Hoosiers fail to slow down Iowa offense

IOWA CITY, IOWA — The IU men’s basketball team entered its game against Iowa expecting to see the worst scoring offense in the Big Ten.

It left with an entirely new mind-set.

Thanks largely to a lackluster defensive effort, the Hoosiers fell to the Hawkeyes, 91-77 Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“We weren’t good defensively at all,” IU coach Tom Crean said. “Our transition defense was poor. Our big guys were nonexistent in transition defense. We gave up too much middle drive, and we weren’t as physical as we needed to be.”

From the opening tip, the Hoosiers did not appear to have the same energy that was apparent in their most recent stints against Michigan and Wisconsin. 

Iowa was able to penetrate the lane easily and had good ball movement to set up open 3-point shots. The Hawkeyes entered halftime up 43-33, while shooting 51.7 percent from the field.

And while most teams tend to cool off after a hot shooting performance early on, Iowa did not slow down. It played one of its strongest halves of the season, shooting 65.2 percent in the second half. 

“We just got to step up and play better defensively,” IU junior guard Matt Roth said. “It’s all things that are correctable and all things that we know how to do, so it’s just a matter of getting it turned around.”

The Hawkeyes’ offensive outburst — its second highest of the year — was not the work of one or two star players. They received contributions from a variety of scorers.

Four different players finished in double figures, including Devyn Roy Marble off the bench, who totaled 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Forward Melsahn Basabe and guard Matt Gatens poured in 20 and 19 points, respectively.

“I thought from a consistency standpoint, today was the best we’ve been,” said Iowa coach Fran McCaffery.

The most telling statistic, though, may have been transition defense. Iowa had 16 fast-break points to the Hoosiers’ two.

“We just didn’t get back,” said sophomore forward Christian Watford. “They got out on transition, rebounded the ball well, and we didn’t get back at all.”

The lone bright spot on the night — at least offensively — was Watford, who finished with a career-high 30 points on 10-of-20 shooting. 

But while Crean agreed Watford’s offensive effort was good, he was quick to point out how much harder he needs to work defensively.

“You can’t score 30 and give up the points that he gave up,” Crean said. “We need go-to defenders more than go-to scorers. He’s got to take a real close look at what defense really means to him if he’s going to be a complete player and play at the next level.”

Crean said a major part of the loss could be attributed to his team not being physical enough, especially on the interior.  His squad allowed 46 points in the paint to Iowa’s big men.

“We weren’t as physical at the rim; we didn’t step in and draw charges the way we should have consistently,” Crean said. “We had an all-around bad day defensively for a team that was making a lot of strides.”