Fran McCaffery Has Heartbreaking Reaction to Iowa Hawkeyes Loss to Oregon

Fran McCaffery and the Iowa Hawkeyes had an opportunity to pick up a needed win on Wednesday night against the Oregon Ducks. Unfortunately, they suffered another heartbreaking loss.

When all was said and done, Iowa ended up falling to Oregon by a final score of 80-78.

Despite being in the game all the way to the finish, the Hawkeyes were not able to finish it out for a win. Instead, they dropped to 14-12 on the season and are moving dangerously close to not qualifying for the Big Ten tournament.

Josh Dix had a chance to tie and then another chance to win in the closing seconds of the game, but they were denied. Iowa just cannot seem to catch a break.

Following the crushing loss, McCaffery spoke out and offered a tough to swallow take about his team.

“It's not just how we fought tonight in this game, it's how they've continued to prepare in practice, with work ethic, with scouting-report information, with staying connected, staying together, staying positive with each other," McCaffery said. "As a coach, that's all you can ask. It makes you very proud when you have character like that on your basketball team. They want it badly. I want it badly for them. We were in position to get one, and we didn't.”

Even though the 2024-25 season has been full of disappointment, Iowa has continued to fight. No one can take that from them regardless of where they end up at the end of the year.

With the loss will come more rumblings about change being needed within the Hawkeyes' basketball program. Over the last couple of weeks, the future of McCaffery as the team's head coach has been called into question.

At the end of the day, losing can come with change. However, the way the team has continued to play should show that McCaffery is still very much in control of his locker room and that he has players motivated to continue competing.

Sadly, the wins are not coming and missing out on the Big Ten tournament would be a crushing blow for Iowa that could force change.

All of that being said, the Hawkeyes faught hard against the Ducks, but once again it just wasn't quite enough.

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