The Iowa basketball team has shown improvement during the non-conference season and now the Hawkeyes get a chance to show just how much progress has been made when they visit Ohio State on Wednesday afternoon in their Big Ten opener.
Columbus was the sight of Iowa’s most lopsided loss a year ago as the Buckeyes raced out to a 45-17 halftime lead enroute to a 79-48 win. Coach Todd Lickliter says it was “very unpleasant there” last year as the Buckeyes controlled the game from the start and his team never got in it.
Lickliter expects the Hawkeyes to be more competitive this time. He says with a year of his system under their belt and a new team, they can compete at a high level. Iowa is 10-3. The Buckeyes are ranked 24th after closing non-conference play with their first loss of the season, a 27 point shellacking at home by West Virginia.