Hawks Fall in OT at Purdue
Iowa made 5 of their first 36 shots in their game against Purdue, but still took the lead late and had a last second shot in regulation to win it but lost 65-62.
For 30 minutes, this was one of Iowa’s worst shooting performance in years. Iowa trailed 19-16 at the break, making just 4-26 shots from the floor in a half that even Todd Lickliter could not have appreciated.
The Hawkeyes continue to struggle getting off shots, continue to struggle from three-point range and continue to find anyone who can attack the rim with consistency.
However given all the negatives, Iowa found a way to not only get back in the game but even too the lead late in the contest. The game was tied with 33.3 seconds to play after a Purdue bucket and Iowa took the last shot. It was an isolation play with Dev Marble driving to the hoop which was a tad long and a tip by Melsahn Basabe was also wide of the mark.
In overtime, the Hawkeyes still struggled on offense and Aaron White missed a pair of free throws with under a minute to play with Iowa down two that would begin the end for the Hawkeyes. Iowa would fall behind four and Devyn Marble brought the ball down the court, didn’t pass it to anyone and while he wound up missing a three-footer, he was hunting that shot.
If he’s on, you don’t mind it. But that miss made him 2-11 from the floor, which is what he shot against Ohio State last week. He was also 1-14 against Indiana. When you combine those three games (he’s played in six of Iowa’s seven league games), Marble is 5-37. That’s bad. How bad? Iowa was 5-37 at one point in time in Sunday’s game. Marble has been battling a turf toe injury which has clearly taken him off his game, yet Marble is hardly the only Hawkeye struggling to score the ball.
As a team, Iowa shot 31.1 percent (19-61). Purdue was 25-64, which is also not very good. The Hawks were 5-17 from three, just under 30 percent, which is better than their Big Ten percentage thus far on the year. Aaron White was 4-11, Adam Woodbury was pushed around on his way to an 0-4 game where two of his shots were blocked. Anthony Clemmons was 0-3 and played just 11 minutes. Zach McCabe was 1-5 and Josh Oglesby was 0-5, including 0-3 from three as high nightmare of a shooting season continues.
It’s the common refrains for Iowa: they can’t shoot it from three and they can’t attack the rim off the dribble consistently. Marble began the year as Iowa’s best option in that regard, if not their only option, but he is not the same player he was a month ago.
Iowa returns home to host Penn State on Thursday, the worst team in the league. After that, it’s back to back road games at Wisconsin and Minnesota. Iowa is now 13-7 overall and 2-5 in the league staring down the barrel of a 3-7 start in the league in about 10 days from now, unless they can bring a different level of focus and intensity with them on the road like they have at home.
Inexperienced teams do struggle on the road and in this league this year, so do experienced teams. It can just be painful to swallow sometimes.
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