both games are must-wins, as Iowa sits in 15th place in the Big 10 standings. This means they are currently the last team allowed into the Big 10 Tournament, and they can not afford to drop any lower.
If the Hawkeyes want to get a shot at making the Big 10 Tournament, they need to clean it up on both ends of the floor, or they will start their offseason early.