Iowa Must Fix Key Area To Avoid Disaster

Three road games, three losses. Safe to say, things haven't gone according to plan for theIowa Hawkeyes.

First year head coach Ben McCollum knew the team would be in for a tough test against Minnesota, but that doesn't excuse their 70-67 loss. Iowa has now suffered defeat in all three of their road games, and there's been one key reason why that's the case.

In those three games, Iowa has been outshot 76-35 at the free throw line. Some will see that number as a diss on the officials, but it goes both ways.

Iowa simply isn't playing the same on the road as they are at home. There's no exact reason why, but it's something McCollum needs to figure out immediately otherwise this season could be disastrous.

Iowa Never Shows Up On The Road

Free-throw attempts in 3 Iowa road games? Opponents 76, Hawkeyes 35.

Ben McCollum learning what life on the B1G road is like, team illnesses & other thoughts from the 70-67 loss at Minnesota.https://t.co/mGykFxuDqS
— Chad Leistikow🆑 (@ChadLeistikow) January 7, 2026

To be 12-3 (2-2) with all three of those loses coming on the road is a bit alarming. This schedule was a cakewalk for Iowa, other than their ranked battles at No. 7 Michigan State and No. 4 Iowa State.

Back on December 2, the Spartans attempted eight more free throws than Iowa. They shot 88% compared to Iowa's 65%, but Iowa lost that game by nearly 20 points and free throws weren't the deciding factor.

In McCollum's first Cy-Hawk game, the Hawkeyes led the Cyclones going into halftime. Everyone knew it would be hard to put together another complete 20 minutes, and sure enough, Iowa State came back with a vengeance. They came out on top, 66-62, and free throws were a huge part of that game.

The Cyclones made 17 of their 23 attempts while Iowa made just three of five. Iowa State shot 18 more free throws in a game that was decided by four points. Simply put, that's unacceptable.

Free Throws Strike Again

Iowa men's basketball has a foul problem on the road so far this season.

Per Torvik, on the season their FT rate on offense is 39.9 (90th in the country) and is 39.3 (265th in the country) on defense. That figure includes all 15 games played so far.
— Tony Roe (@tonysroe) January 7, 2026

Come January 6, free throws were once again a key deciding factor. Minnesota was able to sneak past Iowa for a 70-67 win that sent fans into a frenzy. Iowa has now lost all three of their road games, and once again they knew where to put the blame.

The Golden Gophers went 21-28 from the free throw line, ending the night with 15 more attempts than Iowa. Again, it's easy to blame the officials in something like this, but the fact that it's happened three times goes to show it's not just a coincidence. Iowa went 10-13, so their three missed shots would've been enough to send this game into overtime.

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