IOWA CITY - Here's what Iowa basketball coach Todd Lickliter was talking about this morning on the weekly Big Ten teleconference. …

On where his team is at: "It's been an eye-opening experience for some of our younger guys, to go to Ohio State, a top-25 team, and come home and play Indiana, extremely well coached, extremely challenging for us here at Carver-Hawkeye. Now, we have another top 25 team coming in Thursday (Minnesota). That's the challenge you sign up for. Hopefully we can grow and compete.''

On Anthony Tucker's status: "The situation is a coach's decision. Anthony wasn't just suspended. He was under the weather, missed practices, lost some strength. He's kind of been recovering from that. It's not like we've played bad basketball in his absence. Devan Bawinkel has filled in, Jermain Davis has stepped up. His minutes have been limited because of that. He's continued to work hard in practice and he's available for us.''

On if he has learned his lesson: "Yeah, that's behind us. He's very bright, a team guy. I have no problem with Anthony. We can't change things that have happened, but we can learn from them. He's been a good teammate and we're happy he's with us at the University of Iowa.''

On what he and Thad Matta talk about when their teams get together: "We didn't really talk a lot. When we were leaving the court, he said 'Hey, I'll give you a call some time' and we left it at that. There's parts of what we do that are similar. I pull for him most every game other than when we compete.''

On if that is how these things evolve: "I think our relationship is pretty typical. There's not a lot to talk about. When he was at Xavier, we could compare notes. Now, you play them twice, you don't share quite as much. We talk about families. We've known each other since he was a player. We just don't share as much.''

On what he sees as he watches Minnesota: "I have watched them and I lose sleep. You've got a great coach who has had more time with them. There was really a quick by in last year because of coach (Tubby) Smith's success. I was impressed with them last year, but now they've added four, five players that have given them more depth. I'm impressed with their presence on the floor. They play with confidence, they're aggressive, they execute. There are a lot of factors there, but so much of it comes from the quality of leadership and the talent they have.''

On if the quick turnaround at Minnesota was expected: "We all expected it. It's fun for a competitor to see how you match up against the best, not me individually, but team wise, can we compete at the level of a team that executes as well as Minnesota does. Different systems, coaches emphasize different things, but they are well executed.''

On how he deals with parents: "I've been really fortunate. When I was at Butler, somebody asked me to come and speak about how we instill character. We don't instill it. We recruit it. A lot of times, you get support from parents if that is the case. I've had such minimal aspects from a negative standpoint. We try to be upfront, honest and fair. Everybody wants their child to do well and player. We can expect that and even respect it. If we're upfront in the recruiting process, we can avoid those situations.''