Fran McCaffery was back on the Iowa bench, but the result was the same was it has been for what has now become a four game losing streak for the Hawkeyes as they head into the post season. Following the overtime loss to Nebraska, McCaffery spoke to the media about what happened down the stretch in Lincoln on Sunday.

Q: In the last minute of regulation were you ok with your defense or were they just making shots?

McCAFFERY: I think you have to give them credit. Those kids made some tough shots. We came up on them and we were contesting. If you had to do it over again, maybe you run another guy at them. Joe came up one time and he gave Palmer a running start. He was trying to put pressure. When you have a lead you don’t want to foul and give them a four point play. They made a bunch in a row and you have to give them credit.

Q: What do you tell your team after a loss like that?

McCAFFERY: Nobody is going to feel sorry for them. They have to understand that we did some really good things in this game and some things that weren’t so good. We had 11 turnovers in the second half and one in the first half. Obviously we gave up a bunch of points at the end. We had a lead and executed fairly well. We didn’t rebound well at the start of the game and rebounded well later. I thought we broke down defensively in some key situations and their good players got going. You have to learn from it and you have to move on. You can’t feel sorry for yourself.

Q: With that last shot, was that how you drew it up?

McCAFFERY: Pretty much. Kid made a great play. He recognized it and came a pretty good distance to close out. JBo is in a tough spot because you might want to shot fake it, but you can’t because you are not sure how much time is left because it was off a pass. Give credit to the defender.

Q: Realizing that the slate is wiped clean going into post season, how hard is this to put behind you?

McCAFFERY: We have had tough losses before. We have had a tremendous season and that doesn’t change what happens next week. We gotta play well against a really good team, whoever it is.

Q: Tyler Cook had a tough game up in Madison. How do you think he responded today?

McCAFFERY: I thought he was really trying. Statistically it wasn’t great, but he did get to the free throw line 11 times and that was part of the game plan. He only went 5-11 and he got 9 rebounds. He was in a little foul trouble too. I think it was a step in the right direction.

Q: Luka Garza was averaging 7 points over the last 8 games. He has 25 today. What did you think of his performance today?

McCAFFERY: I thought he was great. We wanted to go to him and we went to him and he was tremendous today. We were thrilled with not only his efficiency inside, but the way he shot free throws. He got on the glass and got offensive rebounds when we really needed it.

Q: How do you look at 10-10 in the Big Ten?

McCAFFERY: In this league, that’s tremendous.