Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - INSTANT REACTION - Iowa falls at home to Nebraska 81-77

Episode Date: March 5, 2023

Senior day with a #2 seed on the line for the Iowa basketball team.They lose to Nebraska.A breakdown of the game and what's up next in an instant reaction Locked on Hawkeyes Podcast.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An uninspired, pitiful effort today as Iowa falls at home to Nebraska, the number two seed on the line for the Hawkeyes in the Big Ten tournament. Well, and as Iowa basketball has done seemingly over the last quarter century, opportunity in front of them, they're crapping down their leg. Today, we react on Locked On Hawkeyes. Our Locked On Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome in.

I'm Trent Condon, and this is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen each and every day. We are available wherever you get podcasts. Apple, Stitcher, Google, podcast variety out there. Wherever you are, we have you covered. Of course, you can also find us on YouTube. While you're there, hit that subscribe button for us. It helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans.

Today's episode of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. They're the official sportsbook of Lockdown. Make every moment more. Visit FanDuel.com slash Lockdown today to get started. Well, if you hopped on FanDuel, you would have been able to get Nebraska plus 11 and a half. You could get a couple of juicy money lines throughout this one and you're cutting your money because Iowa in typical Iowa fashion just an absolutely hideous end of the ball game against a below average Nebraska team I was now been swept by two bad teams I mean let's be quite frank here

losing to Nebraska two times in Wisconsin two times. It's a hideous look. There's no two ways about it. Losing to those teams. Throw in the loss to Eastern Illinois. You have five of the worst losses of any NCAA tournament team that's going to be in the top half of the bracket, you know, an eight seed or better. There's nobody that has anything like this. Five losses to Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Eastern Illinois. It's hideous. How did it happen? How today? I try to warn you guys all throughout the week after the high of the win against Indiana, Iowa goes out there, they're cruising along. They got this thing figured out. Here comes the double buy. Here comes the number two seat. Seemingly everything throughout the week

is completely lining up perfectly for them it starts on wednesday it continues on thursday even here over the weekend just everything's lining up the bracket is going to be beautiful for them to make a run and what do they do they pull an iowa basketball it's just one thing after another with this basketball program and every time you just get a little glimmer of hope we weren't talking about this team being a Final Four team. We knew the reality. We're talking about beating your brother. Here's another honest answer.

The Big Ten's not good this year. It just isn't. And Fran will talk about the great coaches in the league and what a grind it is year after year. We're going to hear all that, and we're going to... Come on. This is a bad league. Yes, it ranks second in the metrics behind the Big 12.

Well, by the way, the gap between the Big 12 and the Big 10 is significant. The Big 10 has a bunch of average teams. Purdue is pretty good. Now, the great thing is, in college basketball this year, this thing is as wide open as it's ever been. The NCAA tournament has a chance to be an absolute bloodbath, but the Big 10 as a whole, this is a down conference this year.

College basketball is a hole down? But come on, don't sit here and say, boy, this team, if they could just get a double bye out of this, which is still an opportunity. Still some things can happen this evening where Iowa can still get a double bye. Do they deserve it? When you lose four times to Nebraska and Wisconsin, I don't think you do. You lose four conference games to those two teams?

That's absolutely pathetic. So Iowa gets off to a slow start. All right, here comes Nebraska. They're hitting shots. Whoop-de-doo, right? We're not going to be overly nervous about it. We're not going to be overly concerned. It's going to be all right.

Iowa's going to find a way, and they do. And they get in control, and they get up seven in the first half, and everything's all, and then there's another comeback. You do have to give credit to Nebraska. You really do. As bad as it was, and down the stretch, as hideous as the play was for Iowa, where they just completely got out of things. Chris Murray's chucking up shots. He doesn't have any clue where it's going.

He's fading all the time. You got Robbie Hummel over there talking. You're going to say you're going to get a game like this from Patrick McCaffrey at home and you're going to lose? Well, that's because you can't get stops on the other end of the floor. And that's why Iowa basketball is going to be this. There's not going to be a change, you know, and honestly, that's what I always try to be honest. is not going out there for clicks that's not what this is about I try to come here and bring an honest fan's opinion to this and that's what I am it's not going to change Iowa basketball is not going to be different now what we have to think

to ourselves are we okay with this are we all right with Iowa basketball being this because honestly yeah we probably should. The honest spot about this is from where we've come from, what this program has been since the guys over my shoulder. Roy Marble, B.J. Armstrong, Ed Horton, since those guys graduated, this is Iowa basketball. Good enough to make the tournament more years than not. Luck Leiter, of course, took that lower to a level.

You have that component. What a game, but not good enough to go over. And for Dr. Tom, it was what they did defensively in the flat 2-3 and teams hitting shots over top of them, time in and time out. And if the pressure defense wasn't getting any turnovers, well, it was going to be this. It was Alford trying to change it a little bit, the mentality. He wasn't able to recruit at a high enough level and it was on the job training he wasn't good enough

coach at that time to overcome the deficiencies that he had in the roster after Lickletter same thing with Fran he's got them back to the same level that they've been but this is just Iowa basketball this is what we are and we cannot like it and he can complain and he can demand a change and go that route. And I'm going to be honest, there's not many people out there that actually have the money that can demand that kind of change. But maybe that's something we just have to sit and realize. This is what we are. And we go out there and we can have those performances where you go out there and you

run Indiana out of their gym, a team played as well as anybody in the Big Ten. And you can have the ridiculous comebacks against Michigan State and against Wisconsin at the home game and the comeback that they had against Michigan and on and on and on. You can have those, but this is also going to happen. You're going to lose to crappy Wisconsin teams. You're going to lose to crappy Nebraska teams. And that's where we're going to be.

If you're okay with it, then we'll just continue. It's better than the alternative of being bad. At least they're entertaining, right? This one was not very entertaining. We'll break things down inside the box score as we roll through. The good news is here later today, well, we got some chances to be excited. Three wrestlers will wrestle for Big Ten championships here. Penn State in control of the team title race there, but all 10 have already qualified for

nationals. That's great work. And of course, the women's basketball team, as they get ready to play for a Big Ten Tournament Championship against the Buckeyes. We'll talk about that a little bit later on. Back to the men. We react here. Instant Reaction Podcast with you, Trent Condon, as we roll through.

This is the Locked On Hawkeyes Podcast. This is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Today's episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast is brought to you by our friends at FanDuel. FanDuel Sportsbook, it is here. March Madness, of course, right around the corner. We got conference tournaments going on. So much happening there, which is always great to see. How about Drake getting it done in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament?

Well, it's not just college basketball. The NBA is also here. And it's a perfect time with all this going on to download FanDuel. It's America's number one sportsbook. New customers, how about this? A no-sweat first bet up to $1,000. That's bonus bets back if your first bet doesn't win. Just download the FanDuel Sportsbook app. It's safe, secure, and super easy easy to use then you can bet on everything for

the money line point scores three pointers dreamed in the game take a look at your favorite bets coming up here in the nba got the lakers just starting up uh momentarily got that one on here down in the man cave there's so much going on you always are covered with fan dual and they even give you a chance at a bigger payout with their same game parlay. So don't miss your chance to get your no sweat first bet up to $1,000 in bonus bets when you go to fanduel.com slash locked on. Again, that's fanduel.com slash locked on to learn more. Make every moment more with FanDuel, an official sports betting partner of the NBA. Trent Cotter back with you again on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast.

As always, thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. As we react to this loss, how did it happen? How did this thing play out? We're talking about the first half, and maybe they're going to come back, and they did, and they take the lead, and it looked like, all right, they're going to coast, right? They're going to get this done, and it just never happened. They never had that big spurt

well there's a reason for it they couldn't shoot the ball looking back upon this one they shoot 36 percent from the floor 32 percent from three that's including the ridiculous game for Patrick McCaffrey 11 of 17 at the free throw line a couple of devastating misses from Rabracha in his final game in Carver Hawkeye Arena it was just one of those days and of course we know defensively they're never going to get any stops and that happened once again you go through mentioned earlier Chris Murray for what we saw from him on Tuesday night to this one. Hit a shot early on, all right. Maybe he's off and going. And just how quickly his confidence dissipates. He is too talented of a guy to just float at times like that.

And if something goes wrong for him, not to have the mental stability to come back and just forget it. Just go. The fling out there and the fly, there flying, the side to side and just back. It's so frustrating to watch because he's too talented to have performances like this continually. Everybody's going to have a bad day. Guys are going to have bad nights.

You're not going to shoot it well. That's going to happen. It happens for every basketball player at every level of the sport. I get that. But not like this. He gets taken out. Something doesn't go his way. And so many times he is just, he's gone for a long time

or maybe even the whole game. Chris Murray finishes the game from the land. 8 of 22 from the floor. Missed two free throws. And 3 of 13 from downtown. They try to get the ball inside to him. Try to do some things. He's different than Keegan.

He's not the same guy there, no doubt about it. He's not the same on-the-block kind of offensive player that Keegan was. But 3-13, boy, got to get down there. Got to do the business inside. And a game like this where they needed it certainly didn't happen. Patrick goes 6-10, 23 points, and they lose. They didn't lose to Purdue. They didn't lose to Indiana. They didn't lose to somebody good. They lost to Nebraska. Better, but come on.

At home, 81-77. This is going to be a quad three loss for the Hawkeyes. This is going to be another ding on that resume. What does this mean? You know, for where we thought they were trending. After that win, you're seeing NCAA tournament brackets out there, having them a six seed, maybe a seven seed. All right. Yeah, boy, the right seven seed. You can make a run here. Well, now you're right back in

that eight, nine spot. And even if you win the first round game, it's going to be, I get Kansas. Good luck. You want to take a shot against Houston? I mean, that team will grind the crap out of this Iowa team. They're going to be scared. They'd be scared playing Houston. The way that Houston plays defensively, let's be honest here, it would be just absolutely hideous to try to see this Hawkeye team try to do anything against Houston.

They're tougher. And they go out there and they would absolutely manhandle them. And you go through the other potential number one seeds, that's where we are. That's where we are, this team. This is a bad is a bad bad loss good news still work in front of them big 10 tournament still in front of them deeper into the box score here Rabracha just 10.7 rebounds he had five offensive rebounds in the game just two defense on the defensive end well there weren't a whole lot of defensive rebounds out there because Nebraska was hitting any shot that they wanted

in 5 of 14 from the floor 0 and, both those free throw misses that he had. Tony Perkins, TP could just never get it going. A couple of times he tried to get it in transition, but ultimately nothing happened there. It's not devastating. I don't want to overstate this loss. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter. Not really. And we talked about this last week. It comes down to one thing. And it doesn't matter if it's an 8-9 seed or you're in a 7-10 game or a 6-11. And just on and on and on.

It all doesn't matter. It's all fluff. Iowa could go out again. And they could win another Big Ten tournament title this week. They go to Chicago. They come back three or four games in a row. Whatever it turns out to be, depending on the double pie. They could go do that.

And I know for a huge percentage of the fan base, they don't care. I shouldn't say they don't care. They don't care. You're rooting for them. You're excited about it. But how this season is going to be remembered is not what happens in the beginning of March

and what happens in the middle and hopefully by the end that you're still playing. That's what matters. Might not be fair, but is the reality. And the one major knock that remains on Fran McCaffrey's teams is the inability to get to the second weekend. He's been coaching for a long time, and that's where we are. It's frustrating.

It shouldn't be the way it is. We should be able to enjoy all the big moments that we've had this year. The comeback victory against Michigan State, the other comebacks that they had, of course, the domination against Indiana, what they did at Rutgers. We should be able to enjoy those moments, beating Iowa State and just running them off the floor. We should enjoy those moments, but they're just such a footnote compared to what happens here. It's not right. It's not the way that it probably should be, but it is reality. That's what we do here on Lockdown Hawkeyes.

We live in reality. The reality right now, Iowa is amongst a bunch of average teams in the Big Ten. Good enough to be in the tournament. Good enough to win more than a game, though. Boy, I don't know if there's many. Would you bet on anybody right now in the Big Ten? There's even odds. Land minus 110.

If Vanduul came to us tomorrow and they said, all right, bet on any team to make the second weekend, I don't know how confident I'd be. Now, with those odds, I'd probably take Purdue, because even after a win against a 16 seed, they're going to be a big favorite against either an 8-9 seed or even a 7-10 seed in the second round if Purdue falls to a two-seed. But being said, back to where I was.

I don't think this conference is very good this year. In a year like that where it's just all jumbled up, it's hard. It really is. We're going to wrap things up here. Instant Reaction Podcast. We'll be back in your feed tomorrow with a whole lot more, breaking things down a little bit deeper. Of course, we'll break down what we see in Big Ten Wrestling Championships here

with the three wrestlers. Spencer Lee, he's getting ready to get started here. So I want to watch that. Of course, the Iowa women also getting ready to tip off in their matchup against Ohio State. Quick hit on those things as we come back here in a moment with more Locked On Hawkeyes Instant Reaction. Trey Connick with you one final time here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast.

As always, thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. All right. So we broke down this awful loss. We'll be back later with your feed right away on Sunday night into Monday morning with the first podcast of the week. And we will break down what we see in wrestling. Spencer Lee getting ready to go out there. We'll get to see Kennedy in his freshman campaign looking for a Big Ten championship and of course Real Woods also out there for the Hawkeyes. The three guys trying to

win Big Ten champions on the wrestling mat. We'll talk about that. 10 wrestlers have qualified. Four nationals definitely needed that. Brody Teske, Abasad, maybe not the tournaments that we were hoping for but but they're there. And that gives at least some kind of path for Iowa to get it done in the NCAA. It's going to need a lot of help. Everybody's going to have to wrestle at an incredibly high level. And I need Penn State not to wrestle quite at their apex as well to make that happen. We'll get into that a little bit more.

How about Iowa? The win yesterday on the women's side, the win against Maryland, just payback from how bad they looked out there against the Terrapins a few weeks back. Bouncing back in that kind of fashion. Get the lead late in the fourth quarter. Looked like they're going to run away. Maryland came roaring back. Great game to the end.

Some ridiculous shots by Kaitlyn Clark. It was the same old. And now, not the rematch against Indiana. Instead, Iowa gets their shot against Ohio State. the Buckeye ladies. Iowa went there. Remember, Ohio State at the time was undefeated. We've seen payback before. That can be a problem, and that has certainly happened in the women's game this year

in the Big Ten and those revenge spots that's been out there. But I'm confident about it. FanDuel right now has Iowa, in fact, favored by two points against the Buckeyes. I'm going to lay it. I'm going to lay it with the Hawkeyes. They bring back yet another conference championship for Lisa Bluter and the group there. But I'm looking forward to that. With all that being said, we've got wrestling coming up.

We've got some more women's basketball coming up. Frustrating day for the Iowa men. What does it mean going forward? We'll get into that more here on your feeds coming up tomorrow on Locked On Hawkeyes. Thanks, as always, for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen each and every day. For your second listen, don't forget about our new podcast as you get ready for March Madness. It's Locked On College Basketball. Isaac Schott and company getting you ready with everything going on in the world of college hoops.

Make Locked On College Basketball your second listen. Guys doing great work over there. Back with you tomorrow. Let's hope for a better afternoon after the men crap the bed against Nebraska 81-77. This has been an Instant Reaction Hawkeyes podcast. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Go Hawks.