BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - This wasn't the Hoosier homecoming Todd Lickliter had in mind.

Coaching in his home state of Indiana for the first time since taking over the Iowa basketball program, Lickliter couldn't stand to watch much of the Hawkeyes' 65-43 loss to the seventh-ranked Hoosiers.

Between burying his head in his hands and frequently looking into the rafters, Lickliter found little worth watching as Indiana rolled to its 13th consecutive win this season and its 29th straight victory at the Assembly Hall.

Iowa not only equaled its lowest scoring output of the season, the Hawkeyes also threw the ball all over the place.

The Hawkeyes committed 20 turnovers, the highest total in 12 games since giving it away a season-high 29 times in a Nov. 30 loss to Louisiana-Monroe.

The Hoosiers feasted on the Hawkeye mistakes, turning the plentiful turnovers into 31 points to record their most lopsided win over Iowa since a 110-79 victory in 1995.

"When you look and see that it's a 22-point game and they scored 31 points off turnovers, it's pretty obvious that we lacked poise," Lickliter said.

Iowa's issues started early as the Hoosiers converted 11 first-half turnovers into 20 points.

"We just didn't come out ready," Hawkeye forward Cyrus Tate said.

The Hoosiers' inside-outside combination of D.J. White and Eric Gordon created all sorts of problems as Indiana, off to its best start since its undefeated 1975-76 season, took the lead for good less than six minutes into the game.

White finished with a game-high 19 points, while Gordon contributed 17 but had three blocks and four of the Hoosiers' 10 steals.

"Just through the course of the game, we get anxious and miss assignments. A team like Indiana, they capitalize on those mistakes and it is tough to get down," said guard Tony Freeman, who led Iowa with 14 points.

The Hoosiers pulled away during the final minutes of the first half, limiting the Hawkeyes (9-11, 2-5 Big Ten) to one field goal over the final 5:51 to open a 37-26 lead at the half.

Iowa came no closer than 10 points during the second half.

In addition to forcing plenty of turnovers, the Hoosiers (17-1, 6-0) limited the Hawkeyes to 34.1-percent shooting while making it difficult for Iowa to get the cuts it needs to make its offense work.

Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson credited his team's improving defense with creating the lopsided outcome.

"Whatever happens is a byproduct of our defense," Sampson said. "Our defense was better, our ball movement was better. If you keep working at things and you have good kids, you usually improve."

Lickliter left Assembly Hall looking for the same thing.

"As a coach, you will ask yourself, 'What could I have done?' I believe in the staying the course and playing good basketball," he said. "We just weren't able to do that tonight."

Short shots

- Reserve David Palmer did not travel to Indiana after injuring his left foot during practice Monday. Palmer has not played in Iowa's last six games.

- Memphis (42), BYU (40) and Notre Dame (30) are the only teams with longer home winning streaks than the Indiana streak extended Wednesday.

- Indiana's Assembly Hall was the site of Iowa's most recent road win over a rated opponent. The Hawkeyes' 70-67 win over the 21st-ranked Hoosiers on Feb. 11, 2006 is also Indiana's last loss at home.

- The Hawkeyes return home Saturday, hosting Penn State at 5 p.m.

Contact Steve Batterson at (563) 383-2290 or sbatterson@qctimes.com

Iowa Mn FG-A FT-A Rb As PF TP

Tate 30 3-5 2-4 5 0 3 8

Gorney 30 1-3 0-1 5 1 2 2

Freeman 28 5-13 0-0 2 1 3 14

Johnson 33 1-6 3-4 4 2 1 6

Kelly 34 3-8 0-0 0 1 3 6

Angle 6 0-4 0-0 4 0 0 0

Bohall 4 0-0 0-2 0 0 1 0

Peterson 21 1-4 1-1 1 1 0 3

Looby 14 1-1 2-2 4 0 4 4

Team 3

Totals 200 15-44 8-14 28 6 17 43

Indiana Mn FG-A FT-A Rb As PF TP

Thomas 19 1-2 0-2 2 1 3 2

DWhite 34 8-13 3-5 4 0 2 19

Bassett 31 3-3 0-0 3 3 1 8

Ellis 33 3-7 6-7 8 4 3 12

Gordon 32 7-11 3-4 2 3 2 17

Finkelmeier 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Crawford 21 2-5 0-0 2 2 0 5

Ratliff 6 0-2 0-0 1 0 2 0

Stemler 19 0-3 0-0 3 0 4 0

McGee 1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 2

MWhite 1 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0

Ahlfeld 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Taber 1 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0

Team 3

Totals 200 25-47 12-18 30 13 17 65

Iowa 26 17 - 43

Indiana 37 28 - 65

3-point goals - Iowa 5-17 (Freeman 4-8, Johnson 1-4, Peterson 0-1, Kelly 0-2, Angle 0-2), Indiana 3-14 (Bassett 2-2, Crawford 1-2, Ellis 0-2, Ratliff 0-2, Gordon 0-3, Stemler 0-3). Turnovers - Iowa 20 (Freeman 6), Indiana 14 (Ellis, Thomas, Crawford, 4).

Officials - Tom O'Neill, Steve Olson, Dan Chrisman. A - 17,269.