Ready or not, Big Ten slate comes for Hawkeyes

IOWA CITY - Ready or not, here it comes.

Iowa's 9-4 record in non-conference play has drawn mixed reviews, from the dogged win at North Carolina and defensive strides to the baffling post-halftime hiccups and shooting struggles. Regardless of what took place on the court before Christmas, it's all history starting Tuesday.

The Big Ten basketball meat grinder begins in earnest for Iowa at No. 18 Ohio State (11-2) at noon (ESPN2). The Hawkeyes' upgraded schedule against five ranked opponents has helped the team prepare for a grueling 18-game conference stretch, Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. But how much? That's anyone's guess right now.

'We had a very challenging non-conference schedule,” McCaffery said. 'I think we got a lot out of it. I still think we're still trying to figure some things out. I think we have to play better. I think we're playing pretty well; we have to play better. We have to be a lot more consistent with a lot of the things that we do. If we do that, then I think we'll be OK.”

The Hawkeyes lead the Big Ten in field-goal defense in holding opponents to 36.9 percent shooting. Iowa also tops the league in rebounding (40.5 a game), ranks second in blocked shots, third in scoring defense and steals. Those categories are major upgrades from last year.

But Iowa's offense curiously has plummeted. Iowa is 13th in Big Ten field-goal percentage (40.7) and tied for 12th in 3-point percentage (30.8). The Hawkeyes were third and fifth, respectively, in both categories last year. Iowa led the Big Ten in both scoring offense and scoring margin last year but ranks just 10th and eighth, respectively.

Losing all-everything guard Devyn Marble (a second-round NBA draft pick) was one cause for the drop. McCaffery said shot selection is another issue.

'If your shooting numbers are down, there are two things you have to do: you have to work on shooting and you've got to take better shots,” McCaffery said. 'For us, I think, what we have to do is make sure that when we come down, when we're in motion or whether we're running sets whether we're in transition, that we're getting really good shot opportunities. We're open after ball movement, after screening, I think we've got to go inside a little bit more. We still have got to drive the ball and get to the free-throw line. Little by little, I think you'll see those numbers come up.”

Ohio State has its own questions entering the game. The Buckeyes' strength-of-schedule ranks 167th nationally. Ohio State has played just two games outside its state and lost them both by at least eight points. But Coach Thad Matta likes the progress he's seen from his team entering Big Ten play.

'We're still trying to figure our team out up to this point,” Matta said. 'From this point on we're all playing each other, whether we like it or not.”

There's also optimism from Iowa about starting the Big Ten slate at Ohio State. The Hawkeyes upset the No. 3-ranked Buckeyes 84-74 at Value City Arena last season, posting Iowa's first win against a top-five team in 13 years and scoring the most points on an Ohio State squad in six seasons. OSU evened the score a month later with a 76-69 win at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

'I'm really looking forward to it,” said Ohio native and Iowa senior Aaron White about playing in the Big Ten. 'It's a challenge every single night. You've got to just take each game game-by-game and that's so cliché, but it's so apparent and so important in this league one through 14, 25, however many teams we have in the Big Ten now.

'We'll be ready. We've got a good test early. Ohio State is good, they're young, playing the zone, so we'll be ready for them.”

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