Hawkeyes focus on closing out games

IOWA CITY — In the days that followed Iowa's 83-82 loss at Iowa State, guard Anthony Clemmons assumed the worst from Iowa's postgame video session.

Instead, Iowa's coaches chose to avoid re-airing the Hawkeyes' defeat except for private viewings. It surprised Clemmons and his teammates and left a positive impression in the wake of a potentially devastating loss.

'I praise them for that because I didn't think it was coming,' Clemmons said. 'I thought we were going to go in there, and it was going to be a heck of a film session. He trusted us, came back in and got to work.'

Iowa (7-3) still has plenty of work ahead as it nears the season's one-third marker. While the Hawkeyes didn't bristle through a tough video session, their failings remain obvious. The Cyclones rallied from an eight-point deficit inside of two minutes, and from 20 points down early in the second half. Iowa committed turnovers on three consecutive possessions, including two inbound disasters in the final minute.

Numbers show Iowa has struggled in crunchtime over the last three years. In 14 opportunities (13 games) with the ball in either a tie game or a chance to tie in a game's final 11 seconds, Iowa has hit just two of 11 shots with three turnovers. The Hawkeyes won three of those games, including two that went to overtime.

There's a possibility that constant failure in key moments could linger among Iowa's players. But senior forward Jarrod Uthoff said he and his teammates remain confident.

'I don't think we have the guys to get it in their heads,' Uthoff said. 'It's not going to get in their head. We'll be all right. We'll bounce back from it and get better.'

It's more than just making shots in the clutch, however. It's avoiding turnovers, executing out of bounds plays, taking good shots. And, Uthoff said, 'being more mentally tough.'

'I think too much can be analyzed,' Uthoff said. 'It doesn't matter how you get it done. It matters what you get done on the court, especially in late-game situations.'

Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery avoids calling late timeouts and gives his players freedom to make plays. Wednesday, McCaffery said a timeout often allows opponents to change personnel and set up a defense.

'So if you know who's on the floor and what defense they're in and you have play action called, why do you have to call timeout?' McCaffery asked. 'You're just going to come out and run what you just called.

'Everybody always says, what did you diagram, what ingenious thing did you come up with? Typically you have action, but ultimately somebody has got to make a play because they might take away that action.'

Iowa State led Iowa by one point with about nine seconds remaining and one timeout remaining. Point guard Mike Gesell drove up the court and found Uthoff open at the top of the key. Uthoff's shot caromed off the front of the rim.

'In that situation I wanted Jarrod to have the opportunity to shoot the ball,' McCaffery said.

Uthoff, who scored a career-high 32 points against Iowa State, thought his shot was good. He hit both of Iowa's last-second shots in the last three seasons. He remains confident he'll do it again.

'I'm not afraid to take another one,' Uthoff said. 'Sometimes they fall, sometimes they don't. It's just the way it goes and it's the nature of sports, really.'

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