It was ugly from the outset for the Iowa Hawkeyes at Purdue on Sunday. The 11th ranked Boilermakers jumped out to an 11-0 lead at the outset and never looked back in a 75-52 victory in Big Ten action. The Hawks shot only 37 percent for the game and committed 16 turnovers to fall to 0-3 in the league race.
Iowa coach Fran McCaffery says they came apart a little at the start and couldn’t make a basket. He says they did make a come back and he felt good about it, but he says they didn’t do enough to get back into the game and he was disappointed in that. After having a big game against Ohio State Iowa freshman Melsahn Basabe made only one of five shots, finished with eight points and had three rebounds.
McCaffrey says Basabe hasn’t been the focus of the defense until now after a couple of good games, and they are focusing on him. He says Basabe will have to adjust to that and get better, and he will. Matt Gatens led the Hawkeyes with 13 points.
The Hawkeyes return to action on Wednesday night at home against Northwestern.