Fran McCaffery
Iowa’s depth has been a major factor in its success this season. Thursday night it was absent at Indiana. The bench was held scoreless as the fourth ranked Hawkeyes lost to the Hoosiers 85-78.
Iowa trailed by 16 points at the outset but battled back to take a four point lead with nine and a half minutes remaining. The Hoosiers responded with a 9-0 run as they forced a three way tie for first place in the Big Ten.
“We gave up two buckets with one second on the shot clock, missed 10 free throws and did not execute some of our action late”, said Iowa coach Fran McCaffery. “That’s disappointing and it is my fault and we will learn from that”
Jarrod Uthoff led Iowa with 24 points and Mike Gesell added 17 points and six assists.
“We gave up way too many offensive rebounds in the first half”, said senior guard Mike Gesell. “It is tough to start a game like that.”
Adam Woodbury had 13 points and 15 rebounds. The Hawkeyes struggled at the line and made only 13 of 23 as they fall to 10-2 in the Big Ten.