Iowa men’s basketball’s loss to Purdue stung fans. Why Ben McCollum isn’t shying away from the outcome

IOWA CITY — Change doesn’t happen overnight. Ben McCollum understands that.

Iowa men’s basketball’s 78-57 loss to No. 13 Purdue on Saturday afternoon was a far cry from what fans, and the team, had hoped for during a Carver-Hawkeye Arena sellout.

It was the first sellout of the McCollum era, too, but instead of the Hawkeyes repeating a tightly contested matchup like the one in Mackey Arena in January, the Boilermakers dominated Iowa in nearly every aspect of the game.

McCollum hasn’t lost many games in his coaching career, let alone blowout losses. He’ll be the first to admit that the feeling of a key loss stings. He’ll also admit in the same breath that there’s a learning curve.

“It's a part of the process. It's a part of it,” McCollum said. “I don't like it. I haven't had that happen in a lot of years, and to be quite honest, it's humbling and it's good sometimes for the soul. I don't want to feel it very often, but we're going to get ourselves there.”

His open optimism, despite the largest loss of the season having just concluded, stood out. McCollum knew the Hawkeyes could’ve played better — and admitted that. The players themselves knew it, too.

They also understood the performance may have been disappointing to those fans watching the game.

“I don't think we were ready to play today, and definitely showed,” guard Bennett Stirtz said. “And we're sorry to our fans who showed out and had to watch that.”

The offensive struggles Iowa has dealt with the last few games played a key factor in the loss to the Boilermakers — that’s certain. Iowa has scored over 80 points in just two of the past eight games. There’s only been two players reaching double figures over the last three games, one of them being Stirtz.

Why this has become an issue has yet to be fully dissected by the Iowa coaching staff and players. The Hawkeyes have another ranked opponent in Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Tuesday, No. 7 Nebraska. There isn’t a ton of time to dwell on the loss, instead it’s more about understanding what’s gone wrong.

“I thought we were really prepared,” McCollum said. “For some reason, we’re not scoring and we’re not clicking on offense. The ball is not moving.”

But in one of the biggest opportunities of these early McCollum era days, Iowa didn’t deliver.

This time.

“They earned the right to play in front of a crowd, which was awesome, and they didn't play their best,” McCollum said. “Sometimes you have to go through those things to try to get to try to get what you want, which is ultimately the crown ... I knew it was going to be tough when I came here.”

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