Aloha!

• Listen to the games online!
• Watch Steve’s weekly visits with the media live!
• Purchase your Iowa basketball tickets online
• Listen to the Hawkeyes on XM Radio

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

Nov. 21, 2004

THE SETTING
Iowa (1-0) meets Louisville (1-0) in the first round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational on Monday, Nov. 22. Game time is 4:05 p.m. CT, noon in Hawaii. All games in the EA Sports Maui Invitational will be held at the Lahaina Civic Center (2,400) in Maui, HI.

IOWA HISTORY
Iowa has played 2,310 games since beginning basketball in 1902. Overall Iowa’s record is 1,375-935 (.595). That includes an 858-303 (.739) record in home games, a 517-632 (.450) record in games away from Iowa City, a 657-644 (.505) mark in Big Ten games and a 264-77 (.774) record in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

IOWA IN SEASON OPENING GAMES
Iowa has won 26 consecutive season-opening games, dating back to 1978, when it lost a road game to start the season. The Hawkeyes have won 41 straight home openers, dating back to a 62-54 loss to Ohio University to begin the 1962-63 season. Iowa Coach Steve Alford is 11-1 in 12 season-opening games, including wins in six straight openers. Alford’s Iowa teams have recorded a win in all five season-opening games.

UL COACH RICK PITINO
Rick Pitino is in his fourth year as the Louisville head coach and his 19th year overall as a college head coach. Pitino has a 64-30 mark with the Cardinals and a career mark of 416-154, prior to facing BYU-Hawaii. 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 1-1 against Iowa and 0-1 vs. Hawkeye Coach Steve Alford.

LOUISVILLE WINS EXHIBITION
Louisville, prior to playing at BYU-Hawaii on Nov. 20, defeated Kentucky Wesleyan in its only exhibition game to date. The Cardinals started fast, building a 39-21 advantage at halftime. Louisville held the visitors to 25% shooting in the first half, while forcing 19 turnovers in the contest. Louisville was led in scoring by freshman forward Juan Palacios, who had 14 points and seven rebounds. Francisco Garcia added 12 points, Larry O’Bannon had 11 points and eight rebounds and Ellis Myles added eight rebounds.

EXPERIMENTAL RULES IN PLACE
Three experimental rules will be used during all games in the EA Sports Maui Invitational. The Hawkeyes also used the experimental rules in their exhibition win over Laval University. Those rules include a three-point line that is 20 feet, six inches, nine inches behind the normal college three point distance; a free-throw lane that is widened by one and 1/2-feet on each side; and, placing a restricted area arc which is to be two feet from the center of the basket ring. These experimental rules were not used in the exhibition game vs. Upper Iowa.

PITINO VS. IOWA
Along with the meeting last season between Louisville and Iowa, 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.

CROSSING PATHS
Iowa’s Steve Alford and Louisville’s Rick Pitino first coached against each other last season when Iowa defeated the Cardinals 70-69 in overtime. But, their basketball paths crossed previously. 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.

THE SERIES
Louisville holds a 2-1 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. Iowa defeated the Cardinals last season, taking a 70-69 overtime decision at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis as part of the John Wooden Tradition. That marked the first meeting since the 1983-84 season, when the Cardinals scored a 79-58 win in Louisville in December, 1983. George Raveling was in his first season as the Iowa coach and led his first Hawkeye team to a 13-15 record. Louisville in 1983-84 posted a 24-11 record.

IOWA STOPS LOUISVILLE IN OVERTIME
Forward Greg Brunner scored a career-high 26 points in leading Iowa past #16/17 Louisville 70-69 in overtime at the John Wooden Tradition in Indianapolis, IN last Nov. 29. The Hawkeyes used a 13-3 scoring run in the second half to gain the advantage, then held off a three-point shooting spree by the Cardinals to earn the win. Iowa had a last second shot at the end of regulation with the score tied, but a jumper from the lane by Pierre Pierce was off target. Pierce made one of two free throws with 9.2 seconds remaining in overtime to provide the final margin of victory, as Louisville missed a shot in the closing seconds. The Hawkeyes used a 45-32 rebounding advantage to off-set the three-point shooting of Louisville. Iowa had a 26-23 advantage in field goals, but the Cardinals made 11-27 three-point attempts, compared to five treys by Iowa. Brunner hit 10-14 field goal attempts and 5-6 free throws, while also collecting four rebounds and two blocked shots. Guard Brody Boyd added 22 points for Iowa, as he hit 4-8 three-points in a return to his home state. Jared Reiner added nine points and eight rebounds, Pierce added eight points and eight rebounds and guard Jeff Horner, who played all 45 minutes, added nine rebounds and four assists.

IOWA, LOUISVILLE NOTES
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 33-24 record against current members of Conference USA, having played 12 of the 14 teams on at least one occasion. Other teams from Conference USA on the Iowa schedule this season include Saint Louis, which will visit Iowa City on Dec. 31, and Southern Mississippi, which takes part in Iowa’s Gazette Hawkeye Challenge on Dec. 3-4. Louisville is 29-33 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. Other than the head to head meeting, Iowa and Louisville played just one common opponent a year ago. Louisville won 75-48 at Saint Louis, while Saint Louis scored a 70-69 win over Iowa in the first round of the NIT in St. Charles, MO. 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.

ALFORD VS. CONFERENCE-USA
Iowa Coach Steve Alford is 6-7 vs. Conference-USA teams, having faced Cincinnati (0-1), East Carolina (0-1), Louisville (1-0), Memphis (1-0), UNC-Charlotte (0-1), Saint Louis (3-2), Southern Mississippi (1-0) and Texas Christian (0-2).

IOWA AT NEUTRAL SITES
Iowa will play a total of four neutral site games during the 2004-05 regular season, along with competing in the Big Ten Tournament at the United Center in Chicago at the end of the year. Along with the EA Sports Maui Invitational, Iowa will meet Texas Tech at the United Center in Chicago (Dec. 21). Iowa posted a 1-2 record in neutral site games a year ago. Iowa defeated Louisville (70-69, OT) at the Wooden Tradition in Indianapolis, while falling to Texas Tech (65-59) in Dallas, TX and Michigan (69-60) in Indianapolis, IN in the quarter-finals of the Big Ten Tournament.

IN THE RANKINGS
The field for the EA Sports Maui Invitational includes four teams who are ranked in the initial national rankings. North Carolina (3rd), Louisville (13th), Texas (15th) and Stanford (25th) were in the coaches poll, while North Carolina (4th), Louisville (14th) and Texas (16th) were in the initial Associated Press rankings. Three Big Ten teams, Illinois (5th in both), Michigan State (10th/13th) and Wisconsin (20th/21st), were also in the initial coaches and media rankings, respectively. In addition, three other Iowa opponents, Michigan, Purdue and Texas Tech, are among the teams receiving votes.

NOT BAD IN FOOTBALL EITHER
Along with the ranked basketball teams competing in the EA Sports Maui Invitational, the universities represented in the field also sport some pretty good football teams. In the Associated Press football rankings of Nov. 21, Texas is ranked sixth, Louisville seventh, Iowa 12th and Tennessee 15th. In the coaches poll, Texas is fifth, Louisville eighth, Iowa 14th and Tennessee 15th.

NOTES ON THE MAUI FIELD
Iowa and North Carolina are the only teams in the field that have previously won the Maui Invitational, as the Hawkeyes earned the 1987 title and North Carolina won the 1999 event. When Iowa and Tennessee last met, the game was also in Hawaii. Tennessee defeated the Hawkeyes 80-68 in the semi-finals of the Rainbow Classic in December, 2000.

IOWA IN HAWAII
Iowa is 20-8 overall when playing in Hawaii. The Hawkeyes are 4-2 in two appearances in the Maui Invitational, 9-5 in five appearances in the Rainbow Classic and 2-1 in one appearance in the Chaminade Classic. Iowa is also 2-0 at Hawaii-Hilo and 1-0 at Brigham Young-Hawaii, Chaminade and Hawaii-Pacific. Iowa won the Maui Invitational in 1987 and placed seventh in 1996. Iowa, in the Rainbow, was third in 1969 and 2000, second in 1975 and 1995, fifth in 1984. Iowa was second in the 1988 Chaminade Classic.

IOWA VS. THE FIELD
Iowa holds an overall 15-6 record against the other seven teams in the Maui field, having played all seven at least once. The Hawkeyes are 5-3 vs. Stanford, 2-0 vs. Brigham Young, Chaminade and North Carolina, 1-0 vs. Texas, 2-1 vs. Tennessee and 1-2 vs. Louisville.

IOWA IN TOURNAMENT PLAY
Iowa has faired well while taking part in regular-season tournaments over the past 22 years. In that time Iowa has won the Great Alaska Shootout (1986-87), the Cal-Irvine Anteater Classic (1986-87), the Maui Classic (1987-88), the San Juan Thanksgiving Shootout (1992-93), the San Juan Christmas Shootout (1997-98), the Big Ten Conference Tournament in 2001 and its own invitational 21 times. In addition, Iowa was runner-up in the 1985-86 Far West Classic, the 1987-88 All-College Tournament, the 1988-89 Chaminade Classic, the 1991-92 Tampa Tribune Holiday Invitational, the 1994-95 Rainbow Classic, the 1995-96 Great Alaska Shootout, the 1999-00 Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, the 2001-02 Guardians Classic and the 2002 Big Ten Conference Tournament.

IOWA IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Iowa made its 20th appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2001, defeating Creighton 69-56 in the opening round of the East regional before falling to second-seeded Kentucky 92-79 in the second round. Iowa, which earned the Big Ten’s automatic bid, was seeded seventh in the East. The Hawkeyes hold an overall record of 27-22 in the tournament, advancing to the Final Four in 1955 (fourth), 1956 (second) and 1980 (fourth). Iowa has advanced to at least the second round in its last 10 tournament appearances, last losing in the first round in 1986. Iowa reached the regional championship in 1987 and lost in the regional semi-final in 1988 and 1999.

IOWA VS. WESTERN ILLINOIS
Iowa opened up the 2004-05 season with an 85-62 win over Western Illinois on November 19. The Hawkeyes scored 38 points off 26 Leatherneck turnovers and also set a school record by going a perfect 20-20 from the free throw line. The Hawkeyes were able to get 22 points from off the bench and shot 47.5% from the field. Iowa had six players score in double figures. Pierre Pierce had a game-high 16 points, Adam Haluska and Doug Thomas scored 14 points, Erek Hansen added 13 points and both Greg Brunner and Jeff Horner chipped in 10 points. Horner had a career high seven steals, a game-high six assists and also grabbed four rebounds. Horner did not commit a turnover in 33 minutes of play. Thomas led Iowa with nine rebounds and was 6-6 at the free throw line.

IOWA WINS SECOND EXHIBITION
Iowa forced 22 turnovers in taking an 85-77 win over Laval University of Canada in its second and final exhibition game. The Hawkeyes built a 44-33 half time advantage by shooting 51.5% from the field in the opening 20 minutes. Laval rallied in the second half, shooting 60.9% from the field, to keep the game close. For the game, Iowa shot 45.9% from the field compared to 49.1% for Laval, and Iowa added 24-36 free throws. The Hawkeyes won the rebounding battle by a narrow 37-35 margin. Junior Pierre Pierce led Iowa’s balanced scoring attack, as five Iowa players scored in double figures for the second straight outing. Pierce had 23 points, five rebounds and five steals. Junior Greg Brunner added 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, while Doug Thomas scored 12 points and junior Jeff Horner and freshman Carlton Reed each added 11. Horner led Iowa with seven assists and junior Erek Hansen added five blocked shots.

TRI-CAPTAINS NAMED FOR 2005
Iowa’s tri-captains for the season include juniors Greg Brunner, Jeff Horner and Pierre Pierce. Pierce, a native of Westmont, IL, started all 29 games a year ago, leading the team in scoring (16.1) while averaging 5.7 rebounds per game. Brunner, a native of Charles City, started 26 of 29 games. His 8.2 rebounds per game were a team best and ranked second in the Big Ten. Horner, a Mason City native, has started all 60 games over the past two seasons. He led the team in assists in each of the last two seasons while also averaging 13 points and 5.3 rebounds last year. Horner and Pierce each earned third team all-Big Ten recognition a year ago and they shared Iowa’s team MVP award. Brunner was the co-winner of Iowa’s Chris Street Award last season and also earned academic all-Big Ten recognition.

THE RETURNING CAST
Iowa returns three starters and six lettermen from 2004. Those six returning lettermen last season scored over 1,200 points and totaled over 600 rebounds. The six players, in 2004, scored 60.1% of Iowa’s points, had 56.9% of the rebounds, 67.5% of the assists, 64.4% of the blocked shots and 45.2% of the steals. In 29 games, a sophomore led Iowa in scoring 26 times and a sophomore was the top rebounder in 22 games. The Hawkeyes return their statistical leader from last season in all categories, with the exception of steals (Brody Boyd). The 13-man squad includes one senior, six juniors, two sophomores and four freshmen. The roster includes eight Iowans, plus one player from California, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Texas.

NEWCOMERS GAIN ATTENTION
Iowa’s class of newcomers includes seven players. That list includes juniors Doug Thomas and Justin Wieck, sophomore Adam Haluska and freshmen J.R. Angle, Seth Gorney, Carlton Reed and Alex Thompson. The group is ranked as the second best incoming class in the Big Ten and 20th in the nation by Hoop Scoop in the June issue of Basketball Times. Street and Smith’s ranks the group as the top incoming class in the Big Ten and names Thompson on the all-Midwest team on its list of Top 100 Freshman. Lindy’s rates the incoming class as 14th best nationally and lists Haluska fourth among its top 10 transfers. Athlon Sport’s also lists Haluska among the top transfers in the nation and rates the overall class fourth best in the Big Ten.

IOWA VS. RANKED FOES
After playing six games against ranked opponents in 2003-04, Steve Alford has posted a 15-23 record against ranked opponents as Iowa’s head coach, including a 2-4 mark a year ago. Iowa, in 2003-04, defeated 16th-ranked Louisville 70-69 in overtime and 24th-ranked Purdue 71-61 in Iowa City. Iowa lost at 22nd-ranked Missouri, 76-56, at 25th-ranked Illinois, 88-82, lost 54-52 to 14th-ranked Wisconsin in Iowa City and lost 78-59 to 23rd-ranked Illinois in Iowa City. 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), 2nd-ranked Missouri (83-65 in 2001-02), 5th-ranked Ohio State (67-64 in 1999-00), 7th-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 top-ranked (Duke, 2001-02), once to 3rd-ranked (Illinois, 2000-01), twice to 4th-ranked (Michigan State, 1999-00 and 2000-01), twice to 5th-ranked (Tennessee, 2000-01 and Missouri, 2001-02), once to 9th-ranked (Kentucky, 2000-01) and once to 10th-ranked (Illinois, 2002). In the 38 games against ranked teams, Alford and his Iowa team are 6-7 in home games, 6-7 at neutral sites and 3-9 when playing ranked teams in their home arena.

SEEKING FIVE STRAIGHT IN `05
Iowa is seeking a fifth straight winning season, a streak that would match the second longest consecutive winning seasons record in the history of Iowa basketball. Iowa’s longest streak of consecutive winning seasons is seven, from 1950 through 1956. Pops Harrison, Bucky O’Connor and Rollie Williams all coached the Hawkeyes during those years. Only a 10-10 record in 1949 kept Iowa from 13 consecutive winning seasons (1944-56). Lute Olson coached Iowa to five straight winning seasons from 1979-83, George Raveling and Tom Davis combined to coach Iowa to winning seasons from 1985-89 and Davis coached Iowa to winning seasons from 1995-99.

ANOTHER STRONG SCHEDULE
As has been the case in recent years, the Iowa schedule is very demanding. In non-conference action, Iowa takes part in the EA Sports Maui Invitational, an eight-team event that also includes Brigham Young, Chaminade, Louisville, North Carolina, Stanford, Tennessee and Texas. Iowa will meet Louisville in the first round. With the exception of Chaminade, every other team in the field participated in post-season play last season. The non-conference slate also includes Northern Iowa, Iowa State, Texas Tech, Air Force and Saint Louis, five teams that participated in post-season play a year ago. Northern Iowa, Texas Tech and Air Force all participated in the NCAA Tournament. Iowa also hosts non-conference games vs. Western Illinois and Western Carolina and plays at Drake. The Gazette Hawkeye Challenge includes Centenary College, North Carolina-Greensboro and Southern Mississippi. All in all, Iowa will likely play 16 games against teams that advanced to post-season play a year ago.

IOWA’S GAZETTE HAWKEYE CHALLENGE
The Gazette Hawkeye Challenge, Friday and Saturday, Dec. 3-4 in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, features Southern Mississippi meeting UNC-Greensboro in the opening game on Friday and Iowa hosting Centenary College in the second game. Southern Mississippi, which placed second to Iowa in the event early in 2002, is now coached by former Iowa State Coach Larry Eustachy.

1,000 POINT POSSIBILITIES
Iowa has three players, all juniors, who could reach the 1,000 point plateau this season. Pierre Pierce begins the season with 716 points, Jeff Horner has 632 and Greg Brunner has 550. Some notes on Iowa’s 1,000-Point Club include:

35 Hawkeye players have scored over 1,000 points, the most recent being Glen Worley last season The last Hawkeye to reach 1,000 points in three seasons was Dean Oliver in 2000 Iowa has had three 1,000-point scorers on the roster in the same season on three occasions. Jess Settles, Kenyon Murray and Chris Kingsbury in 1996, Roy Marble, B.J. Armstrong and Jeff Moe in 1988 and Marble, Armstrong and Ed Horton in 1989

RETURNING WITH HONORS
Guards Jeff Horner and Pierre Pierce earned all-Big Ten recognition for their play during the 2004 season. Both earned third team honors on the coaches team and the media team. Pierce led Iowa in scoring at 16.1 points per game. He scored in double figures in 26 of 29 games while also averaging 5.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. Pierce, for all games, ranked sixth in the Big Ten in scoring, 10th in assists per game and 15th in rebounding. He also averaged 15.7 points and 5.4 rebounds in 16 conference games, helping Iowa to a fourth place finish. Pierce scored 20 or more points in eight games, including a career-high 28 vs. Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament. Horner earned third team recognition after being an honorable mention selection as a freshman. Horner averaged 13 points, 4.2 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game. He scored 20 points or more in eight of Iowa’s final 16 games. Horner improved his play during the Big Ten portion of the season, guiding Iowa to a 9-7 league record. In Big Ten games, Horner shot 50.8% from the field, 51.2% from three-point range and 91.8% from the free throw line, making 56-61 free throws. Horner in Big Ten games only, ranked first in free throw percentage, second in three-point percentage, third in three-point field goals per game, fourth in assists, ninth in scoring, 12th in field goal percentage and 16th in rebounding. Proving their consistency, Horner and Pierce have each scored over 200 points and collected over 100 rebounds and 100 assists in each of their two seasons. They are two of just eight players in Iowa history to reach those totals in a single season and they are the only two Hawkeye players to reach those totals in more than one season.

BRUNNER IS TOP RETURNING REBOUNDER
Junior forward Greg Brunner ranked second in the Big Ten in rebounding last season. With Minnesota’s Kris Humphries being a first round selection in the NBA Draft, Brunner is the Big Ten’s top returning rebounder heading into the 2004-05 season. This marks the third time in the last four seasons Iowa has had the top returning rebounder. Reggie Evans led the league in rebounding in 2001 and returned to defend his title in 2002. Jared Reiner led the Big Ten in rebounding in 2003 and returned in 2004. Reiner played in just 13 games before a stress fracture forced him to miss the remainder of last season. Brunner took over and averaged 8.2 rebounds for the season and 8.6 in league games.

NOTES FROM A YEAR AGO
Iowa is one of four Big Ten teams to post a winning season in each of the last four years, joining Illinois, Michigan State and Wisconsin. Iowa advanced to post-season play for the fourth straight season a year ago. Iowa played eight games against seven teams that earned bids to the 2004 NCAA Tournament, posting a 2-6 record. Iowa defeated Louisville in the Wooden Tradition in Indianapolis and Eastern Washington in the Gazette Hawkeye Challenge. The Hawkeyes lost two games to Illinois and single games to Northern Iowa, Texas Tech, Michigan State and Wisconsin. Iowa posted a 3-5 record against five teams that participated in the 2004 NIT. That includes two wins over Purdue, a 1-2 record vs. Michigan and losses at Iowa State, at Missouri and Saint Louis. Michigan won the NIT and Iowa State advanced to the semi-finals. Iowa’s 9-7 Big Ten record earned a fourth place finish in the conference race, a feat that was accomplished despite the fact that Iowa lost an average of 30 points and 17 rebounds from the team that posted a 9-4 record through its first 13 games of the season. Iowa collected four Big Ten road wins in 2004 and seven in the last two seasons. In Big Ten play, only Illinois (six) and Michigan State (five) won more road games a year ago as Iowa won at Indiana, Purdue, Ohio State and Minnesota. The Hawkeyes won three road games in 2003. Under Steve Alford, Iowa has won at least three Big Ten road games in three of five seasons. For the first time since 1987-88, Iowa did not lose consecutive games in Big Ten play. Michigan State was the only other conference team to avoid consecutive losses during the conference season. The Hawkeyes were the only Big Ten team that did not lose a conference game to an opponent with less than a .500 record and only two teams won more conference road games. Iowa split its four games against the Big Ten opponents it played just once. Iowa won at Indiana and defeated Penn State at home. The Hawkeyes lost at Michigan State and lost to Wisconsin at home. Iowa defeated Ohio State, Minnesota and Purdue twice, won one of three games with Michigan and dropped two games to Illinois and Northwestern. Iowa outscored its opponents 491-397 from the free throw line, attempting 731 free throws compared to 575 for the opponents. Iowa outscored 20 of 29 opponents from the free throw line while averaging 25.2 free throws per outing. In Big Ten games, Iowa made as many free throws (294) as its opponents attempted. Iowa had three players, Greg Brunner, Jared Reiner and Kurt Spurgeon, earned academic all-Big Ten honors. Five members of the team had a GPA of over 3.0. Under Steve Alford, Iowa is 25-5 when shooting at least 50% from the field. Last season, Iowa was 0-5 when its opponent shot at least 50% from the field. As a team, Iowa shot over 36% from three-point range for the third time in five seasons under Coach Steve Alford. In Big Ten games only, Iowa made 294 free throws, matching the number of free throws the opponents attempted in those 16 games. Iowa ranked second in the Big Ten, for all games, in five statistical categories, including scoring offense, field goal defense, three-point field goal percentage, rebounding margin and assists per game. Iowa ranked second in the Big Ten in three-point field goal percentage (.365), marking the third time in five seasons under Steve Alford Iowa has shot better than 36% from three-point range. Iowa’s overtime win at Indiana was the first Iowa win in Bloomington since an 89-76 victory in 1997. Iowa lost in overtime at Indiana in 2003. It was also the first win in Bloomington for Iowa Coach Steve Alford, who has led his Iowa teams to wins in seven of 10 opponent arenas in the Big Ten. Alford coached Iowa teams have not won at Illinois, Michigan and Michigan State. Iowa’s single-game bests in 2003-04 included Pierre Pierce with 28 points vs. Michigan, a career-high. Greg Brunner had 14 rebounds in the double-overtime win at Indiana, also a career-high. Jeff Horner had a career-high nine assists in the win over Drake and 2004 Brody Boyd had seven steals in Iowa’s win over Northern Illinois.

HALK TALK WITH Steve Alford
Fans of the University of Iowa basketball program may join Iowa Coach Steve Alford and radio announcer Gary Dolphin each week during the season for the “Hawk Talk with Steve Alford” radio call-in show. The show takes place each week at Carlos O’Kelly’s Mexican Café in Iowa City. The show airs from 6-7:30 p.m. on the following dates: Nov. 29; Dec. 6, 13; Jan. 3, 10, 17, 24, 31; Feb. 7, 14, 21, 28; and Mar. 7.

IOWA ON THE TUBE
Every Iowa game throughout the 2004-05 season is slated for television, with the possible exception being second or third round games at the Maui Invitational. Iowa’s first round contest vs. Louisville in Maui and the Dec. 21 game vs. Texas Tech in Chicago are slated for national cable television on ESPN2. Iowa games not selected for national coverage will be televised regionally by ESPN Plus, while several conference games are scheduled to be carried throughout the Big Ten Conference viewing area as part of the Big Ten regional network agreement with ESPN Plus.

AFTER THIS
Following its three games in the EA Sports Maui Invitational, Iowa will be back in action Tuesday, Nov. 30, traveling to Des Moines to meet Drake. Iowa hosts its own Gazette Hawkeye Challenge on Dec. 3-4, meeting Centenary College in the first round Friday and either UNC-Greensboro or Southern Mississippi Saturday.