Takeaways and postgame after Iowa men’s hoops suffers disappointing 81-77 loss to Nebraska
By Dallas Jones
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa men’s basketball team came into today’s matchup with Nebraska in a very similar situation as the football team found themselves in back in November.
Season finale at home against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, heavy favorites, with huge postseason implications. Unfortunately, the Hawkeye basketball team suffered the same fate as the football team, a loss.
The 81-77 defeat today caps off a regular season full of many high and lows alike. Check out my takeaways and postgame comments here as we prepare for Chicago:
Where Iowa stands in the postseason- When the game tipped off this afternoon there was a simple formula for Iowa. A win would secure the double-bye in the Big Ten tournament.
Nebraska came into the game tied with Wisconsin for 12th place in the conference and the win moved them into 11th, while also securing Fred Hoiberg’s first regular season over .500 in his Nebraska coaching tenure.
Now what are the possible outcomes for the Hawkeyes? Very simple.
A Northwestern loss @ Rutgers gives Iowa the fourth seed and a double-bye. The four seed would mean Iowa plays Friday afternoon following the Purdue game at 11am.
If Northwestern wins @ Rutgers, Iowa would get the fifth seed and get a single-bye. The five seed would mean a game Thursday afternoon against the winner of the 12/13 seed.
As far as the NCAA tournament, this loss will likely drop Iowa from a projected 6-seed to the 8/9 spot. A run in the Big Ten tournament could boost the Hawkeyes resume up, but that all is to be determined.
Defense will have to be better in the postseason- The Nebraska Cornhuskers absolutely torched Iowa this afternoon, especially from three. They shot 31-53 (58.5%) from the field and 14(!!)-36 (53.8%) from three.
Jamarques Lawernce led the Huskers with 15 points and five threes by himself. While Sam Griesel added 16 points and Derrick Walker almost had a triple double with nine points, twelve rebounds, and eight assists.
That will not come as much of a surprise as after this game Iowa will now finish the regular season dead last in scoring defense in the Big Ten conference, allowing 74.2 points per game.
On the bright side, the Hawkeyes also lead the league in scoring at 80.7 ppg, but that is a risky game to play in the postseason.
Patrick McCaffery is back- Iowa Junior forward Patrick McCaffery hasn’t hit the double digit mark in over two months, going all the way back to December 21st.
Today he broke that streak in just the first half, as he scored 16 points in fourteen minutes of gameplay. He knocked down five threes as well in the first half, more than he hit in the entire month of February (4-20).
Even through the loss, he would finish the game with a game high 23 points on 7-14 from the field and 6-10 from deep.
Nebraska’s early trapping of the post led to a lot of open looks for McCaffery in the first half and he stepped up to the plate to knock them down. Postgame he said his legs feel much better and his wind is better than the previous games sicne his return.
As the Big Ten tournament in Chicago approaches this coming weekend, Patrick and the rest of the Hawkeyes will need to all playing consistent ball if they want to make a run in one of the toughest conferences around.
Closing time struggles- Iowa has been known for late game heroics at home this season. Just over a week ago against Michigan State and earlier this season against Wisconsin.
That well ran dry today as the Hawkeyes went just 11-37 (29.7%) from the field, 3-16 (18.8%) from three, and 9-15 (60%) from the line in the second half.
That combined with making zero field goals in the final six minutes of the game led to the loss today. The looks were there, sometimes they just don’t fall.
The best thing they can do is flush this and move onto Chicago.
Check out postgame comments from both coaches and Hawkeye players here: