A new attitude seeping into men’s basketball at Iowa

IOWA CITY - Minutes after his team suffered a grueling, yet impressive effort in an overtime loss to Wisconsin, Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery walked into his postgame news conference with a scowl.

There was no smile from a man charged with turning around a once-proud basketball program. It didn't matter to him that his team nearly beat the No. 13-ranked team. It was still a loss, and his players understood his feelings well before he met with the media.

“I wasn't happy, I'll be honest with you,” McCaffery said about the locker-room discussion. “If you were in there, there was nothing resembling a moral victory. I was not happy at all. Sixteen offensive rebounds. Loose ball in a two-point game, (and) we don't get it, jump ball. Not happy at all.”

McCaffery's expectations for his 10-14 club have filtered into the players' attitudes. They don't believe a solid effort against a ranked opponent is good enough anymore, if it ever was.

“We expected to win,” Iowa junior point guard Bryce Cartwright said. “We had it all the way in regulation. We didn't finish the game, even when we got up in overtime. We've got to put it together.”

Iowa is most likely mired in its fifth consecutive season without a postseason appearance. It's probable the Hawkeyes will finish with their fourth straight losing season. But there's an upward trend of hope for the program, both on and off the court.

Despite its record, Iowa has outscored its opponents 1,635 to 1,603 this season. Last year the Hawkeyes had given up nearly 100 more points to their opponents after the 24th game and 175 more by the season's end.

Iowa has matched its 2010 win total and is one victory shy of equaling its Big Ten number.

The Hawkeyes recorded their first two-game Big Ten winning streak since 2007 and earned their first one-point victory since 2004. But beyond the statistics, the team's mindset has changed. Anything resembling a moral victory is a loss. It's all about wins now.

“There's no reason why we couldn't beat anybody from here on out,” Iowa freshman Melsahn Basabe said. “I really mean that. It's up to us to keep fighting.

“I think we're starting to learn how to play whole games now. Even when something goes bad, even when they go on a little run, but keep competing. There's no reason why we shouldn't be looking at a win every time we play from here on out.”

Iowa's remaining Big Ten opponents are a combined 34-36 in league play and only two - Purdue and Illinois - have winning Big Ten records. All of the opponents have a winning streak of some sorts against Iowa - Minnesota (five), Northwestern (two), Michigan (five), Illinois (five, 20 of 21 in Champaign), Michigan State (16 straight in East Lansing), Purdue (eight). But that doesn't seem to faze the Hawkeyes, either.

“We're starting to play better basketball and put better games together,” Cartwright said. “Unfortunately, we came up short (Wednesday), but I think we're getting on the right track.

“The effort is there; we just (need) more sound play. I think that will be the difference for us.”

Fans are starting to notice, too.

The official attendance is up by nearly 1,200 tickets sold per game over last year, and it's possible the team could post its best numbers since 2004.

Cedar Rapids Washington senior Josh Oglesby, a lifelong Iowa fan, signed a letter of intent to play basketball for McCaffery next fall. Oglesby picked Iowa over Big Ten foes Minnesota and Illinois in part because of McCaffery's personality.

“Coach McCaffery is a class act dude,” Oglesby said. “I'm really excited to go down and play for him, especially with how Iowa's been playing. They might be at the bottom of the Big Ten, but I think he's going to turn that thing around.”