This was rumored during the Big Ten Tourney, and now it seems official: According to Jeff Goodman of FOX Sports, Iowa is parting ways with Todd Lickliter after three seasons.
There are two sides to this one:
Half-full: Anyone else think he got a bit of a raw deal? Sure, Iowa hasn’t done much under his watch. But like the Hoosiers, the Hawkeyes are a very young squad with some promise. They also have a decent recruiting class coming in. The man needs more time.
Half-empty: In three years, Lickliter hasn’t done much to show he can build a winning program there. He didn’t inherit a program in disarray. He just hasn’t gotten it done. Time to move on.
It’s easy to chalk this one up as uninspired effort by the Hoosiers.
But this loss was somewhat different than what we’ve seen lately.
Let’s break it down:
SHOOTING
It may not have felt like it the way the Hoosiers started out against Iowa, but they hit 45.0 percent of their shots tonight. Only twice previous to this matchup during this now 10-game losing streak — at Wisconsin and the home loss to Purdue – have the Hoosiers shot over 40 percent.
In fact, they actually hit 11-of-21 shots in the second half, good for 52.4 percent. Two reasons for this: 1) They went down low to Christian Watford early. It appeared as if this was a point of emphasis in the locker room at halftime. 2) IU’s guards took it to the hole for some higher-percentage shots around the rim.
Verdell Jones, who hasn’t had a scoring outburst he’s capable of in a while, re-emerged tonight with 22.
I know it’s yet another loss, but outside of IU’s 1-of-8 mark from beyond the arc, this was actual a pretty solid offensive effort for the Hoosiers tonight. There was more ball movement, more passing and they got some better looks because of it.
It’s an “old saying,” according to Tom Crean. I’ve never heard it, but then I’m not that old.
Whatever its age and origin, it hit close enough to home after the 78-46 loss to Wisconsin that Crean was willing to give up practice time to get his players into the film room, where they were required to critique their own performances, rather than hearing it from the coaching staff.
“Every once in awhile, you’ve got to give up the floor for the film room, and I thought that was yesterday,” Crean said Saturday afternoon inside the coaches’ locker room at Assembly Hall. “It’s one thing to see it on paper. It’s another thing to see it yourself and have to call it out in front of your teammates.”
So Crean gathered his charges in the the foyer of that same locker room where he met the media, and the Hoosiers graded themselves. Crean said he hopes the sense of accountability brought about by the exercise will continue to foster growing leadership within the program.
“The best thing that happens — this is hard for guys — is that they verbalize it before the coaches do,” Crean said. “But again, it’s all part of the progress that you have to make.”
That progress could be measured as soon as Sunday, when the Hoosiers travel to Iowa City to face a team that, like the Hoosiers, has just three Big Ten wins in 15 tries. But the tables have turned significantly since both teams met, something Crean and his team have not forgotten.
When Iowa made the trip to Bloomington, the Hoosiers were riding a two-game winning streak and finally appeared to be making the tangible progress so many fans had clamored for in Puerto Rico or against Loyola-Maryland. Then they ran into the Hawkeyes, who outhustled and outmuscled them at Assembly Hall, dealing the Hoosiers a 15-point loss. They have not won since.
Crean admitted Saturday that his team overlooked Iowa, (“I think they embraced success a little bit in those games”) one reason why he’s placing an emphasis on his players’ mentality in Iowa City.
“I’ll be very disappointed, OK, for them, for individuals that don’t come out tomorrow understanding that we better have some toughness and fight in this game,” Crean said.
After some discussion on this after Thursday’s game, we’ve decided to change up the title of this guy. Onwards.
Well that was unexpected.
Coming off a terrific OT win against Minnesota at home a week ago, and the program’s first road Big Ten win under Tom Crean on Thursday at Penn State, IU faced an Iowa team tonight that’s just not all that good. They hadn’t won a Big Ten road game since March of 2008. They entered the contest 7-12, and only 1-5 in Big Ten play. The Hoosiers were favored tonight. And with the tide turning on this season, with the Hoosiers gaining a little bit of swagger and poise — a Big Ten winning streak! — this wasn’t just there for the taking; it was served up on a silver platter.
But instead of playing like they have all Big Ten season at home, these Hoosiers came out flat. Real flat. Central Illinois farmland flat. It was a performance reminiscent of their stinkers at Michigan or Ohio State. At no point did they show any semblance of offensive flow. The two runs they made in each half, where it looked like maybe they were going to sneak back into this one, Iowa came right back to extend the lead. The Hoosiers only had three — three! — assists tonight. They missed all nine of their 3-point attempts, marking the first time the program hasn’t hit a three since 2001. They turned the ball over 16 times. They shot a horrific 35.6 percent from the floor. (Verdell Jones was the lone competent offensive threat tonight. He hit 6-of-12 buckets and had 14 points.)
But the real story of this game was the boards. Iowa snagged 39 to IU’s 23. But 18 of those rebounds for Iowa were offensive. Add in the early points they got with dribble penetration, and it allowed them to completely dominate in the points in the paint department. They outscored IU in paint 34-16, and had 20 second-chance points to IU’s seven. That’s the story of the game right there. And in the second half, the Hawkeyes also added in what they do best: hitting the 3-point shot. They nailed 4-of-7 in the second half, and with the Hoosiers struggling to score, it helped put the game out of reach.
After two confidence-building conference wins, Indiana entered Sunday’s game at Assembly Hall with Iowa with an opportunity to move above .500 and into a tie for third place in the conference.
But when the dust settled, the Hoosiers (9-10, 3-4 Big Ten) looked nothing like the team that had just knocked off Minnesota in overtime or the team that won its first road game at Penn State on Thursday.
The result? A head-scratching 58-43 loss to Iowa.
“We didn’t have the same toughness level as Iowa had,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said. “And that’s the bottom line. There was a 15-round fight that every Big Ten game is and we decided we weren’t going to be in that fight.”
From the outset, Indiana’s effort, particularly on the glass, left plenty to be desired. The Hoosiers allowed the Hawkeyes (8-12, 2-5) to grab 18 offensive rebounds and score 20 second-chance points. In all, Indiana was beaten badly on the boards, 39-23.
“That was one of the softest low-post performances I’ve ever been apart of,” Crean said. “And I apologize to our fans. I apologize to everybody that made a great attempt to be here based on the fact that the Colts were playing. That’s not who we’re gonna be.”
After trailing 28-19 at halftime, Indiana opened the half on a 12-5 run and got within two at 33-31 with 13:23 remaining. Iowa responded with a 7-0 run of its own and the Hoosiers never got closer than eight the rest of the way.
Aaron Fuller led three Hawkeyes in double figures with 13 points. Jarryd Cole added 11 points and 10 rebounds and Brennan Cougill had 10.
For Indiana, Verdell Jones led the way with 14 points, but pulled down just one rebound. IU’s three starting guards combined for a total of just two rebounds in 87 minutes.
“When our guards don’t rebound, we do not play very well,” Crean said. “We just can’t win that way.”
No points from behind the arc: For the first time since facing Wisconsin in the 2001 Big Ten Tournament, Indiana failed to make a 3-pointer. The Hoosiers finished 0-for-9.
Assist-to-turnover ratio not pretty: Indiana committed 16 turnovers and had a season-low three assists. Crean attributed that to screening, or a lack thereof. “Our screening was atrocious. That’s what that is more than anything else.”
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