Iowa basketball's worst performance of the year leads to Cy-Hawk blowout loss

AMES — For the second straight night, Iowa State reigned supreme on the basketball court. One night after the Iowa State women's team defeated Iowa, their men's team followed up with a dominating 73-53 win over the Hawkeyes. 

Thursday night marks Iowa's third straight loss after a 7-0 start and it's also their worst offensive showing of the season by far. The Hawkeyes shot 93.3% from the free throw line but only attempted 15. In total, they only made 17 field goals and the shooting percentages were far off from their season averages:  

►Field goal percentage season average: 48.7%; Thursday night: 27%

►3-point percentage season average: 37.8%; Thursday night: 19%

Iowa led at the midway point in the first half 17-16 but the wheels fell off after that. Iowa State finished the final 10 minutes on a 22-9 run to lead 38-26 at halftime. Their poor shooting night was compounded by the continued struggles with rebounding. 

Iowa State outrebounded Iowa 28-10 in the first half. Even more jarring is that the Cyclones had more offensive rebounds (13) than the Hawkeyes had total rebounds (10). Their overall 50-32 rebounding margin continued to highlight a growing problem on Iowa's team this year. During their three-game losing streak, Iowa's been outrebounded by their opponents 144-83. 

Perhaps more than any other road game this year, the packed Hilton Coliseum crowd rattled Iowa throughout. Keegan Murray, the nation's leading scorer started, 0-for-10 from the floor, their normal bench spark was nonexistent (13 bench points) and senior Jordan Bohannon, who scored seven of the team's first team points, only had 10 for the rest of the game. 

A halftime break did little to help Iowa's shooting woes. Iowa State began the second half on a 15-5 run that turned a modest 12-point lead into an insurmountable 24-point advantage. The home crowd couldn't be contained as continuous roars carried the Cyclones to their first win in the series since 2017. 

The question surrounding this year's Hawkeyes was how would they play against upper levels of competition after the first six games. This four-game stretch started with promise, a close win at Virginia, but has turned sour over the last three games. 

The good news is that Iowa will be busy over the holiday break with several more tune-up games before Big Ten play resumes in January. It's unlikely that they'll have many shooting nights like Thursday but there are other areas of concern that must be addressed, and quickly, if they're to compete in a tough Big Ten pack. 

Kennington Lloyd Smith III covers Iowa Hawkeyes football and men's basketball for the Des Moines Register. You can connect with Kennington on Twitter @SkinnyKenny_ or email him at ksmith@gannett.com.