Jan. 20, 2004
THE SETTING
Iowa (9-5, 2-2) visits Iowa State (10-3, 2-1) Wednesday, Jan. 21 in its final non-conference game of the season and third of three straight road games. Game time is 7:05 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum (14,092). Iowa lost at Illinois 88-82 Saturday in Champaign, while Iowa State lost to Colorado 88-70 Saturday in Boulder.
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 Cyclone Television Network will carry the game to a network of stations within the state of Iowa, including WOI Des Moines/Ames, KWKB Cedar Rapids, KGWB Quad Cities, KMEG Sioux City and KYOU Ottumwa. Dave Armstrong and Gary Thompson will call the action.
IOWA HISTORY
Iowa has played 2,295 games since beginning basketball in 1902. Overall Iowa’s record is 1,368-927 (.596). That includes an 854-301 (.739) record in home games, a 514-626 (.451) record in games away from Iowa City, a 650-639 (.504) mark in Big Ten games and a 260-75 (.776) record in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
IOWA VS. RANKED FOES
Having played four games against ranked opponents this season, Steve Alford has posted a 15-21 record against ranked opponents as Iowa’s head coach, including a 5-3 mark in Iowa’s last eight games against ranked foes and a 2-2 mark in 2003-04. Iowa this season defeated 16th-ranked Louisville 70-69 in overtime and defeated 24th-ranked Purdue 71-61 in Iowa City. Iowa lost at 22nd-ranked Missouri, 76-56 and at 25th-ranked Illinois, 88-82.
Alford’s Hawkeye teams are 5-8 when playing teams ranked in the top 10, including wins over top-ranked Connecticut (70-68 in 1999-00), second-ranked Missouri (83-65 in 2001-02), fifth-ranked Ohio State (67-64 in 1999-00), seventh-ranked Illinois (78-62 in 2000-01) and 8th-ranked Illinois (68-61 in 2002-03). The eight losses to top 10 teams have been once to No. 1 (Duke, 2001-02), once to No. 3 (Illinois, 2000-01), twice to No. 4 (Michigan State, 1999-00 and 2000-01), twice to No. 5 (Tennessee, 2000-01 and Missouri, 2001-02), once to No. 9 (Kentucky, 2000-01) and once to No. 10 (Illinois, 2002).
In the 36 games against ranked teams, Alford and his Iowa team are 6-5 in home games, 6-7 at neutral sites and 3-9 when playing ranked teams in their home arena.
IOWA VS. RANKED TEAMS
These are Iowa’s most recent wins vs. nationally ranked opponents: At Home: 71-61 over 24th-ranked Purdue, 1/7/04; On the Road: 67-63 over 20th-ranked Tulsa, 12/28/02; Neutral Court: 70-69 (OT) over 16th-ranked Louisville at Wooden Tradition in Indianapolis, 11/29/03.
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 238-140 (.630), including an 82-63 (.566) 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 27-41 (.397) 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 holds a 3-2 record vs. Iowa State and a 2-0 record vs. ISU Coach Wayne Morgan.
REINER SUFFERS STRESS FRACTURE
Senior center Jared Reiner underwent surgery Jan. 16 to repair a stress fracture in his right foot and is out of action indefinitely. Reiner’s injury initially occurred in mid-December, but initial x-rays did not show a stress fracture. The injury was discovered when Reiner had additional x-rays taken following practice Jan. 15.
The 6-11, 255-pound Reiner is a native of Tripp, South Dakota. He played in Iowa’s first 13 games this season, with 12 starts. Reiner is averaging 10.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, while also collecting 11 blocked shots.
Reiner played a key role in Iowa’s win at Minnesota, collecting 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds while playing just 17 minutes due to foul problems. Reiner also played a major role in Iowa’s 71-61 win over Purdue, with 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists. His career numbers include 79 starts and 109 games played, with a 5.7 scoring average and an average of 4.7 rebounds per game. He led the Big Ten Conference in rebounding, for all games and conference games only, last season. Reiner earned honorable mention all-conference honors in 2003 and academic all-Big Ten honors in both 2002 and 2003.
ISU COACH WAYNE MORGAN
Wayne Morgan is in his first season as the head coach at Iowa State and his seventh season overall as a head coach. Morgan has led the Cyclones to a 10-3 mark and his career record stands at 101-87. Morgan compiled a 91-84 record in six seasons as the head coach at Long Beach State (1997-02) and he served as an assistant at Iowa State last season.
At Long Beach State he led his 1999-00 team to a first place finish in the Western Division of the Big West Conference while earning an NIT bid. He was the 2000 NABC District 15 Coach of the Year. Before taking over at Long Beach State Morgan served as an assistant at Syracuse (1984-96), Xavier (1979-84), Dartmouth College (1975-79) and Ithaca College (1973-74). He served one season (1974-75) as the head coach at Dutchess (NY) Community College. He is a graduate of St. Lawrence University.
Morgan has not coached against Iowa and he is 0-2 vs. Hawkeye Coach Steve Alford.
THESE COACHES HAVE MET
Iowa Coach Steve Alford and Iowa State Coach Wayne Morgan have faced each other as head coaches on two occasions, both while Alford was the head coach at Southwest Missouri State and Morgan was the head coach at Long Beach State. Southwest Missouri State defeated Long Beach State on two occasions in which there was an Alford vs. Morgan coaching match-up. The Bears earned a 90-75 win on Jan. 9, 1997 at Long Beach and won again at Southwest Missouri State by an 80-52 margin on Dec. 12, 1998.
THEY ALSO MET IN TITLE GAME
Iowa Coach Steve Alford, as a player at Indiana, helped the Hoosiers win the 1987 NCAA national title with a 74-73 win over Syracuse. Alford scored 23 points in that contest, including an NCAA-record seven three-pointers, while earning a spot on the Final Four all-tournament team. Iowa State Coach Wayne Morgan was an assistant on the Syracuse coaching staff at that time.
THE SERIES
Iowa holds a 39-17 advantage in the series that began with a 30-27 Hawkeye win in 1910. The teams met twice last season, with Iowa State winning 73-69 Dec. 13 in Iowa City and Iowa winning 54-53 March 21 in Ames in the NIT. That marked the first time since 1921 that the teams had met twice in the same season and it was the first time the teams met in post-season action.
Iowa has won three of the last four meetings and five of the last seven. The two meetings a year ago marked just the fourth and fifth times in the last 15 games in the series that the final margin was less than six points. The visiting team has won seven of the last 10 meetings.
Iowa holds a 16-12 margin in games played in Ames. Iowa has won on its last two visits and has won four of the last five meetings in Hilton Coliseum.
COACH ALFORD VS. ISU
Iowa Coach Steve Alford played two games against Iowa State during his Indiana playing career. In 1985 the Hoosiers won 69-67 in Ames and the following season Indiana won 86-65 in Bloomington. Alford in the first meeting had 22 points and five rebounds, while the following year he had 24 points and six rebounds.
IOWA, ISU NOTES
Iowa is 0-2 against the Big 12 Conference this season, dropping a 65-59 decision to Texas Tech in Dallas and falling by a 76-56 margin at Missouri. Iowa’s all-time record against current members of the Big 12 Conference is 84-44.
Iowa State is 43-87 all-time against current members of the Big Ten Conference. Iowa’s 13-man roster includes eight players from the state of Iowa. Iowa State’s roster of 15 players includes three players from the state of Iowa.
COMMON FOES
Iowa and Iowa State have played three common opponents. Both teams defeated in-state rival Drake, Iowa by a 74-56 margin in Iowa City and Iowa State by an 83-77 margin in Des Moines. Iowa State defeated Northern Iowa 79-76 in Ames while Iowa lost to the Panthers (66-77) in Cedar Falls. Iowa lost at Missouri (56-76), while Iowa State defeated the Tigers by a 70-65 margin in Ames.
TEAMS SPLIT TWO GAMES A YEAR AGO
Meeting twice during one season for the first time since 1921, Iowa and Iowa State split a pair of close games a year ago. Iowa State won 73-69 in Iowa City in December and Iowa won 54-53 in Ames in the post-season NIT.
Iowa played well in the first 25 minutes of the first meeting, but faltered down the stretch as Iowa State won 73-69 in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes shot 50% from the field in building a 40-31 halftime advantage and led by as many as 12 points in the first five minutes of the second half. But Iowa State controlled the final 15 minutes of play, taking its first head with five minutes remaining. The contest was tied six times in the final minutes, the last time at 69-69 with 41 seconds remaining on two free throws by Glen Worley. ISU’s Jackson Vroman converted a three-point play with 20 seconds to play and, after Iowa missed a three-point attempt and committed a turnover, Marcus Jefferson added one free throw with three seconds left to seal the win.
Iowa’s shooting percentage dropped to 31.8% in the second half and the Hawkeyes committed 13 turnovers in the final 20 minutes. Iowa won the rebounding battle by a 37-26 margin and made 22-28 free throws, but Iowa State shot 51.6% from the field and had just five turnovers in the second half.
Worley led Iowa’s scoring attack with 19 points, hitting 5-10 field goals and 9-10 free throws. Chauncey Leslie added 13 points and six rebounds and Sean Sonderleiter scored 11 points. Jared Reiner led both teams with a career-high 15 rebounds. Jake Sullivan led Iowa State with 25 points, while Vroman added 13 points and seven rebounds.
After leading throughout most of the contest, Iowa had to rally in the final minute for a 54-53 win at Iowa State to stay alive in the NIT. After Iowa State scored the first five points of the game, Iowa took control with nine straight points and the Hawkeyes led until the score was tied at 49-49 with 3:05 to play. Iowa led 26-19 at halftime and by as many as 11 points with seven minutes to play before Iowa State rallied.
The Cyclones took a 53-50 advantage with 1:17 remaining before a three-point basket by Jeff Horner with 43 seconds remaining tied the score for the final time. Following two missed free throws by Iowa State, Iowa’s Brody Boyd made one of two free throws with 15 seconds left. Iowa State had a final chance for victory after a missed Iowa free throw with six seconds to play, but a final shot attempt at the buzzer was off target.
Worley led Iowa’s scoring attack with 13 points, while Leslie added 11 and Sonderleiter scored 10. Freshman Greg Brunner led Iowa with nine rebounds, while Reiner added eight and Worley five. Iowa won the rebounding battle by a 35-30 margin, but 12 of Iowa’s 19 turnovers came in the second half. Iowa’s defense held Iowa State to 34.5% shooting from the field, including 4-22 three-point attempts.
Vroman led Iowa State with 20 points and nine rebounds, while Jared Homan added 14 points and seven rebounds.