Even at 0-12, Gophers have Iowa’s attention
IOWA CITY, Iowa – In Fran McCaffery’s world, there is no such as taking a Big Ten opponent lightly, or any opponent for that matter.
It’s incomprehensible for McCaffery to consider having a letdown, even with last place Minnesota preparing to face his fourth-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The Gophers are 0-12 in the Big Ten and haven’t won a game since defeating Chicago State 70-52 on Dec. 16 in Minneapolis. That’s almost two months without experiencing the joy of victory.
But McCaffery see the Gophers in a much different light.
“We got beat by them last year,” McCaffery said. “It would be different if the last five years we had killed them every time we played them.”
Minnesota has won two of the last three games against Iowa, including a 64-59 victory on Feb. 12 of last season at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. That was Iowa’s last home loss, so it’s been over a year since a visiting team has left Carver-Hawkeye Arena victorious.
“And these guys were part of that,” McCaffery said of his players. “So it shouldn’t be too hard to get them to understand who we’re playing.”
Iowa is playing a Minnesota team that has lost 13 consecutive games under third-year coach Richard Pitino. However, eight of the losses were by fewer than 10 points, including a 74-68 loss against Indiana on Jan. 30 in Bloomington, Ind.
Iowa lost at Indiana in similar fashion on Thursday by an 85-78 score. The loss dropped the Hawkeyes (19-5, 10-2) into a three-way tie for first place in the Big Ten with Indiana and Maryland.
Minnesota, on the other hand, was tied with Rutgers for last place in the conference heading into this weekend’s games.
“He’s trying to push the right buttons and they’ve been really close,” McCaffery said of Pitino, who is the son of Louisville coach Rick Pitino. “I think in so many ways when you look at their record I don’t think it’s really reflective.
“When you watch how they played against Indiana down there. I mean they had that game won. They played extremely well at home against them. They’ve had so many good games where they’ve been right there. So I think any coach would look at that.”
As somebody who has rebuilt four Division I programs, McCaffery knows how it feels to struggle. His first Iowa team only finished 4-14 in the Big Ten and 11-20 overall during the 2010-11 season.
McCaffery also had team at North Carolina-Greensboro that finished 7-22 during 2002-03 season.
“We’ve all been there, I’ve been there,” McCaffery said. “I felt like we were playing well. I felt like we were playing well enough to win. We just weren’t winning a couple games.
“What ends up happening is the teams that you play recognize that. I have a lot of respect for (Richard Pitino) as a coach and for the talent he has there. I don’t look at their record. I look at their players.”
As for his team, McCaffery wants to get more productivity from his bench against Minnesota after it was outscored 28-0 against Indiana.
All five of Iowa’s starters were effective against the Hoosiers as each scored in double figures. That made it easier for McCaffery to keep his top reserves on the bench.
“I think they’ll be fine,” McCaffery said of his top reserves, which include sophomore forward Dom Uhl, freshmen forwards Nicholas Baer and Ahmad Wagner and freshman shooting guard Brady Ellingson. “In retrospect, I should have played them all a little bit more. But the starting five played so well that I thought we would ride them.”
Iowa senior guard Mike Gesell is coming off one of his best performances of the season this past Thursday against Indiana. He scored 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field.
“I know my teammates and I know we’re going to bounce back,” Gesell said. We’ve done a tremendous job of when we lose one, we’re very professional about it. We look at the film and we get back to work the next day.
“I know we’re going to do that, and I know we’re going to be ready for our game on Sunday. This (Indiana) is just one game and it doesn’t define your season.”