At 3-7, Iowa could use this break

IOWA CITY - If any team needs a few days to hit the books and stay off the basketball court, it's Iowa.

The Hawkeyes don't play again until Saturday because of semester finals, and the break is sorely needed. Tumultuous best describes the Iowa's first four weeks this season. With only two upperclassmen playing this season, the Hawkeyes (3-7) have limped to only three wins in their first 10 games for the first time since the 1939-40 season.

Recently, Iowa has faced even more adversity off the court. Coach Todd Lickliter had a stent surgically inserted into his carotid artery on Dec. 5 and has missed Iowa's last three games. Instead of trekking back 80 or so miles after losing at Northern Iowa earlier this week, Iowa's players and coaches were stuck in Cedar Falls an extra 24 hours because of a snowstorm.

“It's been a difficult few weeks,” said Iowa sophomore Matt Gatens, the team's leading scorer at 12.3 points a game. “Especially losing these games, coach being gone, being in the blizzard, it's a lot curveballs being thrown at this team. I thought we handled them well, but when it comes to crunchtime, it's not there right now.

“We need to keep just find that inner fire to keep fighting and step up and be there for your teammates. There's great plays the other night (against Iowa State). We just need to be more consistent.”

Lickliter met with the team on Thursday and will resume coaching this week. He hopes to lead the team on Saturday against Drake and won't second-guess the efforts by his assistants.

“I'll watch from afar, stay out of their way and when I get the chance to come back, we'll resume and I'll put my touches on it,” Lickliter said.

Iowa has struggled against its instate rivals. At Northern Iowa, the Hawkeyes led by four points until they were hit with a 22-1 UNI scoring barrage in a 17-point loss. Iowa State's athletic ability stifled any chance for Iowa to rally in an 81-71 Cyclone win.

“You've got to take as much as we can and learn from these two games,” Gatens said.

Offensively, Iowa's field-goal percentage is 41.9, ranking 234th nationally. More than half of Iowa's shots are 3-point attempts, but Iowa has hit only 33.3 percent to rank 184th nationally. Defensively, Iowa's opponents shoot 46.1 percent from the floor, worst among Big Ten schools.

In some ways the season is filled with learning experiences for Iowa. It's only fitting the Hawkeyes will use this week to hit the books and regroup for conference play.