By Hawk Fanatic

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa men’s basketball team will try to win its first Big Ten road game this season, and try to avoid losing back-to-back games in California when it faces UCLA on Friday in Los Angeles.

Iowa lost at USC 99-89 this past Tuesday, and now here comes the Bruins, who have their own problems as losers of four straight games.

Friday’s game is expected to be played at legendary Pauley Pavilion on the UCLA campus, though there was some talk about moving it to a different location due to the ongoing wildfires in and around Los Angeles.

“I haven’t been told anything otherwise,” UCLA head coach Mick Cronin said Thursday. “So to that point of whether our game and all that for tomorrow at Pauley, I haven’t been told anything otherwise.”

Iowa took a step back defensively in the loss to USC, allowing the Trojans to shoot a blistering 64.9 percent from the field.

Defense rarely has been a strength under Iowa head Fran McCaffery, who is known more his fast-paced offense and for giving his players the freedom to shoot.

But defense was believed to have been an emphasis ever since Wisconsin guard Kamari McGee accused Iowa of not wanting to play defense following Wisconsin’s 116-85 victory over Iowa on Jan. 3 in Madison, Wisconsin.

The Iowa players said they took what McGee said personally, and Iowa would go on to win the next two games against Nebraska and Indiana, thanks partly to playing better defense.

It didn’t carry to the USC game, however, as Iowa seemed a step slow and disconnected on defense, and was also dominated on the boards as USC had a whopping 37-20 rebounding advantage.

“There’s a lot of reasons for it,” Fran McCaffery said when asked in his post-game zoom why USC was able to shoot 65 percent from the field. “We got off to a bad start. They got comfortable, they’re a driving team. I thought our defense was not what it needed to be. They made a bunch of threes tonight. That’s nit typically their strong point. They made them tonight and you could see that they were a team that’s gaining confidence.

“But our rebounding was not good, and we didn’t get to the offensive glass at all.

“But I thought we did some good things in the second half with our break and with our late-game stuff. We had some guys step up and make some shots to get back in the game.”

UCLA, meanwhile, has its own problems as it will try to avoid losing its fifth game in a row.

Cronin recently called out his players for being too soft after a loss to Michigan.

He was asked on Thursday how his players have responded to his criticism.

“I think we’re trying,” Cronin said. “I think that here are the facts; we’ve struggled in Big Ten basketball. Our two wins (over Washington and Oregon) were against teams we’re familiar with playing against.

“I think the truth of it is Big Ten basketball is different. It’s much a much more physical game, and I also think the league is unbelievably rock solid.”

UCLA is one of four teams that left the Pacific-12 Conference to join the Big Ten this season, along with USC, Oregon and Washington.

The UCLA football team only finished 5-7 in its first season in the Big Ten, and now the UCLA men’s basketball team is struggling to win conference games.

However, the UCLA football team did beat Iowa 20-17 in November in Los Angeles.

The Iowa men’s basketball team now hopes to avoid a similar fate.

Despite the Big Ten’s reputation for being physical, Iowa often plays with more finesse under Fran McCaffery.

Iowa has scored 80-plus points in 11 consecutive games, the longest stretch since the 1988-89 season (13 straight games). Iowa has scored 80-plus points in all but two games this season.

Iowa is leading nation in scoring, averaging 89.5 points per game. The team’s 51.0 field goal percentage is second-best in the league (sixth in country).

Sophomore forward Owen Freeman netted a career-high 23 points on 11-of-14 shooting in the road loss at USC. It was his third 20-point game this season.

Iowa hit its scoring average in the loss to USC, but it still wasn’t enough to make up for the defensive shortcomings.

Iowa is 0-3 in Big Ten road games this season.

Iowa (12-5, 3-3) vs. UCLA (11-6, 2-4)

When: Friday, 8:07 p.m.

Where: Los Angeles, Pauley Pavilion (13,800)

TV: FS1

Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network

All-time series: Friday’s game is the ninth in the all-time series between Iowa and UCLA, dating back to 1950. The Hawkeyes lead the series, 5-3. Iowa last faced the Bruins during the 1990-91 season, winning 88-71 in Iowa City.

Iowa has lost its last three games against UCLA in Los Angeles in the 1971-72, 1973-74 and 1981-82 seasons.

The Hawkeyes are 2-3 at UCLA all-time, including 0-3 at Pauley Pavilion.