McCaffery: Hawkeyes could alter lineup

IOWA CITY - Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery is pondering post-halftime lineup changes with the Hawkeyes' early second-half woes this season.

Formerly or currently ranked opponents - now totaling eight - have outscored Iowa 84-27 from halftime through the first media timeout this season. The Hawkeyes (11-5, 2-1 Big Ten) have led at halftime in six of those eight games but is just 3-5 against those opponents.

'I think any time you have a situation where things aren't going well, you think about every possible situation that can affect it. And that would be one of them,” McCaffery said Monday morning. 'It's funny because in a lot of those games, we played really well in the first half so you'd say, ‘Why would you change the lineup in the second half if you played so well in the first half?'”

Eight different players have been on the court for Iowa entering halftime in those games. Each situation has its own variable from foul trouble to set out-of-bounds plays. Senior forward Aaron White is the only Iowa player to stay on the floor in each of those games.

Guards Mike Gesell (7), Josh Oglesby (6) and Peter Jok (5) have appeared in the majority of lineups entering halftime, as has center Adam Woodbury (5). Forward Jarrod Uthoff (4), Gabe Olaseni (3) and guard Anthony Clemmons (2) also were on the floor entering halftime.

From halftime through the first media timeout of those games, the Hawkeyes have nine turnovers and eight were allowed by post players. Iowa shot 17 of 52 and committed by 21 fouls. The instate games against Iowa State and Northern Iowa were the worst for the Hawkeyes, who were outscored 22-2 in that time frame.

The Hawkeyes led Michigan State 39-28 at halftime last Thursday. The Spartans outscored Iowa 8-5 from halftime through the first media timeout.

'I think we just have to stay after it mentally,” Clemmons said after the Michigan State loss. 'In those moments you have to be mentally tough when a team is making a run after you. You've got to be able to slow the ball down, get an inside touch.”

That's not a new trend. In its final five games last year - all against power-five competition - Iowa was outscored 49-15 over the same span.

'When you keep coming out and giving up leads that you work so hard to get, yeah, that's something that you would think about,” McCaffery said regarding lineup changes.

Iowa travels to Minnesota (11-6, 0-4 Big Ten), which has its own share of second-half woes. The Gophers have opened Big Ten play with three of its four games on the road and lost them all. Minnesota led Purdue by 11 midway through the second half at Mackey Arena, but the Boilermakers rallied with a 16-3 run and won by four points. In its only Big Ten home game, Minnesota trailed Ohio State by 12 and took the lead late in the half before falling in overtime.

Saturday, the Gophers led Michigan by nine points with less than eight minutes remaining before they crumbled with six late turnovers.

'The problem is you look at the last game against Michigan, (there were) legitimately inexplicable turnovers,” Minnesota Coach Richard Pitino said. 'We threw the ball out of bounds eight times. I've never, ever seen that. So we've got to fix a lot of those things. Certainly I think getting home will make us a little more comfortable I hope.”

Iowa has dropped the last two games at Williams Arena, including a 95-89 shootout last year. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. (BTN).

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