9 days off, a big finish possible for Hawkeyes
Iowa coach Fran McCaffery's team has 9 days off
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Iowa doesn’t play its next basketball game for nine days, and coach Fran McCaffery welcomes the break.
He said it gives the Hawkeyes an opportuntity to get off on the right foot academically – second semester classes at Iowa started Tuesday. It helps them rest physically. It provides a window of opportunity for he and assistants to do some recruiting. And it gives the coaching staff an opportunity to stress some things that there is no time for when game preparation is of the most importance.
“We’ll get back to work and sharpen some things,” McCaffery said.”Sometimes, when the games come quickly, you tend to focus on the next opponent. When you have nine days off, you can spend more time refocusing on some of the things we’re doing well and make them better, and some things we’re not doing well and try to improve in those areas.”
Iowa heads into the bye week 11-9 overall and 3-4 in the Big Ten after Tuesday’s 75-68 loss to Purdue at Mackey Arena.
After playing four ranked teams in their first six Big Ten contests, and beating two of them (at No. 11 Wisconsin, No. 13 Michigan at home), the remaining 11 games don’t look as daunting.
Iowa got blasted by a combined 63 points against Top 10 foes Ohio State and Michigan State. The Hawkeyes don’t have to play either of those teams again in the regular season. Iowa doesn’t play at Michigan, either. The only game with Illinois is in Champaign, Ill., Feb. 26.
The only rated team remaining on Iowa’s regular-season schedule is No. 11 Indiana. Iowa plays at Indiana, where it has won on its last two visits, on Jan. 29. The Hoosiers come to Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Feb. 19.
Wisconsin, just two spots shy of the Top 25 on this week’s Associated Press poll, visits Iowa City on Feb. 23.
Iowa still has seven games remaining with the four teams below it in the current standings – home-and-away contests with Northwestern, Nebraska and Penn State and a home game with Minnesota.
The Hawkeyes end their bye week by hosting Nebraska on Jan. 26. After playing five games, starting with the Cornhuskers, Iowa has another week off between a road game at Nebraska Feb. 9 and a road game at Penn State Feb. 16.
With its next Big Ten victory, Iowa will match the win total of the previous two seasons. The Hawkeyes haven’t won more than six league games since the 2006-07 team was 9-7.
Category: Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball
What is going on with Melsahn Besabe? He is not the same guy this year. He seems to have no energy and no enthusiasm. Plus, Fran is keeping him on the bench at the end of games…a clear indication that he is not one of our best players. I thought he was headed for stardom after the year he had last year. Rick do you have any ideas? Anybody else know anything?
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