Multiple factors lead to Hawkeyes' rough start

IOWA CITY - First-year Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery twice has chided his team's effort after recent losses. His forwards often disappear during key stretches and his point guard play has been inconsistent. All three of his team captains have had medical procedures within the last seven months.

Each of those factors have contributed to Iowa's 7-9 start, now halfway through the regular season. But the season's slope has become more steep in Big Ten play with the Hawkeyes limping to an 0-4 record , losing those games by a combined 57 points. Last year's squad had a similar 0-4 start, losing by 56 points.

The Hawkeyes, who play Sunday at Minnesota, are one loss from their first 0-5 Big Ten start since 1917.

“We just have to look down into ourselves and get things done,” said senior tri-captain Jarryd Cole. “It's definitely all on us. There's nothing the coaches can fix, it's nothing that nobody else can fix, only ourselves.”

After competing with No. 16 Illinois and No. 2 Ohio State in home losses, the Hawkeyes have lost by a combined 42 points at No. 8 Purdue and against Northwestern. Iowa struggled to take quality shots against Purdue's tight, half-court defense, while Northwestern buried the Hawkeyes with a barrage of 14 3-pointers.

Following those two losses McCaffery questioned his players' effort. He said Friday that's the issue that his team must fix to compete in any Big Ten game.

“You've got to fight that much harder,” McCaffery said. “All the 50-50 balls we have to get. We've got to block out better. You just can't turn and go get the ball. You've got to really focus on who's on the floor, what do they do, because let's face it: sometimes you have a lineup on the floor that's got all the shooters and sometimes you have a lineup on the floor that's only got one of the shooters when they make subs, so we've got to adjust. And it's that focus and concentration to play as hard as we possibly can every possession.

“Right now that's our only chance, and we have done that - I should say we had done that up until the last two ballgames in my opinion.”

Injuries have hampered the team from the outset. Cole had off-season knee surgery. In October junior Matt Gatens suffered a torn tendon in his non-shooting hand that required surgery. Gatens missed two games and struggled until recently to find a shooting rhythm.

Sophomore point guard Cully Payne has missed all but five games after starting all 32 last year. Payne likely will red-shirt after an operation to repair a sports hernia and a torn oblique muscle.

Sophomore guard/forward Eric May has struggled since pulling a groin muscle in the Big Ten opener. He missed one game, and played a combined 32 in the last two with three points. His confidence is sliding, something both he and McCaffery acknowledge.

“There's just a few games where you're not knocking down shots and can't really let that affect you the rest of the game,” May said. “I think I did a poor job and that kind of dictated how I played.”

“His confidence is clearly struggling right now, there's no question about that,” McCaffery said. “He'd be the first to tell you that. But I do believe that he believes in himself.

“The one thing that I told him to address any doubt he might have is that he's my starter, he's in the starting lineup; I'm going to give him the minutes that he needs to play through it. I think when you start to struggle, if your coach loses confidence in you and benches you, blames you, whatever, then it's not going to help.”

Freshman forward Melsahn Basabe scored 22 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked six shots in a breakout game against Ohio State. He's since hit four field goals in the last two games.

Junior Bryce Cartwright has filled in for Payne with mixed reviews. Cartwright scored a career-high 25 points, dished five assists and had only two turnovers against Northwestern. But that effort came after hitting just 6-of-21 from the field with 10 turnovers in his previous two games against Ohio State and Purdue.

“I think having games like that (Purdue) help you realize that you sometimes where you think are and you need to work harder, and I think that's been a reality check for us as a team,” Cartwright said.

Iowa next plays at Minnesota, which is ranked 25th in the coaches poll, and at likely No. 1 Ohio State. The schedule then lightens a tad with games against Indiana, Penn State and Michigan - all teams trying to gain traction this year, like Iowa.

“We've got to take some steps forward now,” McCaffery said. “We've got another shot at a ranked team (Minnesota). They're ranked 25th. They just beat the eighth-ranked team (Purdue) so they'll probably move up. So it's an opportunity for us to go on the road and try to correct some of the mistakes that we made and try to improve collectively.”