Iowa Hawkeyes-Duquesne Dukes: Iowa Suffers Second Straight Home Loss

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Iowa Hawkeye football started the 2009 season with a nine-game, history-breaking win streak that won't soon be forgotten.

The men's basketball team has started the 2009 season making a little history of its own.  Although, this history can't be forgotten by fans quick enough.

The Hawkeyes lost their second straight game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena Tuesday night, the first time since 1931 that Iowa has lost its first two home games of the season.  It also marked the first time Iowa has started a season with two consecutive losses since 1970.

Adding insult to injury, it was the first time ever that Duquesne has won a game in a Big Ten arena.

Duquesne overcame second half shooting troubles and held off a late Iowa rally to win, 52-50.  Damian Saunders had 16 points, 16 rebounds, and six steals for the Dukes.  Bill Clark contributed 20 points, including the game winning three-pointer with 11.7 seconds left.

Anthony Tucker led the Hawkeyes in scoring with 16 points, but did so shooting 30 percent from behind the three point line.

"It's pretty frustrating," Tucker told reporters after the game. "I thought we played well enough to win, defensively. But we just have to generate some offense from somewhere."

Tucker wasn't the only Iowa player to struggle offensively.  Matt Gatens, the Hawkeyes' top returning scorer and rebounder from last season, was only 2-of-12 from the floor.

As a team, Iowa shot 32 percent from the field, a dismal 22 percent from behind the arc, and 8-of-15 from the free throw line.

Despite poor shooting, the Hawkeyes tried to make a game of it late.  Iowa rallied from an 11-point deficit to take the lead, 50-49, on a three-point play with 41 seconds left, but Clark's three point play with .8 seconds left on the clock sealed Iowa's fate in this game.

"I hope that they don’t get discouraged because they don’t deserve it," Hawkeyes coach Todd Lickliter expressed after the game. "If we fight, we’ll get better."

Iowa has another chance to improve on Friday at 8 p.m. CST, when the Hawkeyes face Bowling Green at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

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