Iowa players see progress despite loss

The mood was lighter among Iowa's younger players following Tuesday's 52-50 loss to Duquesne.

It wasn't that they were pleased with the outcome. Quite the contrary, they were visibly angry about it. But the effort was there, which will help them recover for Friday's game against Bowling Green."

"We came in and want to win all the hustle plays," Iowa freshman Brennan Cougill said. "And we won most of them, taking charges, going after loose balls.  Just stuff it doesn't take talent, it takes heart."

Cougill put Iowa ahead late on a traditional three-point play. He rebounded a miss from Matt Gatens and was fouled on the put-back. He sank the free throw to give Iowa a 50-49 lead with 41 seconds left in the game.

It was the first time Iowa had dropped the first two games to start a season since 1970-71. It was the first time Iowa had dropped its first two games at home since 1931-32. Anthony Tucker led Iowa with 16 points.

Here's a rundown of how the game progressed:

Duquesne's Bill Clark drilled a three-pointer with 11.9 seconds left to take the deciding 52-50 lead lead.

With .8 seconds left, Iowa's Anthony Tucker tossed to Eric May, whose last-second shot fell short as Iowa lose 52-50 to Duquesne on Tuesday.

With 2:51 left in the game, Iowa men took their first lead at 47-46 since midway through the first half on Matt Gatens' running three-pointer at the end of the 35-second shot clock.

Junior post Jarryd Cole cut what was an eight-point deficit to two points after a layup with 4:01 left.

For the second straight game, Iowa let a competitive game slip away during an opponent's run. Iowa led 19-16 with 6:14 left in the first half, but then could manage just one three-point basket in its next 10 offensive possessions. Duquesne then bolted on a 17-3 run, scoring on seven of 10 possessions.

"We definitely got better," Iowa freshman point guard Cully Payne said. "We got ourselves into a little bit of a hole, and we had to dig ourselves out. We were getting on the ground for loose balls, taking charges, stuff that was really emphasized after last game.

"They hit a great shot in the corner, which was tough. It hurts now, but overall I think we definitely took a step forward."

"There's not really much of a mood," Cougill said. "Yeah, we're a little mad because we're 0-2, but Coach (Todd Lickliter) says that he still has hope for us. At the end Coach called the play, and we believed it was going to work. Sometimes it doesn't end up like that."