Not quite enough (defense) for Hawkeyes in 79-76 loss to Purdue (w/video)

IOWA CITY - Opportunity lost.

The Iowa Hawkeyes served up a gritty, gutty performance in their Big Ten Conference opener Wednesday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. You kind of had the feeling they would.

But the chance for a spirit-lifting, program-lifting victory died behind a failure to make plays, especially defensively, as Purdue held on for a 79-76 victory. It was Iowa's fifth consecutive loss in a Big Ten opener.

Considering the brutal upcoming schedule, including a game Saturday afternoon at 11th-ranked Wisconsin, this one really hurt. You could tell.

"Lack of defending when it counts. That's why we lost the game," said Iowa's Melsahn Basabe. "We had them every other way. We should have beat that team. Credit to them, they're a good team and everything. But I feel like we should have won that game."

Iowa (8-6) never led beyond the 13:14 mark of the opening half, though it hung around and hung around the favored Boilermakers (11-3). The spread ping-ponged between two and six points almost the entire second half, but ... well, see the above paragraphs.

Robbie Hummel had 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead Purdue, which shot an even 50 percent from the field. Roy Devyn Marble's 16 points led Iowa, with Basabe adding 14 and Matt Gatens 10.

"That game was right there," Gatens said. "I thought we came out in the first half and threw the first punch ... We were right there, had a chance to win in the end. It's disappointing."

Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery used that 'D' word to describe his team's defense. Purdue was regularly able to penetrate the lane for layups and short jumpers, an issue the Hawkeyes have faced pretty much the entire season.

This game was particularly bad.

"I thought it was disappointing the way we defended the second half, I thought it was disappointing the way we defended the entire game," McCaffery said. "I thought we played well offensively. But you can't give multiple players ..."

McCaffery completed his thought by ticking off shooting percentages of Purdue's players. Ten Boilermakers played and scored at least four points.

"No matter who they'd play, he'd just drive and score," McCaffery said.

To the coach's point, Kelsey Barlow hit an and-one lane drive to begin the second half, giving Purdue its biggest lead of nine, 48-39. But Iowa went on a corresponding 13-4 run that eventually tied it with 14:33 left.

The Hawkeyes had big back-to-back three-point plays in the run: a traditional sort from Basabe off transition that forced a Purdue timeout, the second a 3-point shot out front by Eric May that made it 52-52.

But the Hawks never could pull ahead and fully and consistently energize the crowd of 12,526 (announced). Gatens hit a 3-pointer to make it a 75-72 game with 49 seconds to go, but McCaffery decided not to have his team foul and try to play defense instead.

Obviously that didn't work out.

Barlow hit a driving hoop at the end of the shot clock to put Purdue up 77-72 with 19.4 seconds left. Bryce Cartwright responded with an immediate driving bucket that made it 77-74, but Gatens fouled Hummel with 12.9 seconds left, and the senior forward (who has overcome two ACL surgeries) made both free throws to seal it.

Gatens scored on an offensive rebound with one-third of a second left, but Purdue inbounded the ball, and that was that. Close, but no cigar, as they say.

No confidence-boosting near miss, as Basabe was asked by a local television reporter.

"I didn't come into this game not confident, so why would I need a confidence booster in the first place? Understand what I'm saying?" Basabe said. "I think that's how all my teammates felt. We didn't come into this game thinking we were supposed to get blown out or anything. So this isn't a confidence booster. Only a disappointment."

Iowa won the first-half battle of tempo but still trailed, 45-39. Time after time (and player after player), Purdue would spread the floor at the half court and drive to the hoop, where invariably it would find layups and short jumpers. When those weren't available, there were kick out passes to shooters who would be open more times than not from distance.

It was bench guys D.J. Byrd and John Hart actually leading the way with eight points apiece in the first half. Hart, in particuarly, has seen few meaningful minutes for the Boilers.

"You have to have balance," said Purdue Coach Matt Painter. "You have to have guys coming off the bench and being productive. Very rarely do you see 10 guys playing in the first half, and 10 guys score."

Iowa was able to stay afloat was at the free-throw line, where it was 12 of 15 in the first half to Purdue's 1 of 2. The Hawks ended up making 21 of 29 to the Boilers' 7 of 11.

Here is video of McCaffery's postgame press conference and a short video interview with Gatens, as well as a copy of the game boxscore:

Iowa Bkb Stats