Men's Basketball: Hawkeyes look to reverse Big Ten trend

DES MOINES (AP) — Iowa coach Todd Lickliter’s experience with the Big Ten tournament has been limited and sadly repetitive.

All he’s ever seen his Hawkeyes do is play Michigan in the opening round, lose and go home.

Iowa (10-21, 4-14 Big Ten) will get the Wolverines in the first round in Indianapolis for the third year in a row on Thursday. Lickliter is hoping his latest tournament matchup with Michigan (14-16, 7-11) won’t end like the last two that brought down the curtain on Iowa seasons.

Whatever happens in Indianapolis won’t change the fact that this Iowa team will go down as the first 20-loss unit in school history. The challenge is to gain some confidence heading into the offseason after back-to-back blowout losses at Wisconsin and Minnesota last week.

“This has been a good group as far as responding to task at hand,” Lickliter said. “They’re probably mature beyond their years in that regard, being able to bounce back and knowing they can’t do anything about the past.”

Perhaps the best news Iowa has had in quite some time came out earlier this week. Three Hawkeyes earned league honors — sophomores Matt Gatens and Aaron Fuller as honorable mention All-Big Ten picks and Eric May as an all-freshman team selection — and they all should have their best days in front of them.

The selections also underscored just how much the Hawkeyes were forced to lean on youngsters this season. Only Indiana got more points from its freshman class than Iowa, led by May (9.1 points per game) and point guard Cully Payne (8.1).

It’s also no coincidence that the Hawkeyes and Hoosiers are the ninth and 10th seeds in the league tournament.

“Most freshmen, they should be able to get their feet wet,” Lickliter said. “They should have an upperclassman directing them and showing them. And they should be getting some minutes, but not to the point where you’re depending totally on them. And they’re having to learn during that time.”

The 73-45 blowout Michigan delivered to Iowa in last season’s tournament was a bad omen. Starters Jeff Peterson and Jake Kelly then left the program in the spring, leading to yet another rebuilding year.

The Hawkeyes got a chance for a little payback in Ann Arbor on Jan. 30, but the Wolverines led by as many as 24 points before cruising to a 60-46 win. Iowa finally had Michigan on the ropes in their last meeting in Iowa City on Feb. 16, but DeShawn Sims hit a late 3-pointer to force overtime and the Wolverines prevailed, 80-78.

Getting past Michigan would be one strong step forward for the Hawkeyes, who will be expected to get much better as early as next season.

“They’ve got a very bright future, but we can’t sell out the present for that,” Lickliter said. “We know we’re going to be better because we’re going to continue to work, but making sure we’re as good as we can be today.”

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