It was another loss for the Iowa Hawkeyes but coach Fran McCaffery called it a step forward. The Hawks dropped to 0-5 in the Big Ten with a 69-59 loss at Minnesota. Iowa trailed 30-19 at the halftime break but roared back to tie the game early in the second half. McCaffery says the came apart a little in the first half, but didn’t let it get away from them.
He says they were able to hang with a bigger Minnesota team on the boards in the second half and kept fighting, and he is proud of the way they fought back. Iowa made two more field goals in the game but the Gophers went to the line 37 times and made 27.
The Hawkeyes hurt their own cause by going through a nine minute stetch in the second half without a field goal. McCaffrey says they revved things up a little, but didn’t get enough second shots, as he says sometime your jumpshots are not going to fall and you have to get second shots.
Melsahn Basabe led the Hawks with 20 points and 13 rebounds. After struggling with a growing injury Eric May had a big game for the Hawks. He finished with 16 points, including three of four from three point range.
Iowa falls to 7-10 overall.