Wasted offensive possessions aggravate Iowa's Fran McCaffery

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - It was business as usual Wednesday night for Iowa men's basketball team, and Coach Fran McCaffery has grown weary of it.

It wasn't the 65-51 loss at Penn State that had him agitated. He wasn't angry about the technical foul he received in the first half, his sixth in his inaugural season.

What aggravated him afterward was his players once again confused up-tempo offense with shooting the ball quickly in a road contest. Multiple times in the second half, the Hawkeyes (8-12, 1-7 Big Ten) tried to answer a Penn State basket with one of their own. They got careless, took poor shots and allowed a winnable game to slip away into another double-digit loss.

“I just don't understand (the quick shots),” McCaffery said after the game. “I'm baffled by that, especially we talked about it during timeouts. No quick shots. You're on the road, they're making a run, they got the lead back, you're still within two or three possessions, longer possessions, grind it, screen, cut, move, work the ball, get an angle ...”

Twice in the second half the Hawkeyes had the game within range only to let poor shot selection ruin the night. Penn State took a two-point lead with 16 minutes to go, but then freshman Zach McCabe missed a jumper. Penn State's Tim Frazier converted a three-point play to push the Nittany Lions' lead to five points. Then senior Jarryd Cole missed a jumper before Iowa could develop its offense. Penn State guard Talor Battle sank another basket with extend the lead to seven.

Iowa ended two more possessions with quick shots from Matt Gatens and Melsahn Basabe, and both missed.

“I think sometimes we get caught up in trying to get it back all in one play,” Iowa point guard Bryce Cartwright said. “Just getting antsy and just anxious really, and I think sometimes that leads to our downfall.”

Still, the Hawkeyes had a chance midway through the second half. After Battle sank a 3-pointer from well beyond the arc, Iowa went five straight possessions with either a turnover or a quick shot. McCabe, Devyn Marble and Cartwright all were the culprits on those possessions.

Later, Marble hit a 3-pointer to cut Iowa's lead to five points at 50-45 with 6:08 left in the game, but the Hawkeyes again slipped into bad offensive habits. Marble missed a pair of jumpers wrapped around a charge call on Cartwright.

“A couple of times we quick-shot it, and a couple of times I think Bryce felt he needed to make a play which he was very successful at in the first half and then he was driving into traffic and still shooting the ball,” McCaffery said. “He did it two or three times on top of Jarryd's quick shot, Marble's quick shot, Matt's quick shot ... you can't win that way.”

The players are at least learning the message. Afterward Marble acknowledged he and his teammates had ended a few possessions with poor shots. The Hawkeyes sank only 37.3 percent of their shots, while Penn State shot 53.2 percent from the floor.

“(McCaffery) always told us we have to stop doing that when a team is a long run is quick-shooting the ball and getting it all at once,” Marble said. “When you're down by more than two or three points, you can't get the lead all back. You have to take your time and eat into that lead.”

Well, at least the players know what answer McCaffery seeks. Now it's a matter of translating those thoughts into action.