Hawkeyes Hosts Hoosiers Saturday

Jan. 27, 2005

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THE SETTING
Iowa (14-5, 2-4) returns home Saturday to host Indiana (9-8, 4-2) for the first of two straight home games. Game time is 4:02 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,500).

Iowa lost at Northwestern 75-74 in overtime Wednesday, while the Hoosiers dropped a 70-65 decision at Minnesota.

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 carry the game to a national cable audience. Dave Barnett and Tim McCormick will call the action.

IOWA HISTORY
Iowa has played 2,329 games since beginning basketball in 1902. Overall Iowa’s record is 1,389-940 (.596). That includes an 868-304 (.741) record in home games, a 521-636 (.450) record in games away from Iowa City, a 659-649 (.504) mark in Big Ten games and a 274-78 (.778) record in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

IOWA IN CARVER-HAWKEYE ARENA
Iowa has compiled a 274-78 (.778) record in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa is 129-65 (.665) in Big Ten games and 145-13 (.918) in non-Big Ten games. Iowa has drawn over five million fans for men’s basketball games since the arena opened in 1983. Iowa has posted a 66-23 (.742) home record under Coach Steve Alford, including a 42-4 (.913) mark in non-conference home games.

IN THE RANKINGS
Iowa is ranked 23rd by the Associated Press and 24th in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. Iowa began the season receiving no votes in either poll. The Hawkeyes are 26th in the RPI rankings and 20th in the Sagarin Ratings.

IOWA OFF TO FAST START
With 12 wins in its first 13 games, Iowa enjoyed its best start under Coach Steve Alford. Iowa, in 2001, posted a 10-1 mark to start the season and ended the year with a 23-12 overall record. Iowa began both the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons with a 13-1 record.

Iowa’s nine-game win streak during non-conference action matched the best streak for an Iowa team under Alford, as the Hawkeyes opened the 2000-01 season with nine straight wins. The Hawkeyes also had six-game win streaks in 2003-04 and 2001-02.

Iowa has 12 non-conference wins (not including post-season) for the first time since 1988-89.

PIERCE SURPASSES 1,000 POINTS
Junior guard Pierre Pierce is the 36th player in Iowa basketball history to reach 1,000 career points. Pierce has scored 1,047 points in 83 games, an average of 12.6 per outing, to rank 33rd in career points. Pierce had a career-high 31 points in the recent loss at Ohio State, becoming the first Hawkeye player to scored over 30 points in a game since Luke Recker had 31 points in a win at Missouri in December, 2001. He added 22 points in the overtime loss at Illinois and 15 points in the overtime loss at Northwestern.

Guard Dean Oliver was the most recent Iowa player to reach 1,000 points in three seasons, surpassing the milestone in his junior season in 1999-00. Glen Worley, a senior a year ago, is the most recent member of the 1,000-Point Club.

Along with Pierce at 1,047 points, junior Jeff Horner currently has 887 career points and junior Greg Brunner is at 816 points.

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.

RECOGNITION ON THE NET
Iowa’s basketball program was well recognized on the internet for its play during the non-conference portion of the season.

• On espn.com, ESPN analyst Dick Vitale selected the Hawkeyes as his “Team of the Week” for their 83-53 win over Texas Tech.
• CollegeInsider.com selected sophomore guard Adam Haluska as its “Star of the Week” for his play in the win over Texas Tech. Haluska matched his career high with 21 points, hitting 7-9 field goals, 3-3 three-pointers and 4-5 free throws.
• CollegeInsider.com selected Coach Steve Alford for its “Mid Season” Jim Phelan Coach of the Year honor. The Jim Phelan Coach of the Year honor is awarded in March.
• Gregg Doyel, writing for cbssportline.com, recently featured the Iowa guard court of Jeff Horner, Pierre Pierce and Adam Haluska as one of the best in the nation.

IOWA COACH Steve Alford
Steve Alford (pronounced ALL-ford) is in his sixth season as the head coach at the University of Iowa and his 14th season as a college head coach. Alford holds a career record of 259-153 (.629), including a 103-76 (.575) 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. Alford ranks fifth among Iowa’s head basketball coaches in career wins and he is 36-50 (.419) in Big Ten games at Iowa. Alford is 8-5 in the NCAA Tournament (3-2 in Div. I and 5-3 in Div. III) and 2-4 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 2002, 2003 and 2004. 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 8-4 in his five 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. A year ago he was one of five players selected to ESPN’s Big Ten Conference Silver Anniversary team, honoring Big Ten players from the past 25 seasons.

Alford is 4-6 vs. Indiana and 4-4 vs. Hoosier Coach Mike Davis.

INDIANA COACH MIKE DAVIS
Mike Davis is in his fifth season as the head coach at Indiana and as a college head coach. Davis has posted a 90-61 record. Davis was an assistant coach at Indiana for three seasons before taking over the top position. He led the Hoosiers to a share of the regular season Big Ten title in 2002 before Iowa defeated Indiana in the semi-finals of the Big Ten Tournament. Indiana then enjoyed great success in the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the NCAA championship game before falling 64-52 to Maryland.

Davis played at Alabama and joined the Indiana staff after serving as a Crimson Tide assistant for two seasons. Along with his college coaching experience, Davis has coached in the CBA and overseas. Davis is 4-4 vs. Iowa and Hawkeye Coach Steve Alford.

THE SERIES
Indiana holds a 90-64 advantage in the series that began with an 18-12 Hoosier win in 1909. Iowa defeated the Hoosiers 84-82 in double overtime in Bloomington in the only meeting a year ago. Indiana won both meetings in 2002-03, 79-63 in Iowa City and 91-88 in overtime in Bloomington.

Iowa won five straight in the series from 1996-99 before Indiana won the second meeting in 1999 and the only meeting of the 2000 season.

Indiana holds a 38-37 advantage in games played in Iowa City, where Iowa had won six straight against the Hoosiers before Indiana prevailed in each of the last two games. The Hoosiers scored a 79-63 win in 2003 on their last visit to Iowa City. Overall, Iowa is 12-8 against the Hoosiers in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

STAY UNTIL THE END
Three of Iowa’s last four meetings with Indiana have come down to a final shot, with two of the four going into overtime. Iowa defeated Indiana in the 2002 Big Ten Tournament semi-finals on a last second basket by Luke Recker, and Iowa won last season on a basket by Jeff Horner with one second left in the second overtime. In 2003, a final three-point basket by Indiana’s Bracey Wright was the difference in Indiana’s overtime win in Bloomington after Iowa had failed to win on a shot in the last seconds of regulation.

IOWA WON IN DOUBLE OT
Jeff Horner’s bank shot from the lane with one second remaining lifted Iowa to an 84-82 win in double overtime at Indiana in the only meeting between the teams a year ago. Horner’s shot came after he rebounded an Iowa miss with 14 seconds to play. The Hawkeyes led at the end of regulation and at the end of the first overtime before Indiana tied the score each time. In the second overtime, Iowa scored the final four points after Indiana had taken an 82-80 advantage with 1:16 remaining. Glen Worley responded with a basket with 56 seconds remaining and Iowa held the ball for the final 44 seconds after Greg Brunner rebounded Indiana’s final miss.

Indiana made one free throw with 1.7 seconds to play in regulation, then tipped in a missed free throw to force the first overtime. Iowa again led by three with 10 seconds left in the first overtime before Bracey Wright hit a three-point basket to tie the game.

Along with his winning basket, Horner made two free throws at the end of regulation and two at the end of the first overtime, each time giving Iowa a three-point advantage. Horner scored all 17 of his points in the second half and overtime periods, connecting on all five of his field goal attempts and all four free throws after missing his only two field goal attempts in the first half. He also added 10 rebounds for his third career double-double, and six assists. Iowa trailed early in the game before a 9-0 scoring run gave the Hawkeyes a 29-24 advantage. Iowa led 33-28 at halftime and by as many as 10 points (45-35) in the second half before Indiana rallied by scoring 12 straight points. Horner’s three-point basket with three minutes remaining broke the fourth tie of the game and Iowa led until the tip-in at the end of regulation forced overtime.

Brunner led Iowa with 23 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. Worley added a season-high 20 points, Pierre Pierce scored 13 and Brody Boyd scored 11.

Indiana was led by Wright with 25 points and nine rebounds. A.J. Moye added 20 points and Marshall Strickland added 14 points and six assists.

IOWA, HOOSIER NOTES

• Iowa Coach Steve Alford was a four-time MVP at Indiana and an All-American while leading the Hoosiers to the 1987 NCAA title. Alford currently ranks second in career scoring at Indiana and he is a member of the Indiana University Hall of Fame.
• Steve Alford is 1-2 vs. Indiana in Iowa City, 1-1 vs. Indiana in Indianapolis, 1-0 vs. Indiana in Chicago and 1-3 vs. Indiana in Bloomington. Iowa lost at Indiana 74-71 in 2000, lost 79-51 in 2002 and lost 91-88 in OT in 2003. Iowa scored a 62-60 win over Indiana in the semi-finals of the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis and defeated the Hoosiers 63-61 in the Big Ten tournament finals in Chicago in 2001.
• Alford’s Southwest Missouri State team lost to Indiana in Indianapolis in 1998. Alford guided Iowa to a home win over Indiana in 2001 before the Hoosiers won in Iowa City in 2002 (66-77) and 2003 (63-79). Iowa’s double overtime win in 2003 marked Alford’s first win in Bloomington as the opposing coach.
• Iowa freshman J.R. Angle is a native of Franklin, IN and Iowa assistant Coach Greg Lansing was an assistant coach at Indiana State before joining the Iowa staff.
• The two teams played two common opponents outside of Big Ten competition. Iowa lost to North Carolina 106-92 in the championship game of the Maui Invitational, while North Carolina scored a 70-63 win at Indiana as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Both teams earned home wins over Western Illinois, with Iowa winning 85-62 and the Hoosiers winning 64-60. In conference games, Iowa is 2-3 vs. Northwestern, Purdue, Michigan, Ohio State and Minnesota, while the Hoosiers are 3-2 vs. those same teams.

ALFORD REACHES 100 HAWKEYE WINS
Coach Steve Alford collected win No. 100 as Iowa’s head coach in the 73-63 victory over Air Force. Career victory No. 250 came in the 88-53 win over Centenary in early December. His career mark stands at 259-153. Alford is 103-76 at Iowa, moving into fifth place on the Iowa list for coaching victories. Iowa’s top four coaches in career wins include Tom Davis (269), Lute Olson (168), Rollie Williams (139) and Bucky O’Connor (114).

IOWA FALLS IN OT NORTHWESTERN
Northwestern scored on a three-point basket as time expired to take a 75-74 win over Iowa Wednesday night in Evanston. The Hawkeyes held a 62-50 advantage with 3:27 left in regulation before Northwestern rallied. Taking advantage of several missed free throws, Northwestern tied the game with 13 seconds remaining on three free throws. A final shot by Pierre Pierce was off target, sending the game to overtime.

After Northwestern scored the first two points of the extra session, Iowa scored seven straight points and again seemed in control. The Wildcats came back, getting within two points with 53 seconds remaining. An Iowa turnover with four seconds left game Northwestern a final chance, and after a timeout, Northwestern reserve Michael Jenkins hit the game-winner from the far left corner.

Northwestern led for just 31 seconds in the 45 minute contest, while the score was tied six times for 3:08. The Hawkeyes, however, made just 5-13 free throws in the final four minutes of regulation and the overtime period, compared to 7-7 for Northwestern. The Hawkeyes were also guilty of 19 turnovers in the contest.

Iowa hit its first six shots of the game in taking an early 14-4 advantage and led 32-29 at intermission. After the Wildcats scored the first three points of the second half, Iowa took control and slowly built its advantage until the final four minutes.

Greg Brunner led Iowa’s scoring attack with a career-high 28 points, hitting 11-17 field goals and 6-8 free throws. Pierre Pierce added 15 points, six rebounds and seven assists and Adam Haluska scored 12 points. Jeff Horner had seven points and six assists, with no turnovers, and Doug Thomas led the Hawkeyes with 10 rebounds, matching his career high.

MINNESOTA STOPS INDIANA
Minnesota held off Indiana 70-65 Wednesday night in Minneapolis, stopping Indiana’s four-game winning streak. In a game that was close in nearly all phases, the Gophers held a 6-2 advantage in three-point baskets and a 22-13 advantage at the foul line in earning the win.

Indiana played well in several phases, shooting 44.6% from the field and 76.5% from the foul line, while committing just nine turnovers. The Hoosiers downfall came from long range, where they made just 2-19 (10.5%) three-point attempts.

J.D. White led Indiana with 23 points and seven rebounds, while fellow freshman Robert Vaden added 13 points and six rebounds. Bracey Wright added 19 points, five assists and four steals.

NOT GETTING THE CLOSE ONES
Iowa in six Big Ten games has lost two games in overtime and another by two points at home. The Hawkeyes lost to Michigan 63-65 to open Big Ten play, and have lost overtime games at top-ranked Illinois (68-73) and at Northwestern (74-75). On the season, Iowa is 7-3 in games decided by 10 points or less, but the three losses have all come in conference action.

HAWKEYES AMONG NCAA LEADERS
As a team, Iowa ranks seventh nationally in blocked shots per game (6.2), 18th in assists (16.5), 23rd in three-point percentage (39.3%) and scoring (77.1) and 25th in field goal percentage (47%).

Individually, center Erek Hansen is fourth in blocked shots (3.6) and guard Jeff Horner is ninth in three-point field goal percentage (45.6%), 15th in assists per game (5.5) and 21st in three-point field goals per game (2.5).

HAWKEYES TIE BLOCK RECORD, AGAIN
Iowa set its second single-game record of the season in a loss to North Carolina and tied that record in wins over North Carolina-Greensboro and Saint Louis. The Hawkeyes blocked 12 shots in each of those games to break the previous record of 11, set in an 80-65 win at Drake on Jan. 4, 1993.

Junior center Erek Hansen led the way with five blocks against the North Carolina and UNC Greensboro, and he had seven in the win over Saint Louis.

The Hawkeyes have 118 blocked shots in 19 games. Iowa’s top three season totals for blocked shots include 165 in 1993, 161 in 1992 and 153 in 1991.

IOWA SETS FREE THROW MARK
Iowa set school and Carver-Hawkeye Arena records in its opening win over Western Illinois by making all 20 of its free throw attempts. Six Hawkeyes contributed to the record, with Pierre Pierce and Erek Hansen each making four. The previous best for a perfect free throw percentage (18-18) came in a win at Indiana in 1979. The previous record for Carver-Hawkeye Arena was 94.7%, when Iowa made 18-19 attempts vs. Wisconsin in 2001.

NEW FACES CONTRIBUTE EARLY
Several new faces have been big contributors in Iowa’s 18 games. The newcomers are averaging 22.7 points and 12.4 rebounds per outing.

Junior college transfer Doug Thomas scored 14 points and led Iowa with nine rebounds in the opening win over Western Illinois, and he added 10 rebounds vs. UNC Greensboro and Northwestern. Thomas added eight points and five rebounds vs. North Carolina, he had six rebounds in the win over Texas and five rebounds at Illinois. In the win over Purdue, Thomas matched his scoring high with 14 points and added nine rebounds.

Sophomore Adam Haluska has scored in double figures in 14 of 19 games, including a career-high 21 points vs. Drake and Texas Tech and 20 in a home win over Iowa State.

In the win at Drake, freshman Carlton Reed scored 14 points, while freshman Alex Thompson added five rebounds in the win over Texas Tech. Seth Gorney played a key defensive role and had five rebounds in a win over Minnesota and Reed added a career-best five assists in the win over Purdue and added eight points at Northwestern.

Newcomers contributed 31 points and 13 rebounds in the opening win, 37 points and 11 rebounds vs. North Carolina, 39 points and 15 rebounds in the win at Drake, 22 points and 15 rebounds vs. Centenary, 27 points and 19 rebounds vs. UNC Greensboro and 28 points and 19 rebounds vs. Purdue for their best showing in Big Ten play.

ANOTHER STRONG SCHEDULE
As has been the case in recent years, the Iowa schedule is very demanding. Eight of Iowa’s 13 non-conference games were against teams that advanced to post-season play a year ago. Iowa this season is 8-3 against teams that were in post-season play a year ago, including a 5-2 record vs. teams that were in the 2004 NCAA Tournament.

Iowa took part in the EA Sports Maui Invitational early in the season, defeating #11 Louisville and #13 Texas, while falling to #11 North Carolina. The Hawkeyes lost to top-ranked Illinois in overtime in their fourth game of the season against a ranked opponent. The non-conference slate also included Northern Iowa, Iowa State, Texas Tech and Air Force and Saint Louis, teams that participated in post-season play a year ago.

Iowa will play 16 games against teams that advanced to post-season play a year ago.

TWO STRAIGHT OVER RANKED TEAMS
Iowa’s back-to-back wins over Louisville and Texas marks the second time Iowa has won consecutive games against ranked opponents under Coach Steve Alford. The Hawkeyes, during the 2002-03 season, defeated 20th-ranked Michigan State 68-64 and 8th-ranked Illinois 68-61.

IOWA VS. RANKED FOES
Steve Alford has posted a 17-25 record against ranked opponents as Iowa’s head coach, including a 2-2 mark in 2004-05. Iowa, this season, has defeated 11th-ranked Louisville 76-71 and 13th-ranked Texas 82-80, with losses to 11th-ranked North Carolina and at No. 1 ranked Illinois, in overtime.

Alford’s Hawkeye teams are 5-10 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 10 losses to top 10 teams have been twice to top-ranked (Duke, 2001-02 and Illinois, 2004-05), 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 twice to 10th-ranked (Michigan State, 2000 and Illinois, 2002).

In the 42 games against ranked teams, Alford and his Iowa team are 6-7 in home games, 8-8 at neutral sites and 3-10 when playing ranked teams in their home arena.

HANSEN ON BLOCKS CHART
Junior center Erek Hansen has collected 64 blocked shots in 17 games, moving among Iowa’s leaders in blocks for a season and career. A year ago Hansen blocked 40 shots in 22 games. The 64 blocks rank fifth best for a single season and his 104 career blocks ranks fifth among Iowa’s career leaders. Hansen had a career-best seven blocked shots vs. Iowa State and Saint Louis and he had six blocks in a win over Texas Tech and a loss to Michigan. He has blocked five or more shots in seven games, and he is averaging 6.4 points and 2.9 rebounds while shooting 45.1% from the field and 72.4% from the free throw line. He had a career-high 14 points vs. Northern Iowa and he had 11 points and six rebounds vs. Texas.

HORNER OFF TO FAST START
Junior guard Jeff Horner is off to a fast start, ranking among national leaders in assists and three-point field goals while averaging 13.4 points per game. Horner is averaging 5.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game. Horner had a career-high 27 points in the win over Texas and he led the Maui Invitational in scoring with 63 points in three games. He added 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists in a win at Drake.

Horner made 15-23 three-point attempts in the three games in Hawaii, moving into Iowa’s top 10 in both three-pointers and three-point attempts. Horner was named Big Ten Player of the Week for his play in Maui. The honor is the second of Horner’s career, as he earned it last Feb. 9 after leading Iowa to a double-overtime win at Indiana.

He added his first career scoring and assist double-double in the win over UNC Greensboro with 14 points and a career-best 11 assists. He added 16 points and nine rebounds in the win over Northern Iowa. Horner scored Iowa’s final five points in the last 95 seconds against the Panthers and he added 12 points and seven assists in a win over Iowa State. He played 40 of 45 minutes at Northwestern, collecting seven points and six assists, with no turnovers.

He is shooting 43.7% from the field, 45.6% from three-point range and 74.7% from the free throw line. Horner was named to the all-tournament team at the Maui Invitational and he was co-MVP (with teammate Pierre Pierce) of Iowa’s Gazette Hawkeye Challenge.

PIERCE WELL BALANCED
Junior guard Pierre Pierce is proving to be one of the most versatile players in the Big Ten Conference. Pierce is averaging 17.4 points, 4.4 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game and he leads the team (and the Big Ten) with 44 steals. He has scored in double figures in 18 games, has at least five assists in nine games and five or more rebounds in 14 games.

Pierce is averaging 18.2 points in Big Ten games, including a career-high 31 points vs. Ohio State, where he made 12-20 field goal attempts and 5-8 free throws. He added 18 points and eight rebounds in a win over Minnesota and 22 points and five assists in an overtime loss at top-ranked Illinois. Playing just 29 minutes in the home win over Purdue, he scored eight points and matched his career-high with eight assists. At Northwestern, he had 15 points, six rebounds and seven assists.

While leading the Hawkeyes in scoring, Pierce continues to prove his worth in all phases. He leads the team in steals and is second in rebounds and assists. At Illinois, Pierce held Deron Williams, the pre-season Big Ten Player of the Year, to a season-low four points. In the win over Minnesota, he held leading scorer Vincent Grier to just six points. Grier had averaged over 17 points a game in Minnesota’s first 15 games, scoring in double figures in every game. Pierce held Grier to 1-6 shooting from the field.

Pierce made a three-point basket in the final minute to lead Iowa in a win over Texas, scoring 18 points vs. the Longhorns and 16 points vs. Louisville in Iowa’s first two games of the Maui Invitational. He added 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals in a win over Texas Tech and had 24 points vs. Saint Louis. Pierce was named co-MVP (along with teammate Jeff Horner) of Iowa’s Gazette Hawkeye Challenge.

BRUNNER WORKING THE BOARDS
Junior forward Greg Brunner is Iowa’s top returning rebounder. He is averaging 8.2 rebounds for the season and 9.3 in conference games, ranking third in the Big Ten for all games and second in league games. Brunner ranks second among current Big Ten players with eight scoring and rebounding doubles-doubles this season and 17 in his career. Brunner had a career-high 28 points at Northwestern, hitting 11-17 field goals and 6-8 free throws, and he also had three blocked shots.

Brunner had 13 points and 11 rebounds vs. Minnesota and 16 points and 11 rebounds in the overtime loss at Illinois. Brunner, who ranked second in the Big Ten in rebounding last season, had a season-best 13 rebounds in the win over Iowa State and he has 11 rebounds in six games. He had 10 rebounds vs. Louisville, nine vs. UNC Greensboro and eight on three occasions. Brunner has scored in double figures in 17 games. He is shooting 53.6% from the field and 72.3% from the foul line. He was named to the all-tournament team of Iowa’s Gazette Hawkeye Challenge.

HALUSKA HITS NEW HIGH
Sophomore Adam Haluska scored a career-high 21 points in wins over Texas Tech and Drake as he has scored in double figures in 14 of 19 games. Playing against his former school, he added 20 points in a win over Iowa State, hitting 4-8 treys. Haluska had 19 points in the loss to North Carolina and 17 points vs. UNC Greensboro. He matched his career-high of four assists in the win over Northern Iowa and played an outstanding defensive game.

His best game in Big Ten play came in the win over Minnesota, where he scored 15 points and collected two steals. He added 12 points, six rebounds and two steals at Illinois and he had 12 points and two assists at Northwestern.

In his first season at Iowa, Haluska is shooting 47.1% from the field and 80% from the free throw line while averaging 12.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.

THOMAS HELPS ON THE GLASS
Junior Doug Thomas is making a major contribution to Iowa’s rebounding efforts, as he is third on the team with an average of 4.8 per game. Thomas has collected 19 rebounds in Iowa’s last two games, matching a career-best with 10 vs. Northwestern. He had nine rebounds and 14 points in a win over Purdue. Thomas had nine rebounds in his first game as a Hawkeye and added a season-best 10 in a win over UNC Greensboro. Thomas had six points and six rebounds in the win over Texas Tech and he had five rebounds in the overtime loss at Illinois. The 14 points vs. Purdue matched his best total of the season. Thomas is averaging 4.8 points while shooting 56.5% from the field and 70% from the foul line.

SCORING BY HALVES
Iowa has outscored its opponents 665-599 in the first half and 789-685 in the second half, and the Hawkeyes have been outscored 17-11 in two overtime periods. Iowa has led at halftime in 12 of 19 games and the Hawkeyes have outscored their opponent in the second half in 13 games.

HAWKEYE TIDBITS

• Iowa has played two overtime games, losing in single overtime at Illinois and at Northwestern. Iowa was 2-0 in overtime games a year ago, defeating Louisville in single overtime on a neutral court and winning at Indiana in two overtimes.
• Iowa suffered consecutive Big Ten losses for the first time since 2003 when it dropped games to Michigan and Ohio State. In 2003, Iowa lost at Indiana (in OT) on Mar. 1 and at Michigan State Mar. 5. This marks the first season Iowa has lost its first two conference games of the season since 1993-94, when the Hawkeyes lost their first four league games.
• Iowa’s contest at Drake was the only true road game for the Hawkeyes in non-conference play. Iowa played three neutral site games at the EA Sports Maui Invitational and played Texas Tech at the United Center in Chicago.
• In the 70-63 win over Iowa State, Iowa held the Cyclones without a three-point basket as ISU missed all six of its attempts. That marks the first time an Iowa opponent did not make at least one three-point basket since early in the 2001-02 season, when Iowa State missed all eight of its three-point attempts in a 78-53 loss to Iowa in Ames.
• As a team, Iowa set two Gazette Hawkeye Challenge tournament records and tied a third, in a win over UNC Greensboro. The Hawkeyes set a tournament record and tied their own school record with 12 blocked shots. That record was set earlier this season in a loss to North Carolina. Iowa also shot 57.9% (11-19) from three-point range to set a tournament record and the 11 three-point field goals tied a tournament mark.
• Iowa attempted more free throws than its opponent in its first 15 games of the season before Minnesota (30-29) and Illinois (31-12) both had more attempts than the Hawkeyes in consecutive games. Iowa and Northwestern both attempted the same number of free throws. In two of the last three games, both overtime losses, Iowa has not been to the free throw line in the opening half.
• Iowa is 11-1 when scoring between 70-89 points and 5-0 when holding its opponent to less than 60 points.
• Iowa’s two overtime losses are the only time in 12 games the Hawkeyes have lost when having more assists than the opponent.
• Iowa’s home loss to Michigan is the only time in 12 games the Hawkeyes have lost when having fewer turnovers and the only time in 10 games they have lost when collecting more steals.
• Iowa has had four players or more score in double figures in 12 of 19 games, with a season-best six players in the win over Western Illinois.
• Iowa is 1-0 when six players score in double figures, 1-0 when five players score 10 points or more, 8-2 when four reach double figures, 2-2 with three in double figures and 2-1 when two are in double figures.
• Iowa has four players averaging between 12.8 and 17.4 points per game and four players averaging between 4.5 and 8.2 rebounds per outing.
• Iowa is 11-1 when leading at halftime and 3-4 when trailing at intermission.
• Iowa is 8-3 when controlling the opening tip and 6-2 when not controlling the tip.
• Iowa is 7-3 in games decided by 10 points or less, including 0-2 in overtime.
• Under Steve Alford, Iowa is 31-6 when shooting at least 50% from the field, including 6-1 this season.
• North Carolina and Northern Iowa are the only Iowa opponents to shoot over 50% from the field this season. Last season, Iowa was 0-5 when its opponent shot at least 50% from the field.

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 Iowa basketball history. 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.

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 69 games over the past three 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.

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: Jan. 31; Feb. 7, 14, 21, 28; and Mar. 7.

HIGHLIGHTS AND SOUND BITES ON SATELLITE
Sound bites with coaches and athletes from Iowa’s winter sports teams are available each week throughout the winter. The video sound bites are available from 3:30-3:45 p.m. CT and include all winter sports, including men’s and women’s basketball and wrestling. The satellite coordinates are ANIK F1, C-6 (c-band). The highlights will be available each Wednesday from Jan. 5 through March 16.

IOWA ON THE TUBE
Every Iowa game throughout the 2004-05 will be televised. Iowa appeared on national cable television (ESPN and ESPN2) in three games in the Maui Invitational and in games vs. Texas Tech (ESPN2) and at Illinois (ESPN). 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
Iowa is idle until hosting Michigan State Saturday, Feb. 5 at 1:32 p.m. The Hawkeyes then travel to Wisconsin Feb. 9 and host Northwestern Feb. 12.