IU can't find offense in 58-43 loss to Iowa

IU has been an underdog for two seasons, and it didn’t react well to the concept of being a team expected to win.

The Hoosiers had taken two consecutive Big Ten contests before losing 58-43 against an Iowa team that has only defeated the winless Penn State Nittany Lions.

IU coach Tom Crean and his players said the team didn’t come out with any will to fight. Sophomore forward Tom Pritchard threw around words like “pride” in his talk to the media.

Despite the flat start and constant references to effort, IU coach Tom Crean said he would be stunned if anyone on his team had expected an easy win from Iowa.

“I told them this after the game, I’d be just dead shocked if anybody would be ridiculous enough to overlook Iowa based on where we’re at in this program’s time,” he said.

This was all in reference to an Iowa advantage on the glass. The Hawkeyes average 32 rebounds as a team and claim only a 0.1 advantage on its opponents. Yet, the Hoosiers had only 23 rebounds Sunday.

Iowa totaled 39 rebounds, and gained 20 of their 58 points on the offensive glass. 

“What bothers me is the rebounding,” Crean said. “You may have seen the end of the three-guard lineup right now. We can’t do that, we had two rebounds between our three guards.”

IU (9-10, 3-4) will have nearly a full week to prepare for its next contest at Illinois on Saturday. The Hoosiers are 1-2 on the road this year, while the Illini are 10-2 at home.