The Hawkeyes are trying to find a new and improved way to start a Big Ten men’s basketball season

Iowa is 0-7 in conference play over the last three seasons. That didn’t derail the Hawkeyes, but it obviously didn’t help.

IOWA CITY — Big Ten Conference men’s basketball games in December haven’t been good for Iowa in recent years.

In league play, the Hawkeyes were 0-2 in December 2021, 0-3 in December 2022 and 0-2 in December 2023.

“Tough would be an understatement,” Iowa senior forward Payton Sandfort said Monday. “I haven’t won a (Big Ten) game in December.”

Another chance comes Tuesday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena (6 p.m.) when the 6-1 Hawkeyes take on Northwestern, 6-2, in their league opener. The Big Ten’s 20-game schedule is a long shot, but 1-0 would brighten it up.

It’s not that Iowa’s last three seasons have been lousy. They account for half of Iowa’s six-year streak of 10 or more conference wins. However, it is difficult to get into the title fight by catching up.

“It would definitely be a great start,” Sandfort said. “It’s not something we need, but it would definitely feel better going into the January part if we had a better start.”

The next three games are a step up, as they say in the horse racing industry. This will be Iowa’s first game against a team from one of the five major conferences, followed by a game at 6-1 Michigan on Saturday and a home game against No. 6 Iowa State next Thursday.

The biggest question tomorrow might be whether a medical unit will accompany the Hawkeyes to court. Injuries of the more nagging and serious variety have plagued this team through the first month of the season.

Freshman forward Cooper Koch is out indefinitely with an undisclosed injury. Sophomore forward Seydou Traore injured his ankle in Iowa’s final game last Tuesday. Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffery called it “a bad sprain” on Monday but called Traore’s availability to Northwestern “a game-time decision.”

Starting defenseman Josh Dix is ​​playing with a wrist injury, and that could be his status quo for the rest of this season. Sandfort also suffered from wrist problems.

Sandfort averages 15.6 points. However, in his last two games he made just 6 of 25 field throws. He is 5 of 31 from 3-point range in his last four games after going 10 of 23 in his first three games.

He said he used the free time on Thanksgiving to rest and “I just figured out how to do it better and now I feel comfortable. I have all my tools back, so to speak.”

McCaffery saw Northwestern in person last Thursday when he attended the Wildcats’ game against Butler in Tempe, Arizona. Butler, scored by Iowa transfer Patrick McCaffery for 10 points, including two free throws, with nine seconds left, edged the Wildcats 71-69.

Comments: (319) 398-8440; [email protected]