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The Iowa men's basketball team was defeated by Indiana at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Senior Night. Anthony Clemmons, Jared Uthoff, Adam Woodbury, and Mike Gessell played their last game in Iowa City. They travel to Ann Arbor, MI, to play the Wolverines. I can't speak to what happened to the team that caused their slide. Losing 5 of their last 6 games can't be easy for the players or coaches. Of course fans on social media were seething, calling for coach to resign, for the seniors to be benched and replaced by the underclassmen, and other nonsense. I get the disappointment - of course I'm disappointed - but I also saw a spark in the players. They were down by double digits and came roaring back. They put the ball in the hands of Clemmons who had just made a 3 point shot and ran a play to get him open. It looked good, but fell short. Woodbury grabbed the ball & called time-out with 2.1 seconds. They inbounded the ball, got it to Peter Jok who had what looked to be a great looking shot - making it would have tied the score and sent the game to overtime - but it just didn't go in.

Know what? That happens in basketball. The ball either goes in or doesn't. If I were one of the players and coaches, I don't think I would encourage a cone of shame or anything drastic. As I said, they go to Ann Arbor, MI, on Saturday. Hopefully, they play loose and without any extra pressure and win the game.The last time they played each other, on 1/17 in Iowa City, the Hawkeyes won 82-71. It's certainly possible for them to win on Saturday and take the win as momentum going into the Big Ten Championship Tournament.

As for the other male basketball team I am interested in, the Iowa City West Trojans defeated Iowa City High in a qualifying game for the Iowa state tournament. They played in Cedar Rapids at the US Cellular Center and play third-seeded Des Moines Hoover (21-2) in an 8:15 PM quarterfinal game on Wednesday, March 9th, at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. Nothing like home court advantage for a tournament game.