Iowa Looks to Rebound from Three-Game Skid Against Familiar Face in Indiana Showdown
CEDAR RAPIDS - Ben McCollum isn’t someone who’s used to seeing the losses pile up. In fact, you have to rewind all the way back to the 2012-13 season - when he was at Division II powerhouse Northwest Missouri State - to find the last time one of his teams dropped three straight. That streak came at the hands of Fort Hays State, Washburn, and then Fort Hays again.
Now, over a decade later, McCollum finds himself in a similar spot - but on a much bigger stage. His Iowa Hawkeyes (12-5, 2-4 Big Ten) head into Saturday’s road matchup at Indiana having lost three in a row. But if you ask McCollum, the number itself isn’t what matters.
“I think the amount in a row is probably irrelevant,” McCollum said Friday. “It’s more about: Are we getting better?
Are we improving? Are we growing?”
That mindset has been a throughline in McCollum’s coaching career - process over panic. And when you look at Iowa’s recent stretch, there’s some merit to that approach.
Yes, the Hawkeyes are on a three-game slide. But two of those losses came on the road, and two were against ranked opponents - Purdue and Illinois. And in all three, Iowa had a shot to win.
The most recent came Tuesday night at No. 5 Purdue, where Iowa led by as many as nine in the second half and looked more than capable of pulling off the upset.
The Hawkeyes shot a blistering 52.9% from the field and knocked down 12 threes. Guard Kael Combs had a breakout night with a career-high 16 points, while Tavion Banks filled the stat sheet with 16 points, seven boards, five assists, and two steals.
But down the stretch, Purdue simply made more plays - on both ends. That’s what elite teams do, especially ones with national title aspirations.
McCollum knows it’s about those final few possessions, the small things that separate good teams from great ones.
“We weren’t ready to make those plays down the stretch,” he said. “We’ve shown improvement - from Illinois to Michigan State, we got better.
But not enough. Not enough to win.”
That’s the message he’s been drilling into his team: keep grinding, keep improving, and trust the process. Because the margin for error in the Big Ten is razor-thin, and the difference between a winning streak and a losing one often comes down to just a handful of possessions.
Saturday’s matchup against Indiana brings another layer of intrigue - and familiarity. It pits the last two head coaches at Drake against each other.
McCollum succeeded Darian DeVries at Drake when DeVries left for West Virginia. Now, DeVries is back in the Midwest, leading the Hoosiers.
There was buzz that DeVries, an Iowa native and Northern Iowa alum, could’ve been in the mix for the Hawkeyes job after Fran McCaffery’s departure. Instead, Iowa hired McCollum, and DeVries landed at Indiana.
“I know him, for sure,” McCollum said of DeVries. “He did an unreal job at Drake, great job at West Virginia, and obviously doing a really good job at Indiana.
He’s a great coach. I’ve known him for quite a few years, and he’s done a great job everywhere he’s been.”
Indiana (12-5, 3-3 Big Ten) is also trying to snap a skid, having lost back-to-back games to ranked opponents in Nebraska and Michigan State. That sets the stage for a high-stakes, evenly matched showdown in Bloomington.
Adding to the drama is the presence of Tucker DeVries - Darian’s son - who followed his father from Drake to West Virginia and now Indiana. The younger DeVries is averaging just under 15 points per game and has continued to prove he belongs at the high-major level.
“Tucker’s a great kid, great player,” McCollum said. “One of the best to come out of the Missouri Valley in a long time, and he’s showing he can do it at this level too.”
McCollum also praised Indiana’s roster as a whole, calling it a “really good basketball team” and acknowledging the challenge of playing at Assembly Hall.
So, yes, Iowa is riding a losing streak. But they’ve been right there - toe-to-toe with some of the best teams in the country. And if they can tighten up in the final minutes, this group has the pieces to turn things around quickly.
Saturday’s game isn’t just a battle between two 12-5 teams. It’s a test of resilience, of growth, and of two coaches who know each other well - both trying to get their programs back on track in one of college basketball’s toughest conferences.