Iowa's basketball players rally around assistants; no word on Lickliter's return

IOWA CITY - In the absence of Coach Todd Lickliter, Iowa's basketball players rallied around their assistants and each other Saturday.

Lickliter underwent a medical procedure Saturday at University of Iowa Hospitals and missed Iowa's 80-51 Iowa defeat of Prairie View A&M. Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta had no updates on Lickliter's condition last night. It's undetermined if he will coach Tuesday at Northern Iowa.

“A decision hasn't been reached yet,” Barta said. “Obviously, we'll announce it as soon as we know. We do anticipate he will be back this week. We just don't know when.”

Saturday, the players took it upon themselves to represent Lickliter in style of play and by following the lead of interim coach Chad Walthall.

Iowa played more loosely in notching its season high for points. The team tied the school record for 3-pointers with 15 and attacked the basket on both ends of the court.

Freshman Eric May scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. He also had three assists and three blocks.

“It was just how we felt throughout the game,” he said. “We're knocking shots down, we were making extra passes. When things click, you feel a lot looser.”

“It's something that we've talked about in practices as well,” Tucker said. “Coach (Lickliter) is going to get on us but we have to be able to respond and still play the game and not let what he says hinder us from playing.”

“We all understand what he wants from us. Coach Walthall touched on it a little bit, but we pretty much knew what we had to do.”

“(Walthall) just stepped in and made it as little of a change as possible,” Iowa sophomore Matt Gatens said. “He did a great job of communicating with us as well as other coaches stepping up and leading us to the victory.”

Assistant coach Joel Cornette provided the scouting report on Prairie View A&M, and assistant coach LaVall Jordan helped craft plays on the court.

“Coach Walthall did a great job of coaching us and stepping in,” said sophomore Anthony Tucker, who scored 20 points. “Coach (Lickliter) really put his system in place, and we know what to do. We were just able to go out and execute it.”

“We have faith in our coaching staff,” Iowa sophomore Aaron Fuller said. “We know what (Lickliter) preaches. We took that to heart.”

Walthall said the team made a conscious effort to win for Lickliter and the players trusted the game plan the coach put in place.

“It's really tough when your leader's gone,” Walthall said. “I was really proud of the way they pulled together. I'm really proud of the players.”