The Hawkeyes were outplayed from the start, losing in a 78-57 rout at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Despite playing in front of its first sellout crowd in two years, Iowa basketball came out flat against No. 13 Purdue.
Here are three observations from Iowa's loss:
Slow start kills Iowa again
Even when Iowa was winning during its six-game winning streak, the Hawkeyes weren't doing it in clean fashion. Most of those games, with the exception of the win at Oregon on Feb. 1, saw Iowa get off to slow starts.
The Hawks managed to rally back in each of those games, but the slow starts ultimately came back to bite them in Wednesday's loss to Maryland. There was hope Iowa could come out firing against Purdue, but history repeated itself again. The Hawkeyes didn't register a field goal until the 16:12 mark, and they collected just two by the midway point of the first half.
The Boilers' size certainly played a role in Iowa's offensive struggles, but when go back and look at the tape from this one, the Hawkeyes were just discombobulated from the start. Bennett Stirtz had a tough time getting open looks, and Iowa missed the open looks it had.
The Boilermakers led 22-9 by then, forcing Iowa to play catch up the rest of the way. Iowa isn't built to win or even compete in games when playing that way, and it certainly will have a tough time competing with some of the Big Ten's best.
Head coach Ben McCollum didn't think the Maryland loss carried over, but he was alarmed by the performance.
"The ball's not moving. We get in the paint and we should pass and we try to shoot it, and you take a contested at the rim shot and you miss it. That's a turnover. Layups that you miss are turnovers," McCollum said.
Missed opportunities late in the first
It's hard to say a team had numerous missed opportunities in a 21-point loss, but Iowa did have chances to cut into the lead before halftime. Purdue's lead hovered around 10 points in the final three minutes of the half, and the Hawkeyes had chances to cut into that deficit.
An and-one by Stirtz cut the the lead to nine and ignited the Carver-Hawkeye Arena crowd. The Boilermakers turned it over on the ensuing possession and then fouled Isaia Howard, sending the sophomore to the free throw line for a one-and-one.
Howard missed the front end, but that was far from the only mistake Iowa made. Purdue clanked several open jumpers to give the Hawkeyes some life, but Iowa couldn't take advantage, often missing from point-blank range.
Who knows if it would have made a difference, but a six or seven halftime deficit could've stemmed the Hawkeyes' morale and turned the game around.
Defense is regressing?
Iowa's defensive renaissance under McCollum has been one of the main storylines of the season, but the Hawkeyes have been exposed over these last two losses. Maryland shot 53% from the field on Wednesday, and Iowa's defense didn't improve on Saturday.
Purdue missed its fair share of open looks, but it still shot 47% from the floor in this one, including 12 threes. The Hawkeyes still held the Boilers under their season average, but Bart Torvik, a college basketball analytical site, is noticing Iowa's poor defense.
Bart Torvik ranked Iowa's defense outside the top-116 in the entire country over the last month, and From the Hawkeye of the Storm asked McCollum about that.
"That's a good stat, because I've noticed our offensive efficiency is actually going up, and our defensive efficiency actually is going down, which is unlike us. Usually it's the opposite."
The Hawkeyes are a better defensive team than they were under Fran McCaffery, but with Nebraska (twice) and soon-to-be No. 1 Michigan still on the schedule, Iowa will need to find some answers - quickly.
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