McCaffery admitted

committed Hawkeyes have righted ship

It's probably just a coincidence that the two best games the Iowa basketball team has played this season have been the Hawkeyes' only two Clinton Portis Jersey true road games.

Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said the most recent of those victories a 71 65 conquest of 20th ranked Ohio State on Tuesday was simply the product of some serious soul searching on the part of his players following losses to instate rivals Iowa State and Northern Iowa in mid December.

"Prior to the North Florida game (on Dec. 22), they recommitted themselves to trusting themselves and trusting their talent,'' McCaffery said Friday on a teleconference with reporters. "We have good players, we have a good team.

"Any doubt that existed was more at the offensive end than anywhere else. I thought our defense has been pretty good. What happened was our overall defensive numbers were good but as our offense struggled, then our defense wavered in the second half of a few of those games Charles Mann Jersey There's a maturity factor there. That can't happen. If your offense is struggling then your defense has to be better, not worse.''

McCaffery said his players recognized that and have made the necessary adjustments to get back to the way they were playing when they upset North Carolina on the road on Dec. 3.

Not only has the defense stabilized Authentic Clinton Portis Jersey but the Hawkeyes (10 4 overall, 1 0 Big Ten) had better ball movement and improved offensive execution in halfcourt situations against the Buckeyes in the Big Ten opener.

McCaffery just hopes it all continues Monday when his team returns home to take on Nebraska.

"We're moving the ball more and we're believing in ourselves,'' he added. "We've got guys that can make shots. I've been saying that over and over, and then sometimes you watch games and those guys don't make shots and everybody panics. I never panicked. (Jarrod) Uthoff, (Josh) Oglesby, (Peter) Jok, (Mike) Gesell Authentic Art Monk Jersey those guys are shotmakers and I feel really good about that component.''

McCaffery admitted, too, that some comments made by North Florida coach Matt Driscoll after Iowa defeated the Authentic Charles Mann Jersey Ospreys on Dec. 22 probably didn't hurt his team either. Driscoll praised the Hawkeyes, but said he noticed some of them hung their heads after errant shots instead of Art Monk Jersey shaking off the misses.

McCaffery said he didn't think Driscoll's observations were "concise'' and didn't come "from a negative place.

"I think our guys took it the right way,'' he added. "Nobody got insulted. I didn't get insulted Overall I think it was probably a really good thing.''