By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – For a visiting team that is desperately searching for ways to get back on the winning track, Hilton Coliseum in Ames isn’t the ideal place for it to happen.

But that is the challenge facing the Iowa men’s basketball team, which has lost four of its last five games, including back-to-back Big Ten games.

Iowa also has lost seven consecutive games against Iowa State at Hilton Coliseum, so the circumstances look pretty bleak heading into Thursday’s annual showdown against the Cyclones.

Iowa is coming off a 77-64 loss at Indiana on Monday in which Fran McCaffery benched most of his starters at the beginning of the second half.

The move paid dividends as Iowa trimmed a 15-point halftime deficit to one point, but still couldn’t over the hump.

McCaffery said Wednesday on a teleconference that he is considering changing his starting line for Thursday’s game in Ames, but without being specific.

Iowa’s eighth-year head coach is trying to find the right combination to provide a much-needed spark against an Iowa State team that has improved significantly this season.

Sophomore point guard Jordan Bohannon was one of the players benched for the start of the second half against Indiana, and he agreed with the decision.

And whether Bohannon starts or comes off the bench against Iowa State, his team needs him to break out of his slump.

“He’s just got to play better,” McCaffery said. “He’s a great player and I have a lot of confidence in him. He’s got a lot of pressure on him. We’ve got to screen more for him, like we’ve been doing. But he’s doing the primary ball handling.

“I have no doubt he’ll get back on track here soon.”

Junior Brady Ellingson and sophomore Maishe Dailey both started in the backcourt in the second half against Indiana and sparked the comeback, especially Ellingson, who led Iowa with 16 points.

Iowa’s guards will face a stiff challenge against the Cyclones, whose top three scorers are guards, led by Donovan Jackson’s 17.0 per-game average. Heralded freshman Lindell Wigginton is averaging 15.1 points per game, while point guard Nick Weiler-Babb averages 13.7 points per game and a team-leading 7.4 assists and 7.1 rebounds per game.

After losing its first two games of the season to Missouri and Milwaukee, Iowa State has won five consecutive games, including capturing the 2017 Puerto Rico Classic under third-year head coach Steve Prohm.

Prohm’s decision to make Weiler-Babb the point guard has breathed life into an offense that looked stagnant and out of sync in the first two games.

“I think they’re playing really well right now, and it obviously starts with the three perimeter guys who are terrific,” McCaffery said. “The thing I like about those guys is they give it up easy and they can put it on the deck and they make threes. So it’s not like one makes threes and the other one is okay and the other one is just a driver. They all do everything and they move the ball real well. Those guys are unselfish.”

“At the start of the season they were down two post guys and now they’ve gotten them back. So now they’ve got depth there, which they didn’t have at the very beginning of the season. So I think that makes them better.”

McCaffery was referring to the addition of 6-9 freshman forward Cameron Lard and 6-9 senior forward Hans Brase, both of whom have played in the last five games.

It seems unlikely based on what Fran McCaffery said Wednesday that his son, 6-5 freshman guard Connor McCaffery, will play against Iowa State as he continues to recover from mononucleosis. Connor McCaffery played in the two exhibition games, but has missed all nine games in the regular season.

The status of 6-9 sophomore forward Ryan Kriener also was uncertain as of Wednesday morning because of concussion-related symptoms that caused him to miss the Indiana game.

“Connor’s in little different place because he’s so far behind physically right now with where his body was so it’s going to take a little bit of time,” Fran McCaffery said. “He’ll do some of the stuff in practice, but he’s not doing contact yet for obvious reasons.”

“I would doubt that Connor would play, but Ryan is a possibility.”

Iowa was in a similar situation last season when it faced the Cyclones at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes entered the game with a 4-5 record and then pulled even at .500 with a 78-64  victory. It was Iowa's second consecutive victory in what grew to be a five-game winning streak.

But that game was at home, whereas Thursday’s game will be played in a hostile environment.

A number of factors have impacted this series over the year, but nothing besides Lafester Rhodes’ incredible 54-point performance in 1987, has had a bigger effect on the outcome of each game than home-court advantage.

 

Iowa vs. Iowa State

When: 7 p.m. Thursday

Where: Hilton Coliseum, Ames

TV: ESPN2

Records: Iowa is 4-5 overall and 0-2 in the Big Ten; Iowa State is 5-2 and 0-0.

Series: Iowa holds a 44-26 advantage in the series. Iowa State has won the three of the last four meetings. Iowa snapped a three-game losing streak to the Cyclones with a 78-64 win in Iowa City a year ago. The home team has won 10 of the last 12 in the series with the Cyclones winning in Iowa City in 2010 and 2015.

The Cyclones own a slim, 18-17, advantage in games played at Ames. Iowa State has won the last seven meetings in Hilton Coliseum. The Hawkeyes' last victory in Ames came on March 21, 2003 (54-53) in the postseason NIT. Iowa's last regular season victory in Hilton was Dec. 8, 2001 (78-53).