Lickliter: Motivation for Illinois should be easy

Iowa Coach Todd Lickliter wasn't playing to the fan base with his post-game comments Saturday, but his words will resonate with Hawkeye nation in the next few days.

After a 14-point loss at Michigan on Saturday, Lickliter made several points about the team's lack of preparation and toughness. But perhaps he saved his best soundbite for the Hawkeyes' upcoming opponent on Wednesday.

"If they can't get focused for Illinois, then they shouldn't have taken the scholarship," Lickliter said. "We signed up for the Big Ten, and I've told them I think we can compete in this league. I think we can compete with anybody - if our approach is correct. If our approach isn't right and we don't do the things that you have to do, the non-skilled aspects of the game, if we choose not to do those things, then we can't beat anybody. It's just not going to happen. You have to understand who you are."

Iowa (8-14, 2-7 Big Ten) struggled in every area against Michigan, from a 30.9 percent shooting performance to a rebounding disparity of 13. But more than the statistics, Lickliter was forceful in the intangibles and fundamentals of how his players need to approach the game.

"If we don't block out, we're going to struggle," Lickliter said. "If we don't take charges, we're going to struggle. If we don't get back defensively and set our defense, and keep them in front of us, we're going to struggle. If we don't know scouts, if we don't know personnel and their tendencies and the way we're going to handle actions, we're going to struggle."

Lickliter unloaded much of his criticism on point guard Cully Payne late in the first half at Michigan. With Iowa trailing 24-13 and holding the ball, Payne missed a wide-open 3-pointer at the top of the key. Michigan went back the court and post DeShawn Sims scored an easy basket to extend Michigan's lead to 13 points. Lickliter called a timeout and blasted Payne.

Payne said he shook off the criticism without incident. He played 28 minutes and scored eight points.

"To my advantage I've had my dad, who no one knows, has always been hard on me,"  Payne said. "(He) broke a clipboard over my head once and just a tough guy, which is great to get to this level and Coach Lick has me to be able to take it and use it as a positive."

Although the tongue-lashing was directed at Payne, Lickliter said his frustration wasn't solely directed at his freshman point guard.

"It wasn't just him," Lickliter said. "We couldn't throw it in there (the post). Brennan (Cougill is) probably the only guy we could throw in there and post feed with any accuracy. Aaron (Fuller) might be the only the guy we've got that can call for the ball. That's why we had to play those two. Not had to, but that's why we played them at the end."

As much as Iowa's players want to look ahead to a rematch with Illinois, the Michigan loss has left a few mental scars for the Hawkeyes.

"This one is going to linger for a little bit, it's going to hurt for a little bit," Payne said. "We didn't just lose; we got out-toughed, out-everything. That's something that's going to hurt for a little bit."

"It's very disappointing, to take a step back like this when we were playing good basketball," Iowa sophomore Matt Gatens said. "We didn't come out ready to play. We let them control the game, control the tempo and they got some confidence early on and once did that, we weren't able to bounce back."