Wisconsin men’s basketball’s John Blackwell had himself a picture-perfect afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Nineteen points, six rebounds, and an 11-point win over Big Ten rival Iowa. Minutes after the final buzzer announced the Badgers’ third straight victory, Blackwell made his way over to the tunnel, beaming with pride and taking a selfie with a fan. Little did he know what lingered just within the frame of his celebration.
Iowa guard Drew Thelwell – the last of the Hawkeyes to leave the hardwood – trudged back to the locker room with a noticeable limp in his lower right leg. Eyes glued to the floor, Thelwell’s postgame demeanor is emblematic of the Hawkeyes’ recent struggles – three consecutive defeats, losers of six of seven, and a teetering position at 14th place in the Big Ten. Battered and worn down, Iowa has found itself in the bottom of the barrel of the conference – but taking down the Hawkeyes hasn’t been easy for opponents. With two minutes to go in the contests against Wisconsin and Purdue, Iowa was two possessions away from an upset.
Just like Thelwell, who returned to the court after missing only 2.5 minutes of game time, the Hawkeyes haven’t lacked competitiveness. But as evidenced by forward Pryce Sandfort’s f-bomb in the postgame press conference, simply being competitive is a frustrating plateau.
“I’m just sick of losing,” he said curtly.
Known for his sideline antics and blowups, Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery has stayed poised on the bench during the rough patch – not even collecting a technical foul. When asked about this noticeable change, McCaffery pointed out that while the team isn’t at its peak, it has the tools to climb out of the doldrums and into a more comfortable bid to the Big Ten Tournament in March. In other words, there’s no need to be angry when his team hasn’t quit.
“As long as they keep fighting for me and showing up for practice with an incredibly professional approach, that’s all I’ve ever asked of them,” the coach said. “We’re gonna try to win. They want to win, they’re putting the time in, and they’re competing. It’s our job to just help them get over the hump.”
Looking at the Hawkeyes’ 74-63 loss to the Badgers on Saturday, here’s three takeaways on what went wrong for Iowa and how it can return to its winning ways of early January – the last time the team won consecutive contests.
Pace of play
The Hawkeyes entered Saturday with the top scoring offense (85.2 points per game) and the best field goal percentage (50.1) in the Big Ten. Yet against the Badgers, these numbers shrank to 63 points – a season low – and a 38 percent shooting mark from the floor. In the final 20 minutes, the Hawkeyes made just 8-of-27 field goal attempts and failed to score a point over the final 2:03.
Part of this reason is quick shooting – launching up jumpers early in the shot clock that turns the Hawkeyes’ normally fast-paced scheme into an inefficient version of itself. Fast-break points – the Hawkeyes had nine Saturday – are one thing, but taking early contested shots from long range isn’t effective.
“I thought a couple of them were a little quick, but they weren’t bad shots,” McCaffery said.
The coach said he wouldn’t necessarily discourage shooting, but added that quality shots depend on the time, score, and overall flow of the game.
Quick shooting can stem from pressing in a deficit, which McCaffery mentioned earlier this season, but it can also arrive from a sense of complacency – looking for the shot that arrives first but may not be the best available. Forward Seydou Traore said the Hawkeyes got a “little too comfortable” late against the Badgers.
Fouling decisions
After Thelwell made two free throws to place Iowa within five points with just over two minutes remaining, the Hawkeyes continued a game trend that was plaguing them all afternoon – fouling a John Tonje, who has a 91 percent mark from the charity stripe this season and a 85 percent badge for his six-year career. Driving down the lane or simply making his way past the arc, Tonje drew five fouls and splashed 9-of-10 shots from the foul line.
“He’s a veteran guy,” Traore said of Tonje. “He knows his way around his offense. He’s just an aggressive guard.”
Fouling is a strategy to get possession when trailing late, but that tactic goes awry when the target is one who can produce at the charity stripe. The Hawkeyes had to force the ball out of Tonje’s hands, and will have to do the same down the stretch against other guards with similar abilities.
Pryce Sandfort minutes
Sandfort was the spark of the Hawkeye offense in the first half, scoring 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting over 14 minutes of action. He didn’t start the second half and played 10 minutes down the stretch, scoring three points on a 1-of-3 mark from the floor.
“Just try to be fair, get [Sandfort] in there. Decide who’s got to come out, who needs to come out, and then sort of rotate them when they’re fresh,” McCaffery said of the second half minutes. “Rather than, ‘OK, [a player] didn’t play well, so I’m going to put [a different player in] in.’ No, let’s keep some fresh guys out there.”
While riding the hot hand is easier said than done considering lineup configurations without Owen Freeman, Iowa needed all the points it could get given its shooting struggles. Considering Brock Harding and Ladji Dembele’s struggles on Saturday, Sandfort could be a reasonable sixth-man or starter for the Hawkeyes.