Men’s basketball battles to stay out of Big Ten last place

When Iowa freshman forward Zach McCabe says that losing is unusual for him, he isn’t stretching the truth.

It barely took the first two weeks of this season for Iowa to lose the same number of games that McCabe lost as a three-year starting quarterback at Sioux City Bishop Heelan High School, where he posted a 35-4 record.

His teams at Heelan were even more dominant in basketball, winning back-to-back state titles in McCabe’s junior and senior seasons.

In fact, most of the Iowa players came from high school teams that were highly successful.

So to be where they are now, which is in a two-way battle with Indiana to stay out of last place in the Big Ten, is a humbling experience, especially for the younger players.

“It’s been kind of tough,” McCabe said. “It’s hard coming from a place where you like never lost.

“It’s been a learning experience, just the ups-and-downs that we’ve had.”

Iowa has records of 10-17 overall and 3-12 in the Big Ten heading into Saturday’s game against Illinois at Assembly Hall in Champaign, Ill.

Indiana also will enter the weekend with just three conference victories and with two losses against the Hawkeyes.

Iowa hasn’t finished last in the Big Ten outright since the 1938-39 season.

The Hawkeyes finished in eighth, 10th and ninth place in the previous three seasons under former coach Todd Lickliter.

“I think that’s motivation for any team,” McCabe said of trying to avoid finishing in last place. “No one wants to see their team in last place at the end of the season.

“That’s definitely something I look at all the time, just to see what the standings are. I don’t want to finish in last place.”

Iowa has lost four consecutive games and now will try to end the streak in a place where it has lost 20 of its last 21 games, including the last nine in a row.

Iowa’s last victory over Illinois at Assembly Hall came by a 78-72 margin during the 1998-99 season. That Iowa team went on to advance to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in Tom Davis’ last season as head coach.

Junior guard Matt Gatens wasn’t aware of just how much Iowa has struggled at Illinois.

“It’s not good to hear that,” Gatens said after reporters updated him on Iowa’s record against Illinois at Assembly Hall. “I hadn’t realized that. I knew in my time we hadn’t won there. But I didn’t realize it was that rare.

“But that would make it even more special if we could over there and pull off a win. I think we can do it. I think this team has the confidence to go on the road and win.”

Illinois started the season with a 13-3 record and also defeated Iowa 87-77 in the Big Ten opener on Dec. 29th at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, a game in which the Illini made 13-of-18 3-point baskets. But since then Illinois has failed to stay over .500 in Big Ten play.

Following Saturday’s game, Iowa will play at Michigan State on Wednesday before closing out the regular season against Purdue on March 5th at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Iowa will be seeded either 10th or 11th at the Big Ten Tournament, which will be held March 10-13 at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Hawkeyes would have a tiebreaker advantage over Indiana if both teams finished with the same conference record, with Iowa already having twice defeated Indiana this season.

“You don’t want to finish last, you want to finish as high as you can,” said Gatens, who led City High to a state title as a high school senior three years ago. “The bottom line is can we get some momentum going into Indianapolis and do some damage there?”

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Tags: Indiana, Matt Gatens, men's basketball, Zach McCabe

Category: Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball