MEN'S BB: Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Purdue Boilermakers

VS.
GAME INFO: Sat., Feb. 14th, 2009 - 3:05 PM CST - Carver-Hawkeye Arena; Iowa City, IA
IOWA: 13-12 (3-9, 10th); POM: 89; RPI: 97 / #20 PURDUE: 18-6 (7-4, 3rd); POM: 18; RPI: 34

TV COVERAGE: BTN - Wayne Larrivee and anyone but Tim Doyle (Greg Kelser) will call the action.
RADIO: Links
GAME NOTES: HERE
LINE - Iowa is an 4.5 point underdog at home. Seriously. 4.5 points. I don't understand it either.

LIVE GAME BLOGS:
HAWKEYENATION
GazetteOnline
BlackHeartGoldPants

Iowa received their Valentine today

It's Valentine's Day 2009. Iowa will look to get some love from its fans today (as of yesterday 1500 tickets remained). Hopefully, today Iowa's passes are straighter than an arrow, and some sweet shooting couldn't hurt either. Candy Hearts. OK, enough of the Valentine's Day crap, no one cares about that "holiday" anyway.

Iowa is going to go into this one without the services of starting PG, Jeff Peterson. And, as The Sporting News points out, Iowa hasn't been healthy since December (thanks crossoverdribble). The Hawkeyes only have 2 wins in the last 10 games, and haven't won back to back games in well over two months. While youth and the physical strength of this team are legit reasons for the recent struggles, you can't discount how the injuries have just killed Iowa this year. Losing Tate was huge, losing Peterson could be worse... hopefully Tate can put some minutes in this afternoon.

Iowa is 10-2 at home, while Purdue is 4-3. Iowa's only losses at home have come against Top 25 teams. Surprise, surprise, Purdue is a Top 25 team. Purdue has beaten Iowa four straight times, although most of them have been close battles (don't look back at this year's score, please). Additionally, Matt Painter is going for his 100 win as a college basketball head coach.

Before the Peterson injury, I felt as if Iowa could hang with Purdue, maybe not necessarily win, but definitely hang with them and if the crowd was right they could upset PU. Playing in Carver on a Saturday only made me feel better about Iowa's chances. But now with their starting PG out and the distinct possiblity of Robbie Hummel returning, Iowa will be up against it. So it looks as if it will be Davis, Bawinkel, Kelly, Gatens, and Cole in the starting lineup (note: 4 of these players were coming off the bench in the beginning of the year). Last time out, David Palmer went nuts against the Boilermakers, but don't expect that to happen again.

Here's hoping for a clean game with some decent officiating for once this year (don't hold your breath)... and it would be nice if Iowa didn't lose another player to injury. It also would be nice to see Jake Kelly completely absorb the role of PG and just dominate today, but that is wishful thinking against a very solid defense backcourt of Purdue.

KenPom gives Iowa a 26% chance to win this game.

Without JPete, Iowa is going to struggle and struggle mightily.
TODAY'S PROJECTED HAWKEYE KILLER: JaJuan Johnson - Iowa has no one to matchup with his size and versatility even if a 60% Tate is playing.

PREDICTION:
Iowa - 57
Purdue- 71

PS - I swear if I hear ONE reference to "Bobby Buckets" this game...

MEN'S BB: Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Purdue Boilermakers

VS.
GAME INFO: Sun., Jan. 18th, 2009 - 11:05 AM CST - Mackey Arena; West La Fayette, IN
IOWA: 11-6 (1-3); POM: 68; RPI: 73 / #19 PURDUE: 13-4 (2-2); POM: 20; RPI: 51

TV COVERAGE: BTN
RADIO: Links
GAME NOTES: HERE
LINE - Iowa is a 13 point underdog at home.

UPDATE: Dolph and Bobby report that David Palmer will get his first start as an Iowa Hawkeye.

Kramer and Hummel are back in the lineup for Purdue, which only helps their case in this one. Apparently, Robbie's butt is all better. Iowa lost both games last year to Purdue (by 5 points at home, by 1 point on the road). Anyone that watched either of those games would have to admit that Iowa had its chances to win either of them. Arguably, Iowa is better this year and Purdue has lost a step... arguably.

As Pat Harty writes, Iowa has been working on their offense this past week. No one can argue that Iowa's D hasn't been good thus far, however their offense (when the treys aren't falling) is abysmal. It's even worse without Cyrus Tate isn't on the court... much worse.

Iowa will be without Cyrus Tate for an extended period of time, including this one. Tate had practiced earlier in the week, but Scott Dochterman just posted that Tate is out for awhile.

One has to wonder why Iowa doesn't take time to throw on a press every once and a while. The Hawkeyes long guards can definitely cause a ruckus in the backcourt. Sure, pressing has never been a staple for Lickliter's past teams, but teams and individuals have to adapt to stay ahead of the curve. Minnesota's guards made Wisconsin look silly a few nights ago when they slapped on the press, which ultimately ended up allowing the Gophers to win the game. I'm just saying... Coach needs to give it a look, especially if Iowa starts falling behind teams early. Draining threes is a great way to get back into ballgames, but when they aren't falling (as was the case the past few contests) Iowa can't get back into games.

IOWA'S POINT DISTRIBUTION (via KenPom.com)
41.3% - 3 ptrs (4th highest in the nation)
39.3% - 2 ptrs (340th in the nation, 5th worst in the nation)
19.4% - FTs (210th in the nation)

Pretty obvious stats there. Iowa doesn't get to the line very often, and live and die by the three. Information we already knew. Iowa continues to have the 2nd slowest tempo in the nation - 343rd overall. This, too, isn't overpowering news, as this sort of tempo was expected.

Pomeroy gives Iowa a 13% chance to win the game.

KEYS TO THE GAME FOR IOWA:
1.) Shoot Well from the Outside. Without Tate, Iowa had better hit its outside shots.
2.) Effective Dribble Drives. No silly turnovers while hitting the lane; Iowa needs to attack Purdue to free up their shooters and hopefully gets a couple easy buckets.
3.) Limit Calasan. Yes, Purdue has Kramer, Moore, Johnson and Hummel, but last year, Calasan killed Iowa. He definitely causes matchup problems for Iowa.
4.) Mix it Up. I don't even know what this key is... I just want to see something different on the court. The product right now is pretty stale.
5.) Switching on D Effectively. The last few games, teams have exposed Iowa's D by making the Hawks switch on D, getting their bigs posting up our guards. This can't happen.

PREDICTION:
Iowa - 57
Purdue - 66

MEN'S BB: Robbie Hummel Has "Shooting Pains in His Butt"

What Robbie does in his free time is his own business... Gus Johnson divulges the news.

Gus Johnson: I talked to Robbie, and he said he's experiencing some shooting pains in his butt. He said he's feeling better, although he said there is still some minor discomfort.

Good luck to Robbie and his butt problems, hopefully he'll be ready for the upcoming Iowa game.