Road woes linger for Iowa men

MINNEAPOLIS - Iowa's recent road performances have amounted to nothing less than road kill on the Big Ten basketball superhighway.

Iowa's average margin of defeat is 25.5 points in its last four league road games, including a 35-point loss at Minnesota on Sunday. Outside of its victory at Indiana, Iowa has lost all but one game by 10 or more points away from Carver-Hawkeye Arena this year.

The Hawkeyes have lost its last two road games by a combined 62 points at Minnesota and Wisconsin. and both were marred by massive first-half runs. At Wisconsin, Iowa trailed 12-10 before the Badgers went on a 18-0 run lasting nearly 8 minutes. The Gophers hammered Iowa with a 22-2 run that took almost 10 minutes. Iowa trailed Wisconsin 30-10 and Minnesota 35-10 after those runs.

Iowa Coach Todd Lickliter said the damaging road runs aren't unique to Iowa.

“It's happened to other teams also as I've watched games in the last few weeks,” Lickliter said. “When teams go on the road and the home team puts back-to-back good plays together and makes a run, it's tough on the opposing team. It's not just us.

“There have been teams, good teams that have struggled to stay close on the road for whatever reason that is.”

But Iowa's road defeats are record-breaking this season. Three different road losses - Minnesota, Wisconsin and Northern Iowa - produced the worst Iowa losses to those rivals in school history. Of Iowa's 13 games away from home, 12 of which ended in defeat by an average of 17 points. That includes losses of 25 to Texas in Kansas City and 23 at Purdue.

“I don't know what it is on the road,” Iowa freshman Cully Payne said. “On the road we've been different, not as good as we've been at home, kind of protecting the home floor in front of our own fans.”

Iowa mustered only 40 points at both Purdue and Wisconsin, the fewest points scored by an Iowa team since 1949. Before winning at Indiana on Jan. 24, the Hawkeyes had dropped a school-record 15 consecutive road games. Iowa now has lost 17 of its last 18 Big Ten road games and is 6-37 away from Carver-Hawkeye Arena the last three years.

“When you come to Iowa or any college, you're not expecting to be on that side of history,” Iowa sophomore Matt Gatens said. “You've got to deal with it. After this season it will be in the past. We've got to use it as motivation and learn from it and use it as a learning experience and not stay down about it.”