[bears9]

Todd Lickliter says he is still looking for that consistent high level of play out of his Hawkeye basketball team.

In his press conference today, Lickliter said he can’t fault his players’ effort at any point in the season, but the play of which they are capable isn’t always there.

“I just wish we could be more consistent with our play,” Lickliter told reporters.

The Hawkeyes faltered last week against Minnesota, losing 63-50 in Minneapolis.

“I don’t think we played particularly well on either end,” Lickliter said of the loss.

Iowa has had trouble with shooting droughts – going minutes of clock at a time without making a shot. A 12-minute drought against No. 8 Wisconsin last week all but gave the game away against the Badgers.

Lickliter said his team needs to focus on getting the ball to the hot-handed player in those situations, but at the same time, droughts do happen and can be unavoidable. They are survivable if a team remains strong on defense, something he said didn’t happen in Minneapolis.

hawk central | Hawkeye Basketball, Men's