Iowa's Blueprint for a Deep Run in the 2015 NCAA Tournament

Iowa won't enter the NCAA tournament with the momentum it was hoping to build with a deep run in the Big Ten tournament, but a talented roster of experienced players should make it a tough out once the Big Dance begins on Thursday.

Fran McCaffery's team suffered a heartbreaking, and shocking, 67-58 loss to Penn State in their first conference tournament game, severely dinging their hopes of moving up a couple of lines on the selection committee's brackets. 

But fear not, black and gold faithful.

All is not lost.

The 7th-seeded Hawkeyes, who will open tournament play in the South Region, against Davidson, still have the goods to be a sleeper that could bust their share of brackets. 

What will they need to do in order to make a deep run?

Let's take a look.

Iowa is one of those teams that can drive its fans nuts. 

The Hawkeyes have wins at North Carolina, Ohio State and Indiana. In fact, they swept the season series from the Buckeyes and even beat Maryland at home. Seems like the makings of a dangerous potential sleeper in March Madness, right?

Not so fast.

Iowa dropped a bad one at Northwestern in mid-February, seeming to throw a jolt into a team that might have been bound for the bubble if it didn't get its act together in time. 

The Hawkeyes reeled off six straight to secure the No. 5 seed in the Big Ten tournament, only to get bounced in their first game by a spunky Penn State squad that went just 4-14 in conference play.

Making matters worse, McCaffery's team blew an eight-point lead at the half, allowing the supposedly outgunned Nittany Lions to drop 48 second-half points to advance to the quarterfinals against a beatable Purdue team.

Iowa is just 2-9 in the conference tournament over the past nine seasons.

What does this all mean?

The Hawkeyes dropped an opening-round game in the Big Ten tournament last season to another inferior team in Northwestern and were forced to play a First Four game to work their way into the main bracket. The result was a one-and-done, with Tennessee outscoring them, 14-1, in overtime for a double-digit win and an early exit.

Did the negative juju of a disappointing conference tournament play a role?

Maybe.

Which is why these Hawkeyes need to make sure they focus on the next game and not the last one. 

Or the result could be the same.

Nothing can be the undoing of a team quicker in March Madness than getting out to a lead and blowing it.

You have to figure that pretty much every team you'll see in the field—with the historical exception of the No. 16 seed, sorry—has the goods to beat you.

Iowa is a team that, unfortunately for its players and fans, has had a bad propensity to allow halftime leads to evaporate over the second 20 minutes of play.

The Hawkeyes led Texas by six at the break early in the season but were outscored, 47-27, in the second half for a 14-point loss at Madison Square Garden.

Not enough?

How about a six-point lead over Northern Iowa followed up by a 33-15 deficit in the second half?

Got time for one more?

How about an 11-point home lead against Michigan State on Jan. 8 in Iowa City? Ready for an ugly stat?

The Spartans outscored the Hawkeyes, 47-22, after the break for a 14-point win.

And, of course, there's also the blown lead against Penn State that ended any hopes of an upstart bid for a Big Ten crown. This was mostly an early-season problem, yes, but Hawkeyes fans must be hoping it hasn't returned at the wrong time.

Let's not make it sound like Iowa should be ashamed of blowing leads to quality teams.

It happens, but when this team goes down, it goes down in flames.

Those are some ugly, ugly numbers in key games, and they must be avoided if the Hawkeyes want to make their tournament trip last more than a game or two.

Aaron White didn't look like he'd amount to much when he arrived in Iowa City from his hometown in suburban Cleveland.

Four years later, and the 6'9" forward is closing out one of the greatest careers in Hawkeyes history. 

White was selected first team all-Big Ten on Monday—just a couple of days before he'd score 21 points and grab 13 boards in the loss to Penn State—and he averaged 16 points and better than seven boards per contest during the regular season.

He's the undisputed heart and soul of this team, and the Hawkeyes will go only as far as he can take them when the Big Dance gets rolling.

When you get mentioned in the same conversation as Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky, Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell, Maryland's Melo Trimble and Indiana's Yogi Ferrell, you must be doing something right.

White really put the team on his back after a disappointing 66-61 road loss at Northwestern on Feb. 15.

That loss put the Hawkeyes on the outside looking in for a tournament berth, but they rallied to finish the regular season with six straight wins.

How did White perform over that stretch?

Just a tick under 23 points and more than nine boards per contest, all wins.

That's just the type of player he can be, and when he's on his game, Iowa becomes a dangerous, tricky out for anyone.

Anyone.

Iowa rebounds pretty well in general, but it makes plenty of hay on the offensive glass. 

Check the stats.

Adam Woodbury and Gabriel Olaseni provide some serious length and ability to clear the lane and snag the basketball for second-chance opportunities. 

Woodbury, all seven-plus feet of him, is one of four Hawkeyes to chip in five rebounds or better per contest. White leads the team in cleaning up the boards with 7.5 per game, and he's given his team four double-doubles on the season.

Anyone missing?

Oh, yes, Jarrod Uthoff is a pretty darn reliable scorer and rebounder too.

There's a lot to like about a team with veteran leadership that rebounds the ball effectively.

Iowa averages over 12.5 offensive boards each night, which places it among the top power-conference teams in the nation in that category, and that can be huge for a team known for streaky shooting games. 

Really streaky.

If you look at some of its worst losses this season—the first Wisconsin game comes to mind—you see that this Iowa team needs to win the rebounding battle. Otherwise, it can get real ugly—32-point-loss ugly—real fast.

That's how the Hawkeyes beat Maryland, and it's how they beat Ohio State, twice.

Well, that, and the 26 offensive boards they snagged in those two games.

One of the many benefits to having a long, rangy, experienced bunch of guys is that you can pretty well defend inside the three-point line.

Woodbury and Olaseni are both strong defenders, and they helped make the Hawkeyes one of the best teams in the nation at defending the two-point shot. 

Iowa held opposing teams to just 39.2 percent shooting from the field during the regular season, and its 150 blocked shots can help you to understand why. 

One area of some concern comes from around the perimeter and behind the arc.

The Hawkeyes are substantially better at defending the inside than the outside.

Teams combined to shoot 32.4 percent from deep against them this season, and while that number isn't awful, it could certainly become a factor against a hot-shooting team that likes to operate on the outside.

Just take a look at all the Hawkeyes losses.

With the exceptions of Syracuse and Purdue, every team that beat Iowa connected on at least six triples—Michigan State was a ridiculous 12-of-17—and shot well over 33 percent from that range. 

They'll need to limit those opportunities and contest shots from the outside to avoid getting rolled by a hot-shooting team.