The Iowa Hawkeyes made a late comeback to get within four points — but ended up losing to Michigan 59-52 in the Big Ten Tournament. Coach Todd Lickliter credited his team with not giving up after being beaten handily in their last two regular season games.
Lickliter says the team has been able to come back all year and says they played hard even though they were spent emotionally. Lickliter says there are some good players that don’t give up. Lickliter says if the players can hang tough, then they are going to be able to compete in the future. He says nobody wants to go through the losing, but he says they fought better then they have in the previous two years.
The loss dropped Iowa to 10-22, the most losses in school history. The loses have generated a lot of speculation about Lickliter’s future. He was asked on the postgame show if he will sit down with Athletic Director Gary Barta and discuss the future of the program.
“I have no idea,” Lickliter responded, “I just take care of me. so, that’s not on me, that’s on Gary Barta.” Cully Payne led Iowa with a career high 25 points, including five of 10 from three-point range.