March 5, 2004
Iowa-Purdue Game Notes in PDF Format
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Iowa (15-11, 8-7) travels to Purdue (17-11, 7-8) Saturday, March 6 for its final game of the regular season. Game time is 3:37 p.m. CT in Mackey Arena (14,123). Iowa lost at Northwestern 51-49 Wednesday, while Purdue dropped an 81-79 overtime decision to Illinois in West Lafayette. Iowa defeated Purdue 71-61 Jan. 7 when the teams met in Iowa City.
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 Regional will carry the game to a network of stations throughout the Big Ten Conference viewing area, including KGAN in Cedar Rapids. Jim Barbar and Bob Ford will call the action.
IOWA HISTORY
Iowa has played 2,307 games since beginning basketball in 1902. Overall Iowa’s record is 1,374-933 (.596). That includes an 858-303 (.739) record in home games, a 516-630 (.450) record in games away from Iowa City, a 656-644 (.505) mark in Big Ten games and a 264-77 (.774) record in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
IOWA IN CARVER-HAWKEYE ARENA
Iowa has compiled a 264-77 (.774) record in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa is 127-64 (.665) in Big Ten games and 137-13 (.913) in non-Big Ten games. Iowa has drawn over five million fans for men’s basketball games since the arena opened in 1983, surpassing the five million mark when 14,268 fans saw Iowa defeat Ohio State Jan. 24, 2004. Iowa has posted a 56-22 (.718) home record under Coach Steve Alford, including a 33-4 (.892) mark in non-conference home games.
WHAT’S AT STAKE
Iowa (8-7) must defeat Purdue (7-8) to earn a first round bye in the Big Ten Tournament next week in Indianapolis.
Should Iowa win and Northwestern defeat Michigan, Iowa and the Wildcats would tie for fourth place and meet in the tournament quarter-finals next Friday. Should Iowa win and Michigan win at Northwestern, the Hawkeyes would finish fourth alone. In that case, Iowa could meet Northwestern, Michigan or Indiana on Friday. If Purdue defeats Iowa, the Hawkeyes would likely fall to either the sixth or seventh seed, but an Iowa loss, a Northwestern win and an Indiana win could still leave Iowa with the fifth seed.
Pairings for the Big Ten Conference Tournament will be released on Sunday, March 7 following the completion of all regular season games.
PIERCE BACK IN ACTION
Sophomore Pierre Pierce suffered an eye injury in the loss at Northwestern. He left the game with three minutes remaining in the first half and did not return. Pierce returned to practice Thursday and is expected to be in action Saturday at Purdue.
In 17 minutes at Northwestern Pierce had tallied four points, five rebounds and four assists. The 17 minutes are the fewest for Pierce in a game this season and the four points a season scoring low for Iowa’s leading scorer.
ALFORD NAMED TO ESPN TEAM
Iowa Coach Steve Alford was named to ESPN’s Big Ten Conference Silver Anniversary team, honoring Big Ten players from the past 25 years. Alford led Indiana to the 1987 NCAA championship and was a member of the 1984 USA Olympic team that won the gold medal.
Other members of ESPN’s team are Kevin McHale, Minnesota, Glenn Robinson, Purdue, Mateen Cleaves, Michigan State and Jim Jackson, Ohio State.
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 244-146 (.626), including an 88-69 (.561) 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 33-46 (.418) 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 4-4 against Purdue and Boilermaker Coach Gene Keady.
PURDUE COACH GENE KEADY
Coach Gene Keady is in his 24th season at Purdue and his 26th season as a college head coach. Keady holds a career mark of 543-265 and his record at Purdue is 505-246. Keady posted a 38-19 record in two seasons at Western Kentucky before moving on to Purdue. Keady has guided Purdue to six Big Ten titles, including three straight from 1994-96. Keady has been national Coach of the Year six times and has earned Big Ten Conference Coach of the year recognition a league-record seven times. He is a member of the National Junior College Basketball Hall of Fame, the Kansas Basketball Hall of Fame and the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. Keady is 22-20 vs. Iowa and 4-4 vs. Hawkeye Coach Steve Alford.
THE SERIES
Purdue holds a 74-65 advantage in the series that began with a 17-11 Boilermaker win in 1909. Iowa defeated the Boilermakers 71-61 in Iowa City Jan. 7. Purdue won the only meeting during the 2002-03 regular season, taking an 80-77 overtime win in Iowa City. The teams split a pair of games in 2002, with Purdue winning 73-68 in West Lafayette during the regular season and Iowa winning 87-72 in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis. Iowa won both meetings in 2001 and Purdue won twice during the 2000 season.
The Boilermakers hold a 50-19 advantage in games played in West Lafayette, where Purdue has won three of the last four meetings. Purdue took a 73-68 win in 2002 when Iowa last visited. Iowa’s most recent win at Purdue came by an 83-73 margin in January, 2001. The 2001 season also marks the last time Iowa defeated the Boilermakers twice in the same season.
Iowa and Purdue have met twice at a neutral site, with both meetings taking place in Indianapolis. In addition to the meeting at Conseco Fieldhouse in the 2002 Big Ten Tournament, the Hawkeyes and Boilermakers both advanced to the 1980 Final Four at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, and both lost in the semi-finals. A third place game was played at that time and Purdue defeated Iowa 75-58.
IOWA, PURDUE NOTES
Purdue (.406) and Iowa (.407) rank first and second in the Big Ten in field goal defense, for all games played. Iowa is second in three-point percentage (.375) and Purdue is third (.347).
The Iowa roster includes Indiana native Brody Boyd, along with Coach Steve Alford, an Indiana native who played at Indiana, and Sam Alford, Iowa’s director of basketball operations who was a head coach at the high school level in the state of Indiana for 29 years.
Purdue Coach Gene Keady is the only Big Ten coach who was coaching in the Big Ten when Hawkeye Coach Steve Alford was a player at Indiana from 1984-87. During Alford’s four-year career at Indiana, the Hoosiers won just three of eight meetings against in-state rival Purdue.
IOWA WON FIRST MEETING
Iowa defeated Purdue 71-61 Jan. 7 in Iowa City when the teams met to open Big Ten Conference play. Iowa held the Boilermakers to 37.5% shooting from the field in that contest and forced 18 Purdue turnovers. Iowa took the lead late in the first half and held a 28-25 advantage at halftime. Purdue rallied for a 32-30 advantage in the early stages of the second half, but a free throw by Pierre Pierce gave Iowa a 33-32 advantage with 16:42 to play and the Hawkeyes led the rest of the way. Iowa led by as many as many as 11 points in the second half and Purdue was never closer than seven points in the final eight minutes.
Iowa shot 40.4% from the field and 78.4% (29-37) from the free throw line, its best shooting performance from the charity strip through 11 games. The Hawkeyes had 10 steals and committed just 13 turnovers, while both teams ended the night with 39 rebounds. For the first time in 53 games, Iowa did not have a three-point basket.
Pierce led Iowa’s scoring with 19 points, including 13-16 free throws. Jared Reiner added 14 points and Jeff Horner scored 10. Horner added 10 rebounds for the second double-double of his career, while Renner had eight rebounds and Greg Brunner had six.
Purdue was led by Kenneth Lowe with 19 points, while David Teague and Brandon McKnight each added nine. Lowe, Teague and Melvin Buckley each had five rebounds.
AFTER THIS
The Big Ten Conference Tournament is March 11-14 in Indianapolis. First round pairings will be released following the completion of all regular season games on Sunday.