Today In The Valley (Dec. 9)
Northern Iowa (5-3) at Iowa (7-2)
6:00 p.m.
Carver-Hawkeye Arena; Iowa City, Iowa
ESPNU
The I-380 rivalry continues tonight in Iowa City (although most Iowa fans consider their rival the state school further to the west). The Panthers will be looking for their second win in Iowa City in 22 tries, their first coming two seasons ago. UNI has had the upper hand in the series lately, winning four of the last seven meetings between the schools. With the events of the past weekend, it may not be the players on the court that will decide the game, but rather a Hawkeye sitting on the bench not in uniform.
UNI is coming off an easy 69-49 win over North Dakota. It will be UNI's second road game; their first was a 84-77 setback in Chicago against Illinois-Chicago. They’re paced by four players in double figures per game, and another (Ali Farokhmanesh) with 9 points per game.
Iowa is coming off a warm-up win against Bryant University, 61-36, on Friday. That would be the highlight of the weekend for the program, however. Todd Lickliter, former national coach of the year (at Butler), will have his work cut out for him both with the Xs and Os and the Jimmys and Joes. He suspended leading scorer Anthony Tucker indefinitely for violating team rules (an "alcohol-related lapse in judgment"). Something must be in the water (or the drinks) in Iowa City, because the football team has had the same problems lately.
With Tucker out tonight, the Hawkeyes’ leading scorer on the floor will be freshman and Iowa City product Matt Gatens (11 ppg).
This should be the largest crowd of the season so far at Carver, and with students getting in free and all they should eclipse the 9,070 that showed up for the season-opener. Will Iowa be able to overcome the loss of a top player or will UNI be able to take advantage of an Iowa team facing turmoil?
~ Panon
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Drake (6-2) at Iowa State (6-1)
8:00 p.m.
Hilton Coliseum; Ames, Iowa
ESPNU
The second game in ESPNU’s Hawkeye State doubleheader tonight features last year’s MVC regular season and tournament champs against the Cyclones, who will need some Hilton Magic to reverse a two-game losing streak against the Bulldogs.
Actually, last season’s matchup wasn’t a loss for the Cyclones; humiliation is a better word for it. The 79-44 shellacking was the largest margin of victory for Drake against ISU in the two schools’ 167-game series. Josh Young dropped 23 on Greg McDermott’s Cyclones, and he’s back this year hoping for an even better showing.
Not much went right for ISU in last year’s game, but they’ve got someone who wants to atone for that all by himself if necessary: I introduce you to Mr. Craig Brackins. Some Jays fans might know him as one of P’Allen Stinnett’s former teammates, but basketball fans everywhere should get to know him as one of the up and coming power forwards in college hoops. He averaged 11 points and 5 rebounds per game as a freshman, and he has improved on those per-game numbers so far this year to the tune of 18 points and 7 rebounds per contest.
~ Creighton Otter
6:00 p.m.
Carver-Hawkeye Arena; Iowa City, Iowa
ESPNU
The I-380 rivalry continues tonight in Iowa City (although most Iowa fans consider their rival the state school further to the west). The Panthers will be looking for their second win in Iowa City in 22 tries, their first coming two seasons ago. UNI has had the upper hand in the series lately, winning four of the last seven meetings between the schools. With the events of the past weekend, it may not be the players on the court that will decide the game, but rather a Hawkeye sitting on the bench not in uniform.
UNI is coming off an easy 69-49 win over North Dakota. It will be UNI's second road game; their first was a 84-77 setback in Chicago against Illinois-Chicago. They’re paced by four players in double figures per game, and another (Ali Farokhmanesh) with 9 points per game.
Iowa is coming off a warm-up win against Bryant University, 61-36, on Friday. That would be the highlight of the weekend for the program, however. Todd Lickliter, former national coach of the year (at Butler), will have his work cut out for him both with the Xs and Os and the Jimmys and Joes. He suspended leading scorer Anthony Tucker indefinitely for violating team rules (an "alcohol-related lapse in judgment"). Something must be in the water (or the drinks) in Iowa City, because the football team has had the same problems lately.
With Tucker out tonight, the Hawkeyes’ leading scorer on the floor will be freshman and Iowa City product Matt Gatens (11 ppg).
This should be the largest crowd of the season so far at Carver, and with students getting in free and all they should eclipse the 9,070 that showed up for the season-opener. Will Iowa be able to overcome the loss of a top player or will UNI be able to take advantage of an Iowa team facing turmoil?
~ Panon
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Drake (6-2) at Iowa State (6-1)
8:00 p.m.
Hilton Coliseum; Ames, Iowa
ESPNU
The second game in ESPNU’s Hawkeye State doubleheader tonight features last year’s MVC regular season and tournament champs against the Cyclones, who will need some Hilton Magic to reverse a two-game losing streak against the Bulldogs.
Actually, last season’s matchup wasn’t a loss for the Cyclones; humiliation is a better word for it. The 79-44 shellacking was the largest margin of victory for Drake against ISU in the two schools’ 167-game series. Josh Young dropped 23 on Greg McDermott’s Cyclones, and he’s back this year hoping for an even better showing.
Not much went right for ISU in last year’s game, but they’ve got someone who wants to atone for that all by himself if necessary: I introduce you to Mr. Craig Brackins. Some Jays fans might know him as one of P’Allen Stinnett’s former teammates, but basketball fans everywhere should get to know him as one of the up and coming power forwards in college hoops. He averaged 11 points and 5 rebounds per game as a freshman, and he has improved on those per-game numbers so far this year to the tune of 18 points and 7 rebounds per contest.
~ Creighton Otter
posted by Creighton Otter at 6:59 AM
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