A needed break
Todd Lickliter is no fan of the three-game weeks that his Iowa basketball team faces three times this week. One byproduct, however, is some space between other games.
The Hawkeyes have this entire week off before hosting Michigan next Sunday afternoon and given the health status of several Iowa players, this break may come at a perfect time.
“We’ve got to look at it as a positive,” Lickliter said.
Iowa coaches met with the team Sunday to go over Saturday’s four-point loss to Purdue and before turning their thoughts to the Wolverines and the first of three games next week — road trips to Michigan State and Northwestern follow — Lickliter expects to give his team a couple of days off to rest.
“We’ll try to use the time wisely,” he said. “We’ll freshen up our bodies and minds and prepare for the stretch. We have a lot of games coming up and we’ll add a wrinkle or two that can help us moving forward.”
By giving his team two days off this week, Lickliter won’t have to give Iowa a day off next week. The NCAA mandates one day off per week, but recently changed its rule to allow teams with three games during a given week to either take the day as they normally would or take two days off in the week leading up to or in the week after the three-game week.
Lickliter has done both already. Iowa took an off-day during its first three-game week of the Big Ten season, then took two days off the week prior to their second three-game week.
“It’s an interesting schedule,” Lickliter said. “I’m not sure there is a right way or wrong way to schedule the off day. I think it has a lot to do with where your team is at and how the schedule sets up as far as home and road.”
With Jeff Peterson needing to heal a hamstring injury and Cyrus Tate still nursing an ankle sprain, time to rest probably isn’t a bad thing for Iowa, which will need wins in three of its final five regular-season games to match last season’s Big Ten record.
