Iowa men’s basketball looks to move on after first loss

Iowa fell short last game against Wisconsin, but a matchup with Michigan State offers a good chance to bounce back.

Iowa forward Tyler Cook jumps for the rebound during Iowa’s game against Wisconsin at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on November 30, 2018. The Hawkeyes were defeated by the Badgers 72-66.

Pete Ruden, Sports Editor
December 3, 2018

Iowa basketball was a tale of two teams last week.

When the Hawkeyes took on Pittsburgh on Nov. 27, they held their own and stepped up when the game went down to the wire en route to a 69-68 victory over the previously undefeated Panthers.

But against Wisconsin on Nov. 30, Iowa failed to make the same plays down the stretch in the Big Ten-opener, leading to its first downfall of the 2018-19 season, 72-66.

Things won’t get any easier for the Hawkeyes this week, as they travel to East Lansing today to take on a top-10 Michigan State squad.

“Until this point, I think we’ve done a pretty good job of finishing, so it’s not like it’s an epidemic or anything,” forward Tyler Cook said. “We’re not going to beat ourselves up too much about [Wisconsin] … We’re going to learn from it, and turn around, and get ready for Michigan State.”

While Iowa didn’t pick up a win against Wisconsin and had to turn around quickly, head coach Fran McCaffery said he liked that the team continued to battle when it was tight at the end of the game.

“I was impressed with our fight,” he said. “It wasn’t a thing of beauty. We didn’t make some plays coming down the stretch we would like to have made, and they did. That’s why they won. But I thought we fought.”

With Big Ten play beginning earlier in recent seasons, Iowa is in the midst of an important four-game stretch.

The Hawkeyes passed the test against Pitt and failed against Wisconsin. Bouncing back from a close loss isn’t easy, but Iowa needs to move forward with Michigan State and Iowa State Thursday both posing big challenges.

“We got to get ready for Monday,” point guard Jordan Bohannon said. “We were right there the entire game — we should’ve had them. [But] as much as we’d like to dwell on this game, we got a find a way to move on and get ready for Michigan State.”

The Spartans don’t have NBA Draft first-rounders Jaren Jackson Jr. or Miles Bridges anymore, but they’re still dangerous.

Michigan State resembles Pittsburgh in that its top scorers are dynamic guards. The Spartans are led by juniors Cassius Winston and Joshua Langford, who average better than 17 points a game. Winston has also displayed his playmaking abilities, leading the Big Ten with 7.1 assists per game.

Unlike the Panthers, Michigan State is also propelled by strong play from its frontcourt, where Nick Ward and Kenny Goins have taken over.

The Hawkeyes are coming off a game against one of the two unanimous preseason All-Big Ten players in the conference in Ethan Happ, but that didn’t stop Tyler Cook from feasting inside.

Cook finished with 19 points and a season-high 15 rebounds, and he dished out 4 assists against the best competition he has faced this season.

He’ll have a similar challenge against the Spartans.

“We’re 6-1, we’re in a great position,” Cook said. “We have a great opportunity coming up on Monday. [It would be] a great road win to get us back on track. It’s a quick turnaround — that’s the beautiful thing about basketball. You got another day.”