Iowa loses, OU-KU Rematch

On Thursday night, Iowa traveled to Bloomington, Indiana to take on the Indiana Hoosiers in a game that meant a lot for the Big 10 Championship. They lost 85-78, but personally I thought they looked horrible in that game. I think a large part in that was how well Indiana played, the Hoosiers had well executed offensive sets that led to a lot of points. The game was actually pretty even in almost every single category, the one thing that probably decided the game was free throws, Iowa was 13-23 from the stripe, while Indiana was 18-21. A lot of people would say that the loss doesn't really matter because it was on the road and Indiana is expected to win at home, but I don't buy that, if Iowa wants to get a one seed then they need to start winning some of these big games, even if they are on the road. The last two big games Iowa has played in have been on the road and Iowa has lost, but in both games there seemed to be a lack of confidence or effort. In the previous games against Purdue and Michigan State, Iowa seemed to have a swagger, and played with a lot of effort. Iowa needs to figure it out and start winning big games, starting with the rematch vs Indiana at home on March 1.

Another major story line in college basketball right now would be the rematch of what many thought was the game of the year, Oklahoma vs Kansas. The previous game was played at Phog Allen Fieldhouse in Kansas, where the Jayhawks won 109-106 in three overtime periods. The game was a #1 vs #2 at the time and it lived up to all the hype. The game seemed like it just didn't want to end, each team hit big shots and finally Kansas came out on top. The leaders for both teams gave it their all, Buddy Hield had maybe the stat line of the year with 46 points 8 rebounds and 7 assists, Perry Ellis had 27 points and 13 rebounds for Kansas, and Frank Mason made a steal late in the game to seal the victory. If the game is the same as the last one then we will be in for a treat, expect a lot of three pointers and hopefully another overtime classic. In the last game Kansas had a couple opportunities to end it in overtime but didn't convert, so again it might come down to who makes the first mistake.