By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Big Ten grind is unforgiving in men’s basketball.

It lasts for over two months and challenges those who are part of it in ways that can be overwhelming at times.

Iowa is feeling some early effects of the Big Ten grind, coming off back-to-back conference losses for the first time this season, and with star player Peter Jok hampered in the last two games by a stiff back.

Wednesday’s game at Illinois is huge for both teams, because on paper, it appears winnable for both teams.

Iowa is 3-4 in the Big Ten and 11-9 overall, while Illinois is 2-5 and 12-8 and mired in a three-game losing streak.

Both teams have been wildly inconsistent, showing flashes of brilliance in some games and multiple weaknesses in others.

Without a healthy Jok, Iowa could be in serious trouble, but Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said Monday on a teleconference that his 6-foot-6 senior sharpshooter was feeling better and would resume practicing after having some extended rest.

Iowa is coming off a bye weekend and hasn’t played since losing to Maryland 84-76 last Thursday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“He’s really hitting it hard with treatment and we gave him the rest that he needed,” McCaffery said. “I think’s feeling a lot better. Those days off came at a real good time.”

But even with a healthy Jok, Iowa has struggled on the road where it has a 0-4 record.

Maybe that shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering McCaffery has started four freshmen at the same time for much of the season.

“I think there are a lot of things that enter into it,” McCaffery said of winning on the road. “It seems like if you look at it, the more experienced teams handle the road a little better and that always stands to reason because they’ve been through so much. But typically, it comes down to the makeup of the individuals.

“We’ve played pretty at times on the road. We haven’t put it together for forty minutes against good teams that I would like to see. Certainly, our last outing was forgettable. But I think you’ve got to go through that to understand, start to finish, what’s necessary.”

McCaffery said Monday that he is considering changing his starting lineup, which he already has done twice this season. He didn’t mention anything specific, but sophomore forward Ahmad Wagner certainly helped his cause to be a starter again by scoring 12 points and grabbing six rebounds against Maryland in just 15 minutes of action off the bench.

Sophomore forward Nicholas Baer is another possibility because he seems to thrive in whatever role McCaffery gives to him.

But there is also value in having the versatile Baer come off the bench to provide a spark.

McCaffery used 11 players against Maryland, with all of them seeing action in the first half. He was searching for the right combinations on a team in which the right combinations change on a continual basis.

Wagner’s point total against Maryland matched what he had combined to score in the previous six games.

“When you’re playing as many guys as I’m playing, who knows what lineup is going to be on the floor,” McCaffery said. “Who predicted the lineup that was on the floor that got us back into the Maryland game?

“But that’s the kind of team we have. And that takes time for all those guys to develop the confidence necessary to compete successfully and understand how to play together on the road.”

You could argue that it’s past the time to use Iowa’s youth and inexperience as an excuse. But is it really?

Nearly half of the current roster hasn’t played in a game at Assembly Hall in Champaign, Ill. It could take time for the players to adjust to the new surroundings.

The Big Ten grind will test the Iowa freshmen in ways they haven’t been tested before. Iowa is 20 games into its season, but still hasn’t reached the midway point of the 18-game conference schedule.

You wonder if some of the freshmen might hit that imaginary wall as the season stretches into February.

McCaffery also worries about putting too much pressure on his young players to perform each night. With such a deep rotation, playing time is often determined by who has the hot at any given moment.

"Think about the pressure that puts on those guys," McCaffery said of his players. "Coach puts me in and I'm going to get three minutes to prove I can play or othewise I'm not getting back in. That's a tough spot to be in and I don't like to do that to players.

"So you're kind of weighing the sense of fairness at the front end to the sense of reality on the back end. I guess what's going to end up happening is I'm just going to try and go with it as the game goes on. If I see a spot for a certain guy, get him in there."

Iowa's next five opponents all currently have losing records in Big Ten play. So this part of the schedule could go a long way in determining Iowa's level of success.    

As for Illinois, you're weighing whether John Groce will return as head coach next season.

In his fifth season as head coach, Groce has yet to turn Illinois into a winner. Injuries have certainly been a problem, but he also has struggled to recruit the best players out of Chicago.

Illinois has failed to make the NCAA Tournament in each of the past three seasons, so the pressure is building on Groce, whereas Iowa has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the past three seasons.

The Big Ten grind doesn't have many soft spots or easy stretches.

So for Iowa and Illinois, facing each other might be about as easy as it gets.

 

Dom Uhl update: Junior forward Dom Uhl is expected to play against Illinois on Wednesday after missing the last two games because of a thumb injury.

McCaffery said he considered using the 6-9 Uhl against Maryland last Thursday, but chose not to after watching Uhl struggle in practice the day before.

"The way he played in practice the day before, he wasn't ready to go," McCaffery said. "I made that decision. It was not his fault that he didn't play. I wanted to play him.

"I think he'll play Wednesday, and I think he'll be really good."

 

Iowa vs. Illinois

When: Wednesday, 8 p.m.

Where: Assembly Hall, Champaign, Ill.

TV: Big Ten Network

Records: Iowa is 11-9 overall and 3-4 in the Big Ten; Illinois is 2-5 and 12-8.

Series: Illinois leads 81-73, but Iowa has won five of the last seven games, including the last two games in Champaign.