After a dominating 25-point victory against Indiana on Jan. 11, hope was in the air for the Iowa men’s basketball team. They owned a solid 12-4 overall, 3-2 conference mark, and had a ripe opportunity to steal at least one, maybe even two, victories in a two-game trip to Los Angeles to take on USC and UCLA.
Both the Trojans and Bruins came into the matchups floundering on offense, but they couldn’t miss against the Hawkeyes, posting 99 and 94 points, respectively, leaving Iowa with two dismal defeats in the process. Despite plenty of negative reactions from fans and analysts, head coach Fran McCaffery let a positive message ring in his team’s ears.
“We will try to move on from what has not been a good trip and learn from some of the mistakes we made,” McCaffery said after the UCLA game. “It will remain positive. I want them to remain positive with each other.”
The Hawkeyes’ season may have taken a disappointing turn, but the upcoming schedule offers an opportunity for a rebound. Iowa’s next three games are against teams ranked 18th, 13th, and 16th in the Big Ten standings, and two of those games will be played at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Responding after a pair of tough losses is never easy, but McCaffery remains confident in his team.
‘We don’t get too emotional,” McCaffery said at a press conference on Monday. “One way or the other. Teams are too good. We have a good team, we have good players, we have character. They’ll be fine with that.”
The first game of this critical stretch is Tuesday’s matchup against the rival Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Gophers have struggled throughout most of the season, compiling a record of only 9-9 overall and 1-6 in the Big Ten, but their only conference win ranks as one of the league’s most impressive triumphs yet.
Then-No.21 Michigan entered its matchup with Minnesota undefeated in conference play, but the Gophers pulled out a thrilling 84-81 overtime win thanks to a wild buzzer-beater from senior forward Dawson Garcia.
Minnesota’s roster was ransacked by the transfer portal in the offseason, but Garcia, a Twin Cities native, has played for the Gophers during his entire career and has developed into one of the Big Ten’s best forwards during his tenure. Garcia is Minnesota’s leading scorer and rebounder this season, posting 19.1 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.
On the flip side, the Hawkeyes are one of the worst rebounding teams in all of college basketball, grabbing a league-worst 27 rebounds per contest this season. Iowa is known for playing a smaller, guard-heavy lineup, leaving a bulk of the rebounding duties in the hands of second-year center Owen Freeman, who stands at 6-foot-10 inches tall and is the second-tallest player on the roster.
“He [Garcia] can shoot it, he can drive it,” Freeman said. “It’s going to be a great test, and obviously another great big guy that I’m able to test myself against. And I’m just really looking forward to this matchup.”
The Hawkeyes are also looking to turn things around on the defensive side of the floor, where they allowed an average of 96.5 points per game in the two losses, something that second-year point guard Brock Harding blames himself for. Iowa currently slots in as the 197th-best defensive unit in the country, a number that the Hawkeyes know they need to improve if they want to make the NCAA Tournament.
“Me and Payton [Sandfort] consider ourselves leaders and we didn’t have our team locked in enough when we went to L.A. to be ready to lock in on defense and know we were playing two good teams,” Harding said. “So that’s my fault as a point guard not having guys ready to go, locked in on the defensive end of the ball.”
Injury updates
Fourth-year forward Payton Sandfort is questionable for Tuesday’s game against Minnesota due to an injury sustained on Friday against UCLA. Sandfort’s injury was thought to be just to his left shoulder, but McCaffery also said the senior is battling a leg injury as well. McCaffery later said that second-year forwards Ladji Dembele or Pryce Sandfort would start in Payton’s place.
First-year forward Cooper Koch will once again be out against the Gophers to due an undisclosed medical issue that he has dealt with throughout the season. Koch hasn’t played since Jan. 3 against Wisconsin, and McCaffery said that the injury “could be sustained” for a longer time period.