Dec. 15, 2003
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THE SETTING
Iowa (6-1) travels to Dallas, TX to meet Texas Tech (8-2) Monday, Dec. 22 in its second neutral site game of the season. Game time is 8 p.m. at the American Airlines Center (19,200). Iowa has been idle since a 77-66 loss at Northern Iowa Dec. 9. Texas Tech defeated San Diego State (78-68) in its most recent outing and hosts Sam Houston State (Dec. 17) before meeting Iowa in Dallas.
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: ESPN will televise the contest to a national cable audience. Dave Strader and Fran Fraschilla will call the action.
IOWA HISTORY
Iowa has played 2,288 games since beginning basketball in 1902. Overall Iowa’s record is 1,365-923 (.597). That includes an 852-300 (.740) record in home games, a 513-623 (.452) record in games away from Iowa City, a 648-637 (.504) mark in Big Ten games and a 258-74 (.777) record in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
IN THE RANKINGS
Iowa is listed among teams receiving votes in both the Associated Press rankings and the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. Iowa, which began the season receiving no votes in either of the rankings, climbed to 24th in the AP rankings after opening the season with six straight wins.
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 235-136 (.633), including a 79-59 (.572) 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 is 0-2 vs. Texas Tech, falling to the Red Raiders twice when he was the head coach at Southwest Missouri State. Alford is 0-2 vs. Knight, with both meetings taking place when Knight was the coach at Indiana. Alford faced Knight once while at Southwest Missouri State and once while at Iowa.
TECH COACH BOB KNIGHT
Bob Knight is in his third season as the head coach at Texas Tech and his 38th year as a college head coach. Knight is 53-24 with the Red Raiders and his career mark stands at 817-310. Knight posted a record of 662-239 as Indiana’s coach from 1971-00 and he was 102-50 at Army (1965-71). Knight was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991 and he has led teams to three NCAA championships (1976, 1981 and 1987) and the 1979 NIT title. At Indiana he was named national Coach of the Year in 1975, 1976 and 1989 and at Indiana he led four Hoosier teams to the Final Four while winning 11 Big Ten titles. He coached Team USA to the gold medal at the 1984 Olympics, a team that featured Iowa Coach Steve Alford. Knight holds a 34-20 record vs. Iowa and a 2-0 record vs. Hawkeye Coach Steve Alford.
THE SERIES
Iowa leads the series by a 3-0 margin, with two of the three games having been played in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes defeated the Red Raiders 75-73 in Iowa City Dec. 13, 1958 before taking a 76-66 win in Lubbock on Dec. 12, 1959. The third meeting took place in the championship game of Iowa’s 1985 Hawkeye Invitational, with Iowa securing a 58-48 victory. Iowa and Texas Tech are slated to meet at the United Center in Chicago next season.
COMMON OPPONENTS
Iowa and Texas Tech both played EA Sports All-Stars in exhibition games, with Texas Tech winning 100-61 and Iowa winning 99-85. Last season the teams both played Georgia Tech in the NIT, with Georgia Tech winning 79-78 on a last second basket in Iowa City before falling by an 80-72 margin at Texas Tech.
IOWA, TECH NOTES
Iowa Coach Steve Alford played his college career at Indiana under current Texas Tech Coach Bob Knight, helping the Hoosiers win the NCAA title as a senior in 1987. Alford was also a member of the gold medal winning 1984 United States Olympic team that was coached by Bob Knight.
Coach Steve Alford has coached against his college coach on two occasions. Early in the 1997-98 season, Alford’s Southwest Missouri State team dropped a 78-66 decision to Indiana in the first round of the Hoosier Classic in Indianapolis. Alford’s first Iowa team dropped a 74-71 decision to Indiana in Bloomington during the 1999-00 season as the Hawkeyes and Hoosiers met just once that season.
During Bob Knight’s coaching tenure at Indiana, Knight collected 34 wins against Iowa in 54 games. Knight compiled more than 34 wins against all but two Big Ten other Big Ten teams (he had 31 vs. Michigan State and 32 vs. Purdue). These figures do not include Knight’s 19-3 record vs. Penn State.
Iowa holds an 84-42 record against current members of the Big 12 Conference. Later this season Iowa will play at Missouri (Jan. 3) and at Iowa State (Jan. 21).
The contest vs. Iowa is the first of three straight for Texas Tech against members of the Big Ten Conference, as the Red Raiders host Minnesota Jan. 1 and play at Ohio State Jan. 4. Texas Tech currently holds a 6-13 all-time record against members of the Big Ten, having played seven of the 11 conference members.
Red Raider assistant Coach Les Fertig was an assistant coach at Ohio State from 1989-92, helping the Buckeyes win two Big Ten titles.
Red Raider assistant Coach Pat Knight played at Indiana from 1991-95, helping the Hoosiers win Big Ten titles in 1991 and 1993. Knight and the Hoosiers won eight of 10 games from 1991-95, although Knight did not play in Indiana’s two wins during the 1991-92 season.
Red Raider assistant Coach Stew Robinson played at Indiana from 1983-86, helping the Hoosiers win the 1983 Big Ten title. Iowa posted a 5-3 record against the Hoosiers during Robinson’s career.
IOWA VS. THE LONE STAR STATE
Iowa holds an all-time record of 26-2 against teams from Texas, having played 13 different Texas opponents. Of those 28 games, just five were played in the state of Texas, with Iowa posting a 1-4 mark in those games at Houston (0-1), Southern Methodist (0-1), Texas-El Paso (0-2) and Texas Tech (1-0). The loss to SMU in December, 1958 marks Iowa’s only previous game in Dallas.
Overall Iowa is 3-4 in games played in Dallas, as the Hawkeyes defeated Clemson in Houston’s Kettle Classic during the 1981-82 season and defeated Arkansas in UTEP’s Sun Bowl Tournament in 1965-66. In both cases, the Hawkeyes lost to the host school in the championship game. Texas-El Paso in 1965-66 went on the win the NCAA title, while Houston advanced to the Final Four in 1981-82 and the NCAA championship game the following season. Iowa’s loss to Houston in December, 1981 marks the most recent Iowa visit to the state of Texas.