The Iowa Hawkeye could not overcome a horrendous scoring drought in the second half as they lost to Minnesota 52-49 in Big Ten play. The Hawks managed just seven points in the first 15 minutes of the second half after leading by 13 points in the opening half. Iowa was outscored by 17-2 in a key stretch of the second half as they fall to 1-2 in the Big Ten.
Iowa coach Todd Lickliter says they were up 13 in the first half and Minnesota went to a zone and they ended up standing around. Lickliter says they didn’t shoot well, but Minnesota ended up with 18 rebounds and beat his team to the ball too often.
Lickliter say if the Hawkeyes are going to be successful they need a complete effort. He says they have to play "possession basketball" and expect games to be close, so they have to block and out and do what they need to do each and every possession.
The Hawkeyes played the second half without senior forward Cyrus Tate who suffered a sprained ankle in the opening half. Lickliter says it was a painful injury and Tate was willing to try and play, but he says he didn’t want him to do any more damage. The Hawkeyes are 11-5 overall.