Hawks getting beat by big enemy spurts

In its six losses this season, the Iowa's men's basketball team has suffered from a classic case of the runs.

Opponents have dwarfed the Hawkeyes in point-scoring stretches when Iowa has had little or no answer on either end of the court. Iowa (3-6) contributes to the problem with costly turnovers, cold perimeter shooting and difficulty in transition defense.

Tuesday at Northern Iowa, Iowa took a 6-2 lead, then UNI put up a 22-1 scoring barrage that buried the Hawkeyes. Iowa struggled during the 10-minute stretch by missing five shots, turning over the ball six times and getting no offensive rebounds.

Conversely, from the time UNI took the lead at 7-6 through the end of its run, the Panthers hit 8 of 11 shots. UNI gained offensive rebounds on two of the misses and scored on those possessions.

“Games like that there are going to be some runs,” said Iowa assistant coach Chad Walthall, filling in for Todd Lickliter, who missed his second straight game after having a stent inserted in his carotid artery. “I think probably one of the things that I wished we would have done a better job of is taking care of the basketball. If you give a team like that extra possession, it's going to be very difficult. I think early there we had some turnovers where we'd like to have them back, obviously.”

It's a common theme for Iowa, especially in losses:

In a 62-50 loss to Texas-San Antonio, Iowa led 31-29 but was outscored 14-0 during a 4:25 stretch in the first half. Iowa missed three shots and had four turnovers during that run.

In a 52-50 loss to Duquesne, the Dukes went on a 10-0 run, turning a one-point Iowa deficit into 11. Iowa missed three shots and had one turnover during that stretch.

Iowa led Texas 41-38 early in the second half before the Longhorns outscored the Hawkeyes 17-0 over the next 5:58. In 12 offensive possessions, Iowa missed 10 shots and had two turnovers and no offensive rebounds. Texas won, 85-60.

Iowa led Wichita State 12-7 before a Shockers' 13-2 run spanned 4:13. Iowa had three turnovers, a missed jumper and an offensive foul over that run in a 74-57 loss.

Virginia Tech turned a five-point Iowa lead into a 10-point lead by outscoring the Hawks 17-2 over 8:44 in the first half. In 11 possessions, Iowa missed six shots and had four turnovers in the 70-64 loss.

In none of those stretches, including UNI's 22-1 run, did Iowa grab an offensive rebound.

“We really struggled with our transition defense against Virginia Tech,” Iowa assistant coach Joel Cornette said. “It's something that we've had to really go back and work on. Really for us it's about communication and getting guys in the right spot.”

UNI blistered Iowa with a second-half run as well. Iowa trimmed its deficit to six points, but the Panthers stormed back on a 9-0 run to essentially end the game. Iowa missed three shots and had three turnovers during that run and grabbed just one offensive rebound.

“Their perimeter stepped up and hit big shots, and that was the difference,” Iowa sophomore guard Matt Gatens said. “We tried to make some runs, but they'd come back with runs of their own.

It's tough to overcome.”