The Iowa Hawkeyes won their first Big Ten game on Sunday. Freshman Melsahn Basabe scored 20 points and added 10 rebounds in a 91-77 victory over Indiana. Basabe was one of four Hawkeyes to finish in double figures.
Iowa coach Fran McCaffery says they have to have all of their talented players playing up to their ability to be able to win. Matt Gatens had 19 points and freshman Roy Devyn Marble had 18 points and McCaffery says the younger players on the team have remained positive despite a rough start in the Big Ten.
McCaffery says there is a tendency among young players to start looking for people to blame when you lose, but he says this team has not done that. Iowa held Indiana to just 37% shooting. McCaffery says the only negative defensively is that they were fouling a little too much.
Marble said the coach wanted him to be more aggressive and he did that and used it to his advantage. Marble says he has been working on his game in the gym to shoot more to get his confidence up. He’s also been working on his free throws.
Iowa is 1-6 in the Big Ten and 8-11 overall.