Missed Opportunities: Takeaways as Iowa Basketball Falters Against Virginia Tech

It was the first test of the season for the Iowa Hawkeyes when they took on the Virginia Tech Hokies, and it has given Iowa some lessons to take back to the drawing board. Iowa dropped its first game of the season, which in itself isn't worrisome.

How Iowa lost this game was uncharacteristic, though. Iowa struggled to do some things that it was expected to do well, which resulted in a 93-88 loss, despite incredible efforts from Cooper Koch (26 points), Ty'Reek Coleman (20 points), and Isaia Howard (13 points).

Isaia Howard stepped up

I was really impressed by Isaia Howard's outing in this one. He posted a double-double, which included 13 points and a whopping 15 rebounds. It felt like Howard was all over the floor for Iowa tonight. His elevated play and athleticism could be a huge asset for Iowa's offense.

Cooper Koch might be the go-to guy on offense

Iowa needs someone on the offensive end to step up and become the guy. Last night it was Cooper Koch, and hopefully it remains him going forward. Koch led the way with 26 points for Iowa on a 5-for-11 shooting performance. He added a 15-for-17 showing at the charity stripe.

His game looks like it is taking the next step, too. Koch was only 1-for-5 from three-point range, but was often using his size and strength to back down smaller guards and get to the paint for easier looks. Iowa needs to lean on Koch early in the season as others round into form.

Missed free throws doomed Iowa

This may be the single most frustrating part of the evening. Iowa got to the free-throw line all night. The Hawkeyes shot 47 free throws. The problem is that they only made 31 of them. Iowa left 16 points on the table. That played directly into this result.

The defense was too porous

There are no two ways to cut it. Ben McCollum is going to lose sleep over giving up 93 points. Sure, there was overtime to slightly inflate that number, but Virginia Tech was getting easy looks for most of the night.

Iowa let the Hokies shoot 54% (30-for-56) from the field and 7-for-18 from three-point range. This team, while it finds its footing on offense, has to tighten up on the defensive end. It can't win in track meets like this.

Iowa rebounded well

Iowa out-rebounded Virginia Tech 40-26, which, for a team playing the type of style that Iowa and Ben McCollum want to play, should be more than enough of a gap to limit extra possessions on offense. In a game like this, rebounding is even more important, which makes this loss a bit more confounding.

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