Iowa’s 0-2 record on the road against instate rivals Northern Iowa and Iowa State was an eye-opening experience for the Iowa basketball team.

“We had one player on the floor tonight who had ever played at Iowa State before,” interim coach Chad Walthall said. “So much of what we’re going through right now is new to these guys.”

Walthall has watched Matt Gatens take on more of a leadership role during a week that has been anything but ordinary for Iowa.

In addition to the absence of coach Todd Lickliter, the Hawkeyes found themselves stranded in Cedar Falls for a day after their loss to UNI because of weather.

“We’re going to face adversity on the road. We’re going to see other players like (ISU’s Craig) Brackins when we get into the conference,” Gatens said. “It’s part of it and we need to step up to that level.”

Walthall appreciates those sentiments.

“Matt is one of our leaders and he’s stepped to the forefront this week,” Walthall said. “The craziness of it all this past week, we’ve needed that leadership. It has not been a normal or even a near normal week, but we have continued to work and do what we can to get better.”

Freshman Brennan Cougill was among those who accomplished that Friday at Iowa State.

Cougill recorded his first collegiate double-double against the Cyclones, finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds in 24 minutes.

For the first time in more than a week, Cougill felt healthy enough to put up those kinds of numbers.

“The last couple of games, my legs just weren’t there,” said Cougill, who missed practice time late last week because of the flu. ”The day we didn’t practice because we were stuck in Cedar Falls, I was able to rest a bit and I feel like I’ve gotten some of my strength back. That enabled me to do some things and play the way I’m capable of playing.”

Cougill appreciated the atmosphere at Hilton Coliseum, where a crowd of 13,203 was on hand for Friday’s game.

“We’ll take a lot from this game about how to handle adversity,” Cougill said. “The coaches did a good job of trying to keep our vision straight and keep us focused on what we needed to do. We’ll learn from this.”

Beat reporters had a chance to spend some time on the phone today with Iowa basketball coach Todd Lickliter, who continues to recover at home from surgery to repair a tear in his carotid artery.

Lickliter unnecessarily apologized for a soft and scratchy voice — he’s only a couple of days removed from having a tube down his throat, after all — and talked about his plans to return to the team next week. He did travel to Carver-Hawkeye Arena to meet with the Hawkeyes later in the day. It was the first time Lickliter has spoken with his team since he was admitted to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics last Friday.

He expressed a desire to speak directly to the team to let them know what he been through and to show his appreciation for the way they have handled things in his absence. He wanted them to learn from the situation as well, gaining an understanding that at times there is more to life than hoops.

Lickliter repeatedly expressed praise for the treatment he received, not only from those who performed the tests that led to a diagnosis but to those who helped him throughout his stay in the hospital. He also thanked members of the medical and training staff that work with his team who encouraged him to seek treatment.

He joked that he probably would have treated the symptoms they recognized as something more serious with an aspirin and went on his way.

Lickliter expressed thanks to the family members who were with him throughout his hospital stay – his wife, a brother, his Iowa City-based sons John and Garrett and oldest son Ry who flew to Iowa from his home in Poland — and showed appreciation for clergy members who visited.

He also thanked his staff for stepping up to lead the team in his unexpected absence.

“I have a great deal of confidence in all of those guys. All of them are capable of running a program and I have a lot of confidence in them,” Lickliter said.

Doctors have told Lickliter he can expect no complications from the procedure he underwent last Saturday.

“They tell me I’ll better than new, that this will be nothing more than a bump in the road,” Lickliter said. “They’ve said things will work so well that you’ll never know it ever happened.”

Lickliter expects to ease his way back into a normal routine next week and he looks forward to coaching his team again when it hosts Drake on Dec. 19.

“It’s not relaxing to me, sitting at home and watching,” he said. “I enjoy coaching the game and preparing a team. I’m looking forward to getting back to work.”

Iowa basketball coach Todd Lickliter was released from University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics this morning, but he did not accompany the Hawkeyes to Northern Iowa for their 7 p.m. game with the Panthers and will not coach the team tonight.

Because of winter weather, the Hawkeyes left for Cedar Falls one hour earlier than scheduled, arriving in time for a midday shootaround.

Chad Walthall will likely be managing the game tonight for the Iowa basketball team when it takes the court at Northern Iowa, just as he did Saturday in the absence of coach Todd Lickliter.

Walthall is the lone member of the Hawkeyes’ coaching staff with previous head coaching experience. The 41-year old spent seven seasons on the bench at Loras College, where he led the Iowa Conference school to a 116-69 record.

He had worked with Lickliter at Eastern Michigan, where Walthall spent two seasons as an assistant on a staff that included the Iowa coach.

Walthall was an all-conference quarterback in college at Concordia (Minn.) who also served as a student assistant coach with the school’s basketball program during his time there.

Lickliter seeks input from all of his assistants during games, something that continues as the Iowa coach recovers from the surgery he underwent last Saturday.

As the interim coach, Walthall is simply trying to keep things as routine as possible for the Hawkeyes and for the staff.

“The situation is different. I am an assistant coach and I try to fill that role on a daily basis,” he said. “In this situation, once the ball goes up, I just try to relax and coach the game. Whether it’s Division III, Division II or Division I, the guys are out there playing a game. I try to be calm for the kids and let them play.”

Iowa’s assistant coaches share responsibilities for scouting reports on a rotating basis. Joel Cornette had the scout for Prairie View A&M and Walthall has been preparing the scout on Northern Iowa for the past several weeks.

“They’re a veteran team, very strong in the post,” Walthall said. “They have a great tandem in there (in Adam Koch and Jordan Eglseder). Their guards (Kwadzo Ahelegbe, Ali Farokhmanesh and Johnny Moran) are capable shooters. It’s a group that has won a (Missouri Valley Conference) championship and has a championship mentality.”

Walthall said the Panthers seem comfortable in transition and in a half-court game.

“We’ll have to be mindful of where their scorers are and we know the atmosphere will amazing. It may not be the biggest arena we will play in this season, but it certainly will be one of the loudest,” Walthall said. “We’ll need to show a lot of poise at both ends.”

Walthall said the Hawkeyes are “about as healthy as you could expect” heading into the game.

Iowa was scheduled to travel to Cedar Falls this morning and despite winter storm warnings and the threat of blizzard conditions, UNI officials indicate that the game will take place as scheduled as long as the Hawkeyes are able to make it to the UNI campus.

The hospitalization of coach Todd Lickliter made Saturday a different day for members of the Iowa basketball team and staff.

Staff members knew Friday night that Lickliter would not be able to attend Saturday’s game against Prairie View A&M and they spoke briefly to the team about the coach’s absence prior to the team’s shoot around on Saturday morning.

“It’s natural that any time your leader is gone that guys want to pull together and that is what this is going to take,” said assistant coach Chad Walthall, who served as the interim coach on Saturday in Lickliter’s absence as he had when an illness forced the coach to miss an exhibition game prior to the 2008-09 season.

“The guys did a great job of executing the plan that had been put in front of them,” Walthall said. He credited assistants Joel Cornette and LaVall Jordan with helping keep things as normal as possible for Iowa players.

Sophomore Matt Gatens labeled it a team effort.

“Everybody stepped up a bit. It took a little more from each of us,” Gatens said. “Everybody hit shots, everybody defended. It was the type of effort we needed heading into a big week.”

As Iowa begins preparations for road tests at Northern Iowa and Iowa State over the next seven days, eight Hawkeyes scored points Saturday. That’s one more than the total number of players who had taken the court in two of Iowa’s three most-recent games.

Eric May responded to his first start with a double-double, finishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds. He earned the start in part because Brennan Cougill had missed two late-week practices because of an illness.

“It was exciting to be out there at the start,” May said. “I felt comfortable. I just wanted to do what I needed to do to help any way I could.”

Aaron Fuller saw 19 minutes of action, his most since suffering an ankle sprain in Iowa’s third game of the season.

“It felt good to be back out there,” he said. “It’s taken some time. I’m a litlte sore now, but I think things will be fine. It’s been a long couple of weeks.”

Andrew Brommer saw his most extensive action of the season as well in the 29-point win, finishing with three points and two boards before fouling out after 10 minutes.

“He played so aggressively and was so anxious to get out there,” Walthall said. “I pulled him over when he came out and told him he might want to adjust a bit to how the game is being called, but it was a good experience for him.”

Iowa finished with 21 assists on its 25 field goals for the day and hit 15-of-31 3-point attempts as it won for the third time this season. Gatens equaled a career high with four steals, half of Iowa’s team total.

When the Iowa basketball team takes the court this afternoon to face Prairie View A&M, the Hawkeyes will be without their head coach.

Third-year coach Todd Lickliter will miss today’s game because of an illness. Assistant coach Chad Walthall will assume interim head coaching responsbilities in Lickliter’s absence.

Assistant coach Joel Cornette filled in for Lickliter on a teleconference with beat reporters on Friday morning, saying that the coach had a doctor’s appointment that was running later than expected.

Lickliter missed an exhibition game prior to the 2008-09 season because of an illness.

Progress has been slow for Iowa forward Aaron Fuller as he works his way back from an ankle sprain suffered two weeks ago today in the Hawkeyes’ win over Bowling Green.

Assistant coach Joel Cornette, pinch hitting for coach Todd Lickliter on a teleconference with beat reporters this morning, said swelling in the ankle continues to be an issue for Fuller.

“He’s coming along although they have had a hard time getting the swelling out of the ankle after he attempts to go on it,” Cornette said. “The way the schedule has been, we’ve played so many games that it has been hard to get him a lot of rest. He’s getting there, though, although it has been moving along slowly.”

Fuller played three minutes in Tuesday’s loss to Virginia Tech, grabbing one rebound in his most extensive action since suffering the sprain.

A few other teleconference notes…

Cornette said the Prairie View A&M team Iowa will host Saturday will test the Hawkeyes’ transition defense, an area of concern following Tuesday’s loss to the Hokies.

“Prairie View does a very good job of getting the ball up the floor in transition. They like to get the ball up and get the quick shot,” Cornette said. “As coach talked about following Tuesday’s game, we struggled a bit with our transition defense so we have had to go back and work on it. A lot of it is about communication and getting guys in the right spot.”

The Panthers will challenge Iowa with a blend of defensive looks. Cornette said they have deployed some pressure and have used some zone along with an aggressive man-to-man defense.

“They’ve been successful with all over long stretches,” Cornette said. “They defended well against Cincinnati and had good success over long stretches against Oklahoma State and Texas A&M. They just weren’t able to close out, so we’ll find ourselves going up against another quality opponent that gives good effort.”

Anthony Tucker reintroduced himself to the basket Tuesday night.

The Iowa sophomore equaled a career high with 24 points in the Hawkeyes’ 70-64 loss at Virginia Tech. Tucker knocked down 6-of-14 3-point baskets, an effort that followed a 10-of-44 start to the season.

“It felt good to finally put some points up,” Tucker said.

But coach Todd Lickliter hasn’t been down on the sophomore for his early-season effort.

“Anthony has been playing consistently in other areas,” Lickliter said. “He had nine assists a couple of games ago. He’s been doing other things and doing them well.”

As for the shots, Lickliter knew they would eventually begin to fall.

“If there was a flaw in his technique, that would be one thing, but Anthony is a very skilled shooter who works hard at it,” he said. “He had a good night.”

Lickliter liked a couple of other numbers that jumped out of the box score as well.

Iowa finished with 19 assists on 22 field goals, a sign that the offense is working.

The Hawkeyes had only 11 turnovers in the game, but that led to 16 points by Virginia Tech.

“The good news, most of what I saw there is correctable,” Lickliter said. “There are a few lessons for us in this one. Hopefully, we can learn.”