The Monday Tipoff: It's A Long Way From November

Remember the loss to DePaul? Hawkeyes have grown up since then.

Remember November 11?

Iowa lost to DePaul, 93-78, in a game that didn't feel that close.

That was the night of the social media meltdown. Earlier that day, Iowa lost out on in-state recruit Xavier Foster, which just magnified what happened to the Hawkeyes that night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

It seemed like a loud majority wanted changes. There were even a few Twitter posts carrying the blow-it-up-and-start-over theme.

Here we are on December 16 and, yes, things are different.

Iowa is 8-3 overall, 1-1 in the Big Ten.

The Hawkeyes have a neutral-court win over Texas Tech, and road wins over Syracuse and Iowa State — the latter was especially popular.

Iowa isn't in an 0-2 hole after the opening two games of Big Ten play, like the last two seasons. The one win, a 72-52 victory at home against Minnesota, came against a team that rolled over No. 3 Ohio State on Sunday.

The Hawkeyes are 22nd in the KenPom rankings and 24th in the Sagarin ratings.

So what happened?

Well, let's go back to that DePaul game. It was the second game of the season for a team that had new pieces in the rotation. In a lot of ways, the Hawkeyes were still learning how to play together.

Now, 11 games in, this is a better team, individually and collectively.

Junior center Luka Garza struggled early that night against DePaul's double-teams. Now, not only is he playing with more confidence, he is learning how to make in-game adjustments, something he learned from playing against the Blue Demons.

Up and down the lineup, this is a more confident team.

Go back to Thursday's 84-68 win at Iowa State. The Hawkeyes let a 15-point halftime lead dwindle to seven in the first 3 1/2 minutes of the second half. Other Iowa teams have faced a similar run at Hilton Coliseum in some recent trips there and wilted.

Instead, the Hawkeyes built the lead, beginning with a Connor McCaffery 3-pointer. Later, after a George Conditt dunk cut the lead to 11 and brought Hilton to full volume, the Hawkeyes answered with three consecutive 3-pointers.

In a span of eight minutes, Iowa had pushed the lead to 25 points. On the road. At Hilton Coliseum.

That's a sign of a stronger team.

The Hawkeyes are a team with go-to players — Garza, Joe Wieskamp and CJ. Fredrick all average in double figures. Jordan Bohannon, should he decide to finish this season as he recovers from offseason hip surgery, has a long resumé of big games and big shots.

There are the experienced players like McCaffery, forward Cordell Pemsl, guard Bakari Evelyn and forward Ryan Kriener. Freshman guard Joe Toussaint has shown a toughness the Hawkeyes have lacked at times.

This is a team that is a sum of its parts, and that equation was built starting with that loss to DePaul.

Seasons aren't destroyed in November. The good teams build from the bad moments, and so far the Hawkeyes have done that.

A college basketball season is long. Talented teams make it to March, but they also need chemistry, and it seems like this Iowa team has that.

There is, of course, still a long way to go. The Hawkeyes are going with a nine-man rotation, which could shrink should Bohannon decide to sit the rest of the way. That makes for a slim margin of error.

Anything is possible. It's a long way from November, but it's a long way to March.

Iowa's position is better now than it was in November. The rest of the season looks like a twisting road that appears, for now, could be a fun ride.

The DePaul debacle can't even be seen in the rear-view mirror.