Steve Batterson

Following an off-day Sunday, Iowa basketball coach Todd Lickliter put his team through a 7 a.m. workout Monday and with spring-like temperatures outside, Lickliter joked at the conclusion of his weekly news conference that it would be a perfect day to go fishing.

He made the comment shortly after talking about what he would prefer to reel in — a couple of players to complement Iowa’s four-member recruiting class. Lickliter has made no secret about the fact that the Hawkeyes are still searching for players to add to this year’s recruiting class and as would be the case with a rod and reel, the bigger the better.

Lickliter hopes to sign two additional players during the spring signing period — filling one scholarship that is currently vacant and an additional one that was given in August to walk-on Dan Bohall for the current academic year.

The Iowa coach doesn’t have to look any further than Wednesday’s opponent — Purdue — to see the type of impact a large, talented recruiting class can quickly have in building a program. The Boilermakers have played their way to a 6-1 start in the Big Ten, in part because of the contributions of four freshmen who are among the top seven scorers on the team.

"What they’ve done speaks well to their recruiting and to having a plan and profile of what you want in your program,” Lickliter said. "Having that specific blueprint is important and Matt (Painter) has shown what is possible if you bring in the right collection of people.”

Lickliter excused himself quickly following his news conference. More than likely, Monday was a perfect day to see what he could reel in.

Steve Batterson

The first 3-point basket of Seth Gorney’s career was followed by a signature reaction from the senior and a quick earful of advice from his coach.

Gorney knocked down the 3 ball during the second half of Iowa’s win Saturday over Penn State and after he did it, an enthusiastic Gorney formed an ‘X’ by crossing his arms in front of his chest. It wasn’t a first — Gorney frequently celebrated dunks in a similar fashion earlier in his career — but with more of his time being spent away from the basket those slams have been few and far between.

It was, however, the first time that coach Todd Lickliter had witnessed Gorney’s celebratory spirit and the Iowa coach was quick to put an end to the party.

"He said I should be able to make those shots and be humble about it,” Gorney said following the game. "I thought it was worth it.”

Gorney, who had missed in four previous attempts from behind the 3-point arc, has been able to demonstrate his solid shooting touch from 15-19 feet within the flow of Iowa’s offense.

Steve Batterson

Iowa begins an important stretch of its 2008 Big Ten schedule on Saturday. The 5 p.m. game against Penn State begins a stretch where the Hawkeyes play five of their next seven games at home.

While two teams hovering near the top of the conference standings, Ohio State and Wisconsin, visit so do three teams on the opposite end of things. In addition to Penn State, whch has struggled since losing scoring and rebounding leader Geary Claxton to an ACL injury, Michigan and Northwestern play at Iowa as well.

The results of those five games will go a long way in determining what type of seed the Hawkeyes may end up with for the Big Ten tourney in early March and at the onset, coach Todd Lickliter finds himself searching for the one thing that has eluded his team throughout much of the season — consistency.

"It’s great that we don’t have to travel and that we can get into a set routine,” Lickliter said during a Friday teleconference. "Mostly, we just want to play better basketball. We’ve had times when we have played good basketball, but we haven’t played that way consistently. At Indiana, we certainly didn’t play good basketball and it would be good for us to begin to sustain a higher level of play.”

Lickliter said he doesn’t subscribe to the notion that the Big Ten has settled into tiers at this point.

"I don’t want us to be concerned with where we are at. I want us to be concerned with how we play and then with how we play against the next opponent,” Lickliter said. "Those are the things that ultimately will determine your fate.”

Steve Batterson

Indiana gave the Iowa basketball team a not-so-subtle reminder of the gulf that exists between teams at the top of the Big Ten standings and those attempting to emerge from the depths of the standings.

After watching the Hoosiers handle his team 65-43, Iowa coach Todd Lickliter opened a quick postgame news conference by stating, as he put it, "the obvious.”

"Indiana’s an exceptionally good basketball team,” Lickliter said, repeating sentiments that have been echoed by coach after coach throughout the Hoosiers’ ongoing 13-game winning streak. He heaped praise on the usual suspects, Eric Gordon and D.J. White, but accurately made note that this Indiana team is much more than a two-man show. The shooting skill of Armon Bassett, the rebounding and athleticism of Jamarcus Ellis — a player Iowa attempted to recruit — and the physical presence of DeAndre Thomas also drew praise from the Hawkeye coach.

Together, they are a reason why Kelvin Sampson’s second Indiana team has positioned itself as one of the favorites — if not the favorite — in this year’s Big Ten title chase.

Sampson discussed Lickliter and the Hawkeyes’ situation during his postgame remarks as well.

"I was talking to Todd before the game. Taking over a new program, the first thing you have to do is establish your culture, how it is you want your team to be,” Sampson said, saying he saw improvement in Iowa from the team he watched in Iowa City on Jan. 2 to the team he saw on tape while preparing for Wednesday’s game.

As for the Hawkeyes, disappointment described the mood of players as they exited a locker room where they had been told they lacked the focus to compete against a team as skilled as Indiana.

"All we can do is get ready for the next game and that’s Penn State. Coach said we need to move on,” Justin Johnson said.

Quick shots

Iowa’s next two home games –this Saturday against Penn State and one week from Saturday against Ohio State — have unusual starting times. Both games will tipoff at 5 p.m. to accommodate a Big Ten Network telecast.

An injury suffered in practice on Monday prevented David Palmer from traveling to Indiana with the Hawkeyes. Palmer, who had not played in other recent games while taking an interim term course, is still awaiting a grade in that course as well.

Iowa is offering university students a $60 "season ticket” for the team’s final six home games. The ticket includes admission and a t-shirt.

Steve Batterson

It didn’t surprise Iowa basketball coach Todd Lickliter that Michigan made things interesting during the final minutes of the Hawkeyes’ 68-60 win Saturday night at Crisler Arena.

"It was as I expected. When you’re facing a John Beilein-coached team, you know that they’re going to keep coming at you,” Lickliter said after watching the Wolverines take a 16-point Iowa lead with 5 minutes, 30 seconds to play and twist and turn it into a 3-point game in the final minute.

DeShawn Sims and Kelvin Grady did most of the damage, combining for all six of Michigan’s 3-point baskets during the late surge.

They also illustrated just how potent the Wolverine offense can be once Michigan’s players become more comfortable with the offense Beilein is introducing this season. Just as Iowa has been inconsistent on the offensive end throughout the season, Michigan is dealing with the same issues.

The result is streaky basketball and a few gray hairs for the coaches trying to teach a new system, but with time comes growth and Iowa’s win was certainly another step in that process.

Steve Batterson

Justin Johnson scored five of his seven points during the final 14 seconds of the Iowa basketball team’s 67-62 loss to Purdue on Wednesday. Until hitting his final two shots of the game, the senior’s recent shooting woes had continued.

Johnson, who hit 8-of-13 3-point baskets in the Hawkeyes’ 79-76 loss to Indiana, missed his first six shots against the Boilermakers. Since opening Iowa’s Big Ten season with a 29-point game, Johnson has hit 10-of-40 field goals and 7 of the 29 shots he has attempted behind the arc.

His effort against the Hoosiers has made Johnson a focal point of opponent’s scouting reports and coach Todd Lickliter said following Wednesday’s game that Johnson is learning to adjust to that type of defensive pressure. Lickliter refused to label Johnson’s recent outings a "slump,” pointing out that he sees Johnson taking two-to-three tough shots each game as the final seconds tick off the shot clock.

Still, he conceded, "We’ve got to figure out ways to get him involved.”

Steve Batterson

Iowa’s win over Michigan State on Saturday attracted more than a few e-mail inquiries about the status of the ongoing issues which have kept the Big Ten Network off of Mediacom, the primary cable provider in this part of the planet.

Funny I didn’t field any inquiries following the 31-point loss at Ohio State earlier in the week, but that’s another issue.

Nothing has really changed between the two groups. Talks continue, but so do the differences.

 The network, which topped the 100-game mark in live basketball broadcasts during the past week, still wants a spot on expanded basic cable throughout the state. It maintains everything else is negotiable. Mediacom has been willing to discuss an expanded basic-level offering in the Iowa City area, but insists that the network belongs on its digital tier sports package elsewhere. Anyone who has attempted to work their way through the maze of motor homes and vans on I-80 between the Quad-Cities and Iowa City on a football Saturday morning understands the flaw in that thinking.

Still, with the basketball season more than 50 percent in the books it seems unlikely that anything will change before the start of the 2008 football season at the earliest. Until then, expect talks to continue.

Steve Batterson

That’s why they play the games.

On paper, Saturday’s Iowa-Michigan State basketball game was a mismatch. The Spartans entered the game on a roll, winning its last 11 games before taking the court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes had muddled their way to an 0-3 start in the Big Ten and had lost five of their last six but in the end, that didn’t matter.

Michigan State got off to the running, up-tempo start it wanted but Iowa wasn’t a willing participant. The poise and patience displayed by the Hawkeyes, even as the Spartans built an 18-9 lead, paid off as the game progressed and Iowa methodically worked its way back into the game. The two things Iowa had to do to give itself any chance against the sixth-ranked Spartans was dictate tempo and hang with the Big Ten’s best on the boards. The Hawkeyes did both.

Michigan State struggled to find shots against Iowa’s man-to-man defense and veterans Drew Neitzel and Raymar Morgan struggled to knock those shots down, combining for 9-of-26 from the field.

Seth Gorney, Cyrus Tate and Kurt Looby combined for 21 rebounds, and as a team, Iowa hung within a 40-35 count on the glass against a team which has been out-boarding its opponents by 10.4 per game. More importantly, Iowa played MSU to a 4-4 draw in second-chance points.

The crowd rushed the court following Saturday’s game, but the true celebration for coach Todd Lickliter will come later, when and if the Hawkeyes take the lessons learned on Saturday - lessons of poise and patience on offense and defending with a purpose on defense - and repeat them against upcoming opponents.

Wednesday’s loss at Ohio State pushed the Hawkeyes past the midpoint in their 31-game regular-season schedule.

The 31-point loss left Iowa at 7-9 overall and winless through three Big Ten games at a point when it’s only reasonable to reflect a bit on what has transpired during Todd Lickliter’s first season on the Hawkeye bench.

About the only grade which would seem justifiable at this point would be an incomplete. If any-thing, the Hawkeyes remain a work in progress.

The lopsided loss to the Buckeyes demonstrated that as much as anything, painting a realistic picture that this team can expect to endure its share of bumps along the way as it works through its Big Ten schedule.

About the only consistency Iowa has provided during the opening months of the season has been its inconsistency.

At times, the Hawkeyes have shown that they are beginning to grasp the concepts that Lickliter and his staff brought with them from Butler.

At times, Iowa has shown the ability to value the basketball and display the poise and patience that is desired.

At times, teammates are moving the ball from one to another to give each other the best opportu-nity to score.

At other times, it has resembled the first week of practice.

Iowa’s ability to limit those moments – to avoid the repeated empty possessions – will be critical to the team’s improvement over the remainder of the season.

In each of the Hawkeyes’ three Big Ten losses, Iowa has suffered through prolonged periods where poor shot selection, bad passes and poor decisions have decided the final outcome of the game.

A lack of basketball IQ – the ability to make the right decision at the right moment – has been ap-parent and growth achieved through experience is likely the only way this Iowa team will be able to work its way beyond those issues.

On defense, with the exception of the Ohio State game Iowa has generally defended well and more often than not, opponents have been taken out of their offensive comfort zones when facing the Hawkeyes.

Iowa’s players deserve credit for that. They have bought into the idea of defending with a pur-pose, something which could not be said frequently of other recent Hawkeye teams. The defensive foundation which is being laid this season will only help Iowa as the program develops.

Lickliter has said repeatedly that he went into this season with no expectations, preferring to build the program with the players he had without looking back at what players may or may not have contributed in the past.

In the long run, that will serve the Hawkeyes well, although the growing pains continue.

The one thing Lickliter probably did not expect was that after 16 games, the Hawkeyes would have dressed all 11 of the players on the roster just once – for the Southeastern Louisiana game, the game where promising freshman Jarryd Cole suffered his season-ending ACL injury.

As Cole recuperates from surgery one week ago and begins a lengthy rehabilitation process which will keep him off the court until next season, the Hawkeyes continue to forge ahead.

If nothing else, they do have company at the bottom of the Big Ten standings.

Illinois, Michigan and Northwestern are also 0-3 in Big Ten play and Iowa will see a lot more of those teams during the second half of the season, something which will help determine the final marks for this year’s Iowa team.

Short and sweet, Wednesday’s first half of basketball between Iowa and Ohio State was the Hawkeyes’ worst overall half of the season.

While Iowa has struggled at times on offense throughout the season, this was one of the few times that the Hawkeyes have not competed effectively on the defensive end of the court.

It all added up to a 45-17 lead for the Buckeyes in a game that was a struggle from the start for Iowa.

The Hawkeyes found no seams in Ohio State’s zone – something the Buckeyes have been using throughout the season and as OSU extended its zone deeper onto the floor, Iowa found itself unable to get the ball to any of its inside players in a position to shoot.

Coach Todd Lickliter said following the game that with three 40-percent shooters from 3-point range on the court that Iowa should have been able to deal with what OSU was throwing at it defensively.

“We should have been able to make the extra pass, get the bigs involved and see if we could give ourselves a couple of options,’’ Lickliter said.

That didn’t happen as Iowa settled for jumpshots, then more often than not found itself chasing the athletic Buckeyes down to the other end of the court where if the first shot didn’t go down, help was waiting to slam home a putback.

Ohio State outscored Iowa 24-3 in points off turnovers and 17-4 in fast-break baskets, numbers that are difficult to win with against any opponent, much less one that played in the national championship game a year ago.