Takeaways from heartbreaking Iowa basketball loss vs. No. 5 Purdue

Wednesday night felt like deja vu for the Iowa basketball team—and not the good kind.

They led for most of the game on the road against a top-five team for the second time this season. And just like last month’s loss to Iowa State in Ames, the Hawkeyes didn’t execute enough down the stretch in West Lafayette to take down fifth-ranked Purdue on Wednesday.

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Iowa gave the Boilermakers a great game, but they didn’t have enough firepower to pull the upset, ultimately falling 79-72. It’s the third loss in a row for Ben McCollum’s team, which is now 2-4 in Big Ten play and looking for answers. There were several things to like about Wednesday’s game, despite the loss, and there are several areas that need improvement. Here are the biggest takeaways from the Hawkeyes’ tight road loss to Purdue.

Kael Combs shone again

Kael Combs has been a bright development recently, despite the three-game skid. After only scoring in double figures once in Iowa’s first 11 games, Combs has now reached that mark in three of the last six games. He poured in a career-high 16 points against the Boilermakers on 6-9 shooting from the field. The junior guard also added five rebounds and two assists as well.

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Combs has firmly established himself as the other starting guard on this roster, alongside Bennett Stirtz. He’s made some clutch shots, plays solid defense, and usually makes the right play with the ball. He’s quickly turning into one of McCollum’s most trusted players on the roster and should only see more minutes from here on out.

Crucial turnovers kill momentum

Iowa had a 50-45 lead at the under-12 timeout in the second half. Purdue had cut into the lead a bit, but the Hawkeyes were still in control and had the Mackey Arena crowd quieter than usual. That’s when the momentum completely changed. Out of that timeout, the Hawkeyes would turn it over on four of their next five possessions, allowing the Boilermakers to go on a 10-2 run to take their first lead since the 4:56 mark of the first half.

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In just a few minutes of play, the crowd came back to life, and Purdue started to believe again. While the Hawkeyes would go back and forth for a while, they ran out of gas at the end and came up just short. Those turnovers killed all of Iowa’s momentum and shifted the tenor of the game drastically. Iowa had 13 total turnovers on the day, leading to 16 Purdue points. The Hawkeyes need to clean up that area of their game if they want to finish off some of these upsets going forward.

Saturday is a must-win game

With this loss, Iowa is now 2-4 in Big Ten play and losers of three conference games in a row. They’ve been close in each one, but moral victories don’t count in the standings. As it currently stands, Iowa is tied for 13th in the Big Ten and only two games up on last-place Maryland. While there’s still plenty of games left, a 2-5 start in conference play would put a ton of pressure on Iowa if it wants to make the NCAA Tournament.

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That’s why this Saturday’s game at Indiana is a must-win for McCollum’s bunch. The Hoosiers are good, sitting at 12-5 overall and 3-3 in the Big Ten. But they’re not whirl-beaters. This game will be there for the taking, and Iowa needs to get some momentum rolling into a softer portion of its schedule in late January. That starts in Bloomington on Saturday. We’re going to learn a lot about this team here very soon.

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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Takeaways from heartbreaking Iowa basketball loss vs. No. 5 Purdue