With a tough three-game stretch looming, the Hawkeyes are going to want this game back.
After beating UCLA on Saturday in front of a raucous crowd at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, it appeared Iowa men's basketball was on its way back to a quick road to national relevance under first-year coach Ben McCollum.
The Hawkeyes jumped to No. 19 in the national polls on Monday, and many pundits and fans began looking at next Sunday's top-20 battle against Illinois in Iowa City.
The only problem? Iowa still had a game to play in between - a road trip to Minnesota on Tuesday night.
While the Hawkeyes are still on the road to national relevancy, they hit a major flat tire in Minneapolis, falling into a 14-point hole before narrowly losing, 70-67. It's not the kind of loss that damages an NCAA tournament resume, but when Iowa looks back at this game one month from now, it's going to regret not pulling this one out.
The Golden Gophers are going to be far from a Big Ten afterthought under Niko Medved, but when you look up-and-down these rosters, it's remarkable that Medved has Minnesota 10-5 overall and 3-1 in Big Ten play. Cade Tyson is an elite scorer, but he was really the only scoring threat on this short-handed Gopher squad that could've prevented the Hawkeyes from winning this game.
Tyson and Northern Colorado transfer Langston Reynolds led the way with 16 and 22 points, respectively, but they weren't the reason Iowa lost this game. The Hawkeyes lost this game because they are still navigating how to win a Big Ten road game. They've only played two of those this year (Michigan State was the other), but Iowa just seems lost when playing on the road. That's a problem McCollum and the Hawkeyes need to figure out - fast.
There's many factors that contributed to this defeat, but Iowa lost this game because its four leading scorers - Bennett Stirtz, Alvaro Folguieras, Tavion Banks, and Cam Manyawu - were held in check for most of the evening. Stirtz bounced back in the second half to score all 21 of his points, but the 6/17 shooting splits still put a dark cloud over his outing. The other three men only registered a combined five points, all of which came from Banks.
Looking back, it's impressive the Hawkeyes managed to score 67 points, but Isaia Howard and Kael Combs deserve some credit for that. Howard's 5/13, 10-point performance won't necessarily show it, but his energy and effort on the defensive end should be praised. Combs was equally impressive, netting a season-high 14 points on 6/10 shooting. The loss definitely stings, but seeing both reach double figures is a good sign for Iowa moving forward.
That leads to the final point of the morning - Brendan Hausen should get more playing time. I mentioned him in my three observations article earlier this morning, but there's no reason why he shouldn't be seeing the floor more. Before the season began, I plugged Iowa's "Big Three" as Stirtz, Folguieras, and Hausen. Stirtz and Folguieras were obvious selections, and it seemed like Hausen would play a key role due to his previous Power Five experience (Villanova, Kansas State).
Through 15 games, Hausen is averaging just 10.8 minutes per game, well off the 27.6 minutes he posted at Kansas State last season. McCollum has been asked about this numerous times, but he chalks his decision up to "we couldn't get him in the rotation."
Hausen's performance against Minnesota should earn him a larger role in the rotation for the rest of the year. The "Amarillo Assassin" recorded just three points, but his mere presence sparked Iowa's late rally. Hausen's experience definitely helps, but the main reason why Iowa was able to get back in the game was because of Hausen's ability to stretch the floor with his three-point shooting. It didn't help the Hawkeyes improve their poor outside shooting (they finished 7-26), but it did force Minnesota to guard the three-point line and open up the lane.
If Iowa wants to beat some of the league's best, its going to need more Hausen, and that starts with him seeing more playing time against Illinois. That's going to be a tough game, and McCollum should use all of his available weapons to pull it out.
Speaking of tough games, the Hawkeyes have a brutal stretch coming up. If the No. 16 Fighting Illini at Carver-Hawkeye Arena isn't hard enough, try playing consecutive road games at Purdue and Indiana.
I don't see Iowa losing all three of those games, but when it looks back at the tape, it's going to regret a Tuesday night loss to an average Minnesota team.