{"id":121725,"date":"2025-02-08T09:00:26","date_gmt":"2025-02-08T14:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=121725"},"modified":"2025-02-07T17:41:13","modified_gmt":"2025-02-07T22:41:13","slug":"season-ending-injuries-plague-iowa-and-northwestern-basketball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/08\/season-ending-injuries-plague-iowa-and-northwestern-basketball\/","title":{"rendered":"Season-Ending Injuries Plague Iowa and Northwestern Basketball"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Iowa Hawkeyes and Northwestern Wildcats entered the 2024-25 NCAA basketball season with a similar makeup and plenty of returning key pieces. In Iowa’s case, they have the likes of guard\u00a0Payton Sandfort<\/a> and center Owen Freeman<\/a>. As for the Wildcats, they have seen a great season put forth by Nick Martinelli,<\/a> along with senior captain Brooks Barnhizer<\/a>. Both teams certainly had NCAA tournament aspirations. However, some bad luck along the way and significant injuries have plagued both teams.<\/p>\n

Season-Ending Injuries Plague Iowa and Northwestern Basketball<\/h2>\n

It has been a rough couple of weeks for the Hawkeyes as they have dropped five of their last six games, and up until the most recent loss against Purdue, they had the services of Freeman. That was until head coach Fran McCaffrey announced earlier this week that Freeman would be out for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n

That news was certainly not good to hear, especially for Freeman, who was averaging 16.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. He is certainly a centerpiece who is hard to replace, particularly as the Hawkeyes try to stay in the NCAA hunt. Freeman hurt his finger and underwent surgery Monday. McCaffrey said the team shut Freeman down because his injury could have worsened, according to Tyler Tachman of the Des Moines Register<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Relatively recent,” McCaffrey said of the injury. ” Obviously, it’s serious enough to have surgery. And he needed it. It’s unfortunate timing — for him and for us. But it’s one of those things where, as we said in the release, the risk of permanent injury was there. And that’s not something we’re going to deviate from. His health and welfare is the most important thing.”<\/p>\n

Freeman’s absence will be huge, as he scored double figures in each of the 19 games he played this season.<\/p>\n

Iowa Turns to Others in the Absence of Freeman<\/h3>\n

That’s where others who have been a part of the program have had to step up. One such player is Riley Mulvey<\/a>. Sure, the Hawkeyes didn’t have the horses to keep up with Purdue on Tuesday. Mulvey came to Iowa in the same recruiting class as Sandfort but was redshirted. His first start wasn’t too thrilling, as he finished with two points, two rebounds, two assists, and one block.<\/p>\n

Sandfort is Iowa’s lone option going forward at the five, so one game in, it is what it is.\u00a0 It isn’t easy to have to step in and replace someone who has been the go-to center for two seasons now, but that’s what Mulvey faces for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n

The NCAA tournament was certainly reachable for Iowa, but with Freeman being out, they need guys to step up if they want to go dancing in March.<\/p>\n

A Sad Week for Northwestern Basketball<\/h3>\n

Like the Hawkeyes, Northwestern had hopes of getting back to March Madness, but those aspirations have since evaporated. That isn’t the only problem for the Wildcats, as captain and leader of toughness Barnhizer had to make a very difficult decision last week. Barnhizer, who was having yet another strong campaign, found himself in head coach Chris Collins’ office in the final week of January.<\/p>\n

It was a somber day,\u00a0according to Steve Greenberg from the Chicago Sun Times<\/a>. That sadness reigned true in Collins’ press conference as he announced Brooks would be out for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n

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"I love that kid. To not see him be able to get out there today, it just sucks."<\/p>\n

Chris Collins got emotional talking about Brooks Barnhizer's season-ending foot injury.#B1GMBBall<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/7nbM7GHBt4<\/a><\/p>\n

— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) February 2, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n