Iowa’s McCaffery approaches senior day like any other game

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Emotions will swirl inside of Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Tuesday when a group of four seniors wear the Iowa uniform for the final time at home.

But Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery won't get emotional, at least before the game. He'd prefer the school avoid Senior Day ceremonies altogether and honor his squad in April at the annual postseason banquet. After all, the Hawkeyes face Big Ten-leading Indiana in their final regular-season game.

'I'm going to approach this game like it's the next game on the schedule,' McCaffery said Monday. 'It's an important game. I don't get into the emotional side of it, to be honest with you. I've been on record as saying I wish we could do away with Senior Day and celebrate those guys at the banquet the way they need to be celebrated.

'The good thing about this I guess and why we still do it, it is a way for the fans to be part of it because there will be more people there than will be at the banquet. So we'll go more in depth about the incredible accomplishments about this class. I'm not going to bring that up, the fact that it's senior day, to be honest with you. We're just going to try to play one of the best teams in the country and hopefully we'll have them ready and they'll play well.'

No. 15 Iowa (20-8, 11-5) plays host to No. 11 Indiana (23-6, 13-3) at 8 p.m. Tuesday (ESPN). With Iowa's loss at Ohio State on Sunday, the Hoosiers clinched a share of the league title. They can win it outright at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The Hawkeyes have lost three straight games and four of their last five. It's a late-season free fall reminiscent of a decline two years ago when they dropped seven of their final eight. Still, Iowa entertains hopes to share the Big Ten title. Wins against Indiana and on Saturday at Michigan — whom the Hawkeyes beat in January — and a Maryland win at Assembly Hall earns Iowa a share of its first league title since 1979.

But that's wishful thinking right now. The Hawkeyes were ranked as high as No. 3 four weeks ago and considered a Final Four favorite. Now, they're trying to reverse a slide and return up to a standard they set earlier this season.

'We're in a slump,' guard Peter Jok said. 'There's a lot of teams in the country that went through slumps. Ours had to be at the end of the season. We've got to stay positive. We have to believe in each other and ourselves.'

'We just have to work on getting on track and playing the way we used to play,' Iowa guard Anthony Clemmons said. 'We just have got to play harder. Make sure we stick together as one and go back to the basics, the things that got us to the place where we were at.'

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