IU enters prepared but not tough enough against Iowa

Even if temporary and based solely on conference records, a win against Iowa would have placed IU in the upper tier of the Big Ten.  

A victory would have given the Hoosiers a 4-3 record in league play and put them in a four-way tie for third place in the Big Ten with Illinois, Ohio State and Purdue. Only Michigan State (7-0) and Wisconsin (6-2) have better records.

But rather than rejoining the conference’s elite – Purdue finished second in 2008 and 2009, while the other four have combined for the last seven regular season Big Ten titles – IU is back among the league’s pretenders.

Don’t get me wrong, the Big Ten is a good conference. That is precisely why a loss to 7-12 Iowa at home hurts.

With six more road contests to go and the likes of Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin yet to make it to Bloomington, Sunday’s contest was almost a must-win for IU.

No, the season didn’t hinge on that one game.

But for any team to be a serious threat in a top-flight league, it is essential they handle all of the lesser competition.

The Hoosiers weren’t in a position to overlook the Hawkeyes, as IU coach Tom Crean said. However, there’s really not much of an explanation for coming out flat and getting outplayed and out-muscled the way IU did.

Teams don’t win games scoring 43 points. Teams don’t win games getting out-rebounded by 16. Teams don’t win games with a 13-point differential in second-chance points.

Considering Iowa, like IU, started two freshmen, two sophomores and a junior – while the Hawkeyes’ 10 bench points came from a single freshman – Crean was 100 percent correct in saying he couldn’t blame the effort on youth.  

“I’m putting this on fight,” he said. “We just did not have a toughness about us today that we would’ve beaten anybody.”

Junior guard Jeremiah Rivers, meanwhile, said the two days of practice following the win at Penn State went “great” and the team was “real focused” heading into Sunday’s game. IU was well aware of what Iowa could do, he said.

“I think at the end of the day, they wanted this more than we did,” Rivers said. “I don’t think we had that sense of urgency that we had against Penn State, that we had against Minnesota.”

Well, why not?

Certainly one could argue Iowa had more to prove Sunday than IU, but there is no excuse for the team’s “lack of physicality and toughness” that Crean emphasized after the game.

Last Thursday, not only did the Hoosiers prevail in a road contest, but they led for the duration of essentially the entire 40 minutes.  

Aside from the failed comeback attempt versus Loyola (Md.), IU has not exactly responded well to large deficits. But there was no reason they couldn’t have Sunday.  
The Hoosiers went on an 11-0 run to grab the lead back from the Hawkeyes 13 minutes into the game, but that was the only instance in which IU was able to muster quality play for an extended period of time.

Perhaps this will serve as a lesson for the Hoosiers as they move forward.  

But having a Saturday date with the Orange Krush in Champaign, Ill., and a home showdown the following Thursday with 16-3 Purdue, it won’t get any easier.

IU has five days of practice separating Sunday’s loss and the game at Illinois. How the team responds Saturday should ultimately tell how much fight this team really has – even if it wasn’t there against Iowa.