Iowa men’s basketball travels to the West Coast for the second time this year, set to face Oregon

IOWA CITY — As Iowa men’s basketball makes the trip out to the Pacific Northwest, the calendar turns to the final month of the regular season. With the Big Ten tournament now just six weeks away, every game’s importance for toward the postseason slowly grows.

The Hawkeyes fared off a charging Trojans team Wednesday night, surviving a 33-point effort from USC’s Kam Woods to take a 1-point win into the record books.

Now, Iowa’s West Coast teams are on the road, beginning with a struggling Oregon squad Sunday afternoon.

The Ducks haven’t won a conference game since they faced Maryland on Jan. 2. They were struck with injuries to two of their top performers, center Nate Bittle and guard Jackson Shelstad, and Shelstad won’t return this year.

But it’s still a Big Ten matchup, regardless of how much Oregon might be struggling. Iowa head coach Ben McCollum makes that clear every time.

“You hope that your training allows you to be ready consistently for particular games,” He said Friday morning. “I do think some of these games are a little bit from an external perspective, easier to get motivated on the road than sometimes at home.”

The Hawkeyes already took a trip out west during nonconference play, playing Ole Miss and Grand Canyon in the Acrisure Classic back in November. Though it’s been a couple months since that tournament, Iowa was able to pick up on a few tricks for adjusting to the time change.

There isn’t a magic trick or a potion that’ll make it easier, however. The previous experience just gave the coaches and players a chance to see how their bodies adapt to the difference. It worked well last time, with the Hawkeyes winning both games of that early-season tournament.

“There’s nothing you can do differently,” McCollum said. “It’s just making sure that you’re ready to go.”

Iowa’s bigger task still is adjusting to an Oregon squad that looks very different from the beginning of the season. Instead of Bittle and Shelstad, forward Kwane Evans Jr. and guard Takai Simpkins are now the leading scorers.

It makes the scouting report change slightly, with Iowa having to adjust from the film Oregon had of its two injured players.

“I think you can scout their defense over time, everything with their defense and then offensively,” McCollum said, “You scout when they didn't have those players.”

Oregon also averages 12.48 offensive boards per game — good for third in the conference — but haven’t scored above 60 points in its last three games. The Ducks also haven’t suffered a deficit smaller than 10 points since its loss to Rutgers on Jan. 5.

Evans Jr., however, did record a career-high 24 points, including four triples against UCLA.

McCollum said after Iowa’s win over USC Wednesday night that closing the door on opponents while the Hawkeyes have a lead is a key in the Big Ten. The wiggle room that Iowa gave the Trojans nearly cost the Hawkeyes a home conference win.

It’s not something worth risking again, knowing what else is looming over the next six weeks.

“It's just making sure that you're ready to go,” McCollum said. “Typical Big Ten road game, it's always difficult.”

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