Tyler Cook is a threat to opposing defenses.

He proved that last season by being named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team in his first season as a Hawkeye.

More importantly, though, Iowa needs him.

He proved that the past two games in Carver-Hawkeye when he was one of the few players who could get anything going on the offensive end.

“He’s been great this season; he’s been a guy that we can really rely on when we need buckets in a very necessary time of the game,” forward Nicholas Baer said. “We’re going to continue to go to him. He’s a phenomenal player, and a phenomenal low-post scorer, and really highly active for us.”

The Hawkeyes have looked lost on offense ever since Big Ten play picked back up on Jan. 2, when they suffered a 75-68 loss to Michigan in Carver.

Luckily, they had Cook to keep the game relatively close. The sophomore from St. Louis posted 28 points and 8 rebounds in what was one of his best offensive performances of the season.

Cook was the only player in double figures until the tail end of the second half, when the game was essentially decided.

In Iowa’s 92-81 loss to Ohio State on Jan. 4 in Carver, he was once again one of the only bright spots the Hawkeyes had.

This time, four players scrambled their way into double-digit scoring, but Cook led the way.

Iowa’s leading scorer lived up to his title, leading the team with 21 points to go along with 9 boards.

On a night in which Iowa took a lot of bad shots, Cook found a way to keep his team in the game, cleaning up missed shots and getting points on extra possessions.

Cook racked up 6 offensive rebounds after being challenged by head coach Fran McCaffery to be even better than he was against the Wolverines, and his effort on the offensive glass helped Iowa to 24 second-chance points.

The Hawkeyes fell into a hole early when the Buckeyes went on a 16-1 run early in the first half. They tried to make a comeback early in the second, but again it fell short. Cook was one of the few bright spots.

“Everybody knows Tyler Cook is our guy,” McCaffery said.

It was one of those nights for Iowa in which the shots weren’t falling. That was especially a big problem when Cook wasn’t on the floor.

He picked up two fouls early in the first half, and Iowa’s offense suffered when he wasn’t on the hardwood.

Consistency has been a problem for the team on offense. There have rarely been nights in which one player can be counted on to score a plethora of points, but Cook has done just that.

Even after the success, he has had, he wants to get better, just as McCaffery challenged him.

“There’s always more I can do,” Cook said. “I’m nowhere near the player I can be or will be, so my job is to continue to work on that every day. Whether that’s offensively, on the ball defense, off the ball defense, moving without the ball. Whatever it is, there’s always room for improvement.”