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Freshman Kelly to start for Hawkeyes

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By Steve Batterson | Saturday, January 5, 2008 12:57 AM CST | () comments

Iowa traveled to Wisconsin for today’s Big Ten basketball game by bus.

An ambulance might have been a more appropriate mode of transportation given the health of the Hawkeyes in recent days.

While Jarryd Cole has been lost for the season because of a torn ACL coach Todd Lickliter expects freshman guard Jake Kelly to be in the lineup when the Hawkeyes tip off at 11 a.m. today against the 25th-ranked Badgers at the Kohl Center.

Kelly’s prospects didn’t look good when he limped off the court with a sprained right ankle about 5 minutes into Wednesday’s 79-76 loss to Indiana. The Hawkeyes’ third-leading scorer went to the training room and did not return to the bench.

He left Carver-Hawkeye Arena on crutches, but X-rays Thursday showed no broken bones, and Kelly was back on the court when Iowa practiced Friday morning.

“Actually, I was very pleased with the way he practiced,” Lickliter said. “We would never practice anybody if they were not in a position to go full go, and Jake practiced well. I think he’s going to be ready to go.”

Lickliter anticipates that Kelly will start against Wisconsin (11-2, 1-0 Big Ten), which has won eight of its past nine games against Iowa and has beaten the Hawkeyes six straight times at home.

Even with Kelly in the training room, Lickliter said Iowa (7-7, 0-1) made progress in the loss to the Hoosiers.

“I’m seeing signs of it every day,” he said. “The attitude these guys have is appropriate, and it will lead to improvement. Whether we’re making enough progress to compete, we will never know until we are on the court.

“But the other night, there were stretches of the game where we competed and were in control. We just were not able to sustain those stretches long enough to give ourselves the opportunity to win.”

Steve Batterson can be contacted at (563) 383-2290 or sbatterson@qctimes.com. For more on the Hawkeyes, go to Hawkmania.com.