The Hoosiers travel to Iowa City for their second match-up with the Hawkeyes for the season on Friday February 22.
The Hoosiers have been in freefall since the start of 2019 with only victories against Illinois and Michigan State. The Michigan State victory alone is making the Hoosiers an interesting topic of discussion when it comes to the last teams to be granted a spot in the NCAA Tournament, but the chances are looking pretty slim at this point.
Indiana now looks as healthy as they have in weeks, but they still struggle to find consistent momentum each game. There are many rumors and theories as to factors that are negatively impacting this team, but regardless, one of the more frustrating aspects is the amount of involvement that Romeo has had over this stretch of games. In the prior game against Purdue, Romeo did not take a single shot in the second half of the game. He was ill for the first several minutes, but still played most of the half but with next to no involvement. Needless to say, this has been frustrating to watch for our star, top-10 projected pick Freshman phenom.
Since the last time the Hoosiers and Hawkeyes met, Indiana has not won a single game while the Hawkeyes have gone 2-1 with a loss to a strong Maryland team on a tip-in with 7.1 seconds remaining by Fernando. They are the most fun team to watch when the game is on the line, with all three of these last games coming down to the final shot in the game and the Hawkeyes hitting 2-3 of their shots.
Iowa has continued to be a unrelenting force in the deep Big Ten this year. Having 5 of their players score over 10 points per game and are ranked No 21, and No. 28th by Kenpom. They have one of the most efficient offenses in the country being ranked # 8 in the country on Kenpom, but when it comes to defense, they are last in the Big 10 while allowing opponents to a 2P% of 54.7%. Another unsurprising difference is that the Hawkeyes make 6.4% more of their 3PT shots and the Hoosiers continue to struggle from deep only hitting 31.3% – a Big 10 worst.
Iowa is going to continue to rely on their power offense against the Hoosiers. Limiting turnovers setting up quick transition defense will be key for the Hoosiers to stop the #3 team in the Big Ten in fastbreak points. Iowa allows easy baskets and do not have a quick team which allowed Romeo to have one of his more efficient and solid performances of the season the last time these teams met.
