Nov. 26, 2003
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THE SETTING Iowa (2-0) will meet Louisville (0-0) Saturday, Nov. 29 in the first game of the John Wooden Tradition in Indianapolis, IN. Game time is 12:37 p.m. CT at Conseco Fieldhouse (18,345). The second game of the doubleheader features Indiana vs. Xavier. Iowa has defeated UNC-Asheville (107-80) and Drake (74-56), while Louisville will be playing its first game of the regular season after winning two exhibition games.
ON THE AIR Radio: Iowa games are broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network. Gary Dolphin handles the play-by-play with color commentator Bob Hansen.
Television: The game can be seen on KGAN Cedar Rapids and KDSM Des Moines, with Bob Neal, Quinn Buckner and Stacey Patez calling the action.
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Iowa (2-0) will meet Louisville (0-0) Saturday, Nov. 29 in the first game of the John Wooden Tradition in Indianapolis, IN. Game time is 12:37 p.m. CT at Conseco Fieldhouse (18,345). The second game of the doubleheader features Indiana vs. Xavier. Iowa has defeated UNC-Asheville (107-80) and Drake (74-56), while Louisville will be playing its first game of the regular season after winning two exhibition games.
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IOWA HISTORY Iowa has played 2,283 games since beginning basketball in 1902. Overall Iowa’s record is 1,361-922 (.596). That includes an 849-300 (.739) record in home games, a 512-622 (.451) record in games away from Iowa City, a 648-637 (.504) mark in Big Ten games and a 255-74 (.775) record in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
WORLEY OUT OF ACTION Senior forward Glen Worley suffered a fracture in his left hand during practice on Nov. 13 and is out of action for an indefinite period of time. Worley started 26 of 31 games last season averaging 10.9 points and 5.2 rebounds, ranking second on the team in both categories.
Worley has scored 957 career points while playing in all 101 games in his first three seasons. He has 78 career blocked shots to rank eighth on Iowa’s career list.
IN THE RANKINGS Louisville is ranked 16th in the current ESPN/USA Today rankings and 17th in the Associated Press poll. In addition, the Cardinals were picked as the pre-season favorite to win the Conference USA title this year.
IOWA COACH Steve Alford Steve Alford (pronounced ALL-ford) is in his fifth season as the head coach at the University of Iowa and his 13th season as a college head coach. Alford holds a career record of 231-135 (.631), including a 75-58 (.564) record at Iowa, a 78-29 (.729) record in four seasons (1992-95) at Div. III Manchester College and a four-year record (1996-99) of 78-48 (.619) at Southwest Missouri State. He is 24-39 (.381) in Big Ten games at Iowa. Career win No. 200 for Alford came in 2002 in a 78-53 win at Iowa State. Alford is 8-5 in the NCAA Tournament (3-2 in Div. I and 5-3 in Div. III) and 2-3 in the NIT.
Alford led Iowa to the 2001 Big Ten Conference Tournament title and into the second round of the NCAA Tournament in his second season with the Hawkeyes. Iowa earned a return trip to the title game of the Big Ten Conference Tournament in 2002 and advanced to the NIT in post-season play in both 2002 and 2003. The Hawkeyes set a Big Ten Conference Tournament record with seven straight wins over two seasons (2001-2002) before a last-second loss in the first round of the 2003 tournament. Alford’s record in the event is 8-3 in his four seasons.
Alford led Southwest Missouri State to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1999 and in 1995 Manchester advanced to the NCAA championship game before suffering its first defeat of the season.
Alford is a 1987 graduate of Indiana, where he led the Hoosiers to the 1987 NCAA title. Alford was a member of the 1984 U. S. Olympic team that earned the Gold Medal and he was the 26th player selected in the NBA Draft following his senior season. Alford played four seasons in the NBA before beginning his coaching career.
At Indiana, Alford started 120 of 125 games in four seasons. He served as team captain in 1987 when the Hoosiers were 30-4. Steve concluded his college career as Indiana’s all-time scoring leader with 2,438 points and he holds the Indiana record for career steals with 178. He was a consensus first team All-American and the Big Ten MVP as a senior.
Alford is a member of the Manchester College M Association Hall of Fame and the Indiana University Athletics Hall of Fame. In 2001 he was named one of the “Top 50 Athletes” in the history of the state of Indiana and was selected as a member of the 15-man Indiana University all-Century team.
Alford has not coached against Louisville or Cardinal Coach Rick Pitino.
UL COACH RICK PITINO Rick Pitino is in his third year as the Louisville head coach and his 18th year overall as a college head coach. Pitino has a 44-20 mark with the Cardinals and a career mark of 396-144. Pitino previously was the head coach at Boston University (91-51, 1979-83), Providence (42-23, 1986-87) and Kentucky (219-50, 1990-97). He led Providence to the 1987 Final Four and led Kentucky to the Final Four on three occasions, winning the national title in 1996 and returning his team to the title game in 1997. He has been named national Coach of the Year on three occasions.
Pitino also served as president and head coach of the NBA’s Boston Celtics for three and a half years, compiling a record of 102-146. He was an assistant coach with the New York Knicks (1983-85) and served as the Knicks head coach for two seasons (1988-89).
Pitino is 1-0 against Iowa and has not coached against Hawkeye Coach Steve Alford.
CROSSING PATHS While Iowa’s Steve Alford and Louisville’s Rick Pitino have not coached against each other, their basketball paths have crossed. Pitino coached his Providence team to the NCAA Final Four in 1987, the year Alford, as a college senior, led Indiana to the national title. Indiana defeated Syracuse in the final game after Syracuse had defeated Providence in the semi-finals.
PITINO VS. IOWA Coach Rick Pitino led his 1997 Kentucky team to a 75-69 win over Iowa in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Salt Lake City. The defending NCAA champions, Kentucky advanced to the NCAA title game in 1997 before falling to Arizona.
IOWA AT CONSECO FIELDHOUSE Iowa has posted a 3-1 record in Conseco Fieldhouse and the Hawkeyes will return to Conseco March 11-14 for the 2004 Big Ten Conference Tournament.
After winning the 2001 Big Ten Conference tournament in Chicago, Iowa was the ninth seed at the 2002 event at Conseco Fieldhouse. The Hawkeyes defeated Purdue, Wisconsin and Indiana in three straight days to advance to the title game for the second straight season before falling to Ohio State.
IOWA IN INDY Iowa is 4-7 all-time in Indianapolis, while playing in three different arenas.
Along with the 2002 Big Ten Conference Tournament, Iowa took part in the 1980 Final Four at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, losing to Louisville in the semi-finals and falling to Big Ten rival Purdue in the consolation game. Iowa also played at Butler University (at Hinkel Fieldhouse) five times between 1937 and 1950, losing four of the five games.
THE SERIES Louisville holds a 2-0 advantage in the series that began with Louisville’s 80-72 win at the 1980 Final Four in Indianapolis. The Cardinals defeated UCLA 59-54 to win the national title that season. The teams have not met since the 1983-84 season, when the Cardinals scored a 79-58 win in Louisville in December, 1983. That was the first season at Iowa for Coach George Raveling and the Hawkeyes posted a 13-15 record that season. Louisville in 1983-84 posted a 24-11 record.
CARDINALS WIN EXHIBITIONS Louisville won a pair of pre-season games, defeating EA Sports East All-Stars 90-78 and Asheville 73-59. Luke whitehead had 25 points and 11 rebounds in the win over EA Sports, while Francisco Garcia added 20 points and five assists and Kendall Dartez added 13 points. Garcia and Taquan Dean each scored 17 points in the win over Asheville, while Larry O’Bannon added 10 points and Whitehead had nine points and nine rebounds.
IOWA, LOUISVILLE NOTES Iowa Coach Steve Alford is a native of Indiana (New Castle) and he played four seasons at Indiana University while earning his bachelor’s degree.
Iowa senior Brody Boyd is a native of Dugger, IN, where he attended Union HS.
Iowa Coach Steve Alford played on three Indiana teams that faced Louisville during his college career. Louisville won in Bloomington (75-64) in 1984-85 and in Louisville (65-63) in 1985-86 before the Hoosiers won in Bloomington (67-58) in 1986-87. Louisville won the 1986 NCAA title, while Alford and the Hoosiers won the NCAA title in 1987. Alford had 18 points in the loss during his sophomore season, he scored 27 points when Louisville won during the 1986 season and he scored 17 points when the Hoosiers won in his senior season.
Iowa holds a record of 32-23 record against current members of Conference USA, having played 12 of the 14 teams on at least one occasion. This is Iowa’s only game against a team from Conference USA this season.
Louisville is 27-30 all-time against current members of the Big Ten Conference, having played all but Minnesota at least once. This is Louisville’s only game against a Big Ten opponent this season.
Iowa and Louisville played three common opponents a year ago, Purdue, Ohio State and Indiana. Louisville lost to Purdue (84-86) at the Wooden Tradition, won at Ohio State (72-64, OT) and defeated Indiana (95-76) in Louisville. Iowa lost to Purdue at home (77-80, OT), lost two games to Indiana (63-79 at home and 88-91 in OT in Bloomington), and won one of three games vs. Ohio State, winning in Columbus (71-64) and losing in Iowa City (72-83) and in Chicago (64-66) in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.
One of the Iowa players in the 1980 Final Four contest vs. Louisville was Bobby Hansen, who now does color commentary on Iowa’s radio broadcasts. Hansen in that game had seven points, four rebounds and four assists.
Louisville assistant Wiley Brown was a member of the Cardinal team that defeated Iowa in the 1980 Final Four. Brown in that contest had two points and five rebounds.
Iowa played just one game at a neutral site last season, falling to Ohio State 66-64 in Chicago in the first round of the Big Ten Conference tournament.
UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN Iowa and Louisville could meet again next season, as both teams are part of the eight-team field for the Maui Invitational next November. Other teams in that field include Chaminade, North Carolina, Stanford, Brigham Young, Texas and Tennessee. Pairings for that event have not been announced.