Iowa overpowers injured Hoosier frontcourt

For the second consecutive time against Iowa, the IU men’s basketball team failed to defend on the interior.

And for the second consecutive game, the Hoosiers came out on the losing end.  

Thanks largely to a lack of post-defense, IU fell to the Hawkeyes, 64-63, on Saturday at Assembly Hall.  

“We played hard today, but we didn’t play tough enough, especially down low,” IU coach Tom Crean said. “We have not matched the toughness at the rim and in the lane that we need to with (Iowa). That’s disappointing.”

The Hawkeyes outrebounded the Hoosiers, had more blocks and had more second chance points. More than half of Iowa’s points came from inside the paint. Some of that, though, stemmed from the personnel on the court.

Without IU sophomore forward Christian Watford, who is out with a broken left hand, the Hoosiers were forced to play smaller lineups on the floor. This included playing freshmen Victor Oladipo and Will Sheehey more on the interior rather than on their accustomed wing spots.

“My two best defenders down low today were two freshmen who aren’t used to guarding down there,” Crean said. “When you are in the situation we are in now with the injuries, sometimes we fight and sometimes we don’t. That we have to grow through.”

But while injuries were a potential reason for the ineffectiveness down low, they weren’t the only one.

The Hoosiers appeared outhustled on defense, in particular in the post down the stretch.

With about eight minutes remaining in the game, IU led 58-48. Iowa, behind strong play from guard Bryce Cartwright and forward Melsahn Basabe, preceded to go on a 10-0 run to tie the game.

The Hawkeyes eventually won on Cartwright’s made jumper from the baseline with 1:28 remaining.  

IU junior forward Tom Pritchard said the defensive intensity was not where it needed to be in the final minutes.  

“Coach is always harping about keeping guys out of the middle, and I know Cartwright got an easy layup in the middle,” Pritchard said. “There were other defensive stops that we needed to get. We gave them a lot of offensive rebounds and second chances, and that really killed us.”

A major part of Iowa’s late surge could be credited to the inside play of Basabe, who finished with a team-high 20 points and 13 rebounds.

Despite being 6-foot-7, Basabe found a way to grab a multitude of loose balls and used effective post moves to keep the Hawkeyes in the game for the entire 40 minutes.

When asked about the matchup with Basabe, Crean was clear in how he felt.

“We didn’t win it. He dominated us,” Crean said. “Whatever we did defensively today, we didn’t win.”  

Oladipo said he agreed with his coach’s statement and said the game came down to one factor.

“We got to realize that we didn’t execute on defense down the stretch,” Oladipo said. “Not playing defense is the reason why we lost.”