Iowa freshman Melsahn Basabe looks forward to encore

INDIANAPOLIS - Melsahn Basabe is a brash basher who shows no fear of attacking his on-court competition or talking about it afterward.

For the most part Basabe has backed up his words with action. He finished the season averaging 11 points and a team-high 6.8 rebounds a game. He blocked 41 shots and was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team.

But his season ended with disappointment, wrapped in a 66-61 loss to Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament. Basabe, a 6-foot-7 forward, scored six points, grabbed just two rebounds and played only 14 minutes for Iowa in the game. He was dinged for his second foul 3 minutes, 25 seconds into the game and didn't play the rest of the first half.

"It kind of messes up my teammates, me not being on the floor," Basabe said after the game. "It's a different chemistry, even though they did a good job. I'm someone that my teammates need. I am counted on - as everybody else is - and since I'm a starter, it kind of throws a different thing when a starter is out. You're always going to have somebody with two fouls. It kind of did throw off the rhythm of the game.

"I could have come back in the second half and affected the game. (Thursday) was just one of them days where you look back on it and I just won't let it happen again, not like this."

Basabe's performance against Michigan State demonstrated the up-and-down nature of his season. At times, he was dominant. He scored 22 points, pulled down 13 rebounds and blocked six shots against top-ranked Ohio State, including four blocks on likely first-team All-American Jared Sullinger. He was the first Division I freshman to record those stats in a game this year.

Basabe registered six double-doubles this season and is only freshman in Iowa history to score more than 325 points, grab more than 200 rebounds and 40 blocks.

But there were times he disappeared. Against Minnesota on Feb. 13, Basabe was whistled for his second foul less than 10 minutes into the game. He sat for the rest of the first half and never recovered, scoring only four points before fouling out. Iowa's eight-point first-half lead vanished into a 15-point loss. In other double-digit losses at Purdue and Penn State, Basabe was ineffective defensively and sat for most of those games.

Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery recruited Basabe to Siena and later brought to Iowa. McCaffery admits he's tough on Basabe, but there's a mutual respect.

"Melsahn is still just scratching the surface of how good he can be," Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. "I think what we'll see next year is a bigger, stronger, more consistent version of what we saw this year, so his numbers will be improved."

Basabe, a Glen Cove, N.Y., native, said he needs to stay composed in games where he gets early fouls. As for the off-season, Basabe has a list of areas for improvement.

"I would say I'm going to dedicate myself to getting stronger (and) working on my agility," Basabe said. "I definitely want to work on my ball handling. I want to take guys off the dribble and that's what I need to be able to do. I feel like I can be pretty hard to guard if I can get that down."

Basabe then said he wanted to master the 17-foot jumper, improving his footwork and becoming more consistent with face-up jump shots.  

"A lot of my stuff I want to get more quicker, more agile so I can really, really move almost move like a guard," Basabe said. "I've got a good set of athleticism naturally so I want to build on it."