During his second year (2000–01) the Hawkeyes' roster included Indiana transfer Luke Recker and Reggie Evans, who would lead the Big Ten Conference in rebounds and double-doubles during his two seasons with Iowa, as well as Iowa Mr. basketball 1997 Dean Oliver. However, after a knee injury sidelined Recker, the Hawkeyes dropped six of their last seven conference games, finishing 23–12 for the regular season and 7–9 in the Big Ten Conference regular season. Despite the setback, they battled back and won the Big Ten Conference Tournament with four straight wins against Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, and Indiana. This earned them a #7 seed in the 2001 NCAA Tournament, where they defeated Creighton in the first round but lost to Kentucky in the second round.