Iowa To Meet Purdue In Big Ten Tournament

March 6, 2005

IOWA CITY – The Iowa’s men’s basketball squad will open play in the 2005 Big Ten Conference Tournament Thursday, March 10, meeting Purdue at 1:30 p.m. at the United Center in Chicago.

The Hawkeyes, 19-10 on the year and riding a three-game win streak, earned the No. 7 seed in the event, while Purdue (7-20) is the 10th seed. The Iowa vs. Purdue game will be telecast on ESPN to a national cable audience. The winner of the Iowa vs. Purdue contest will face Michigan State, the second seed, at 5:40 p.m. Friday.

Iowa finished the Big Ten season with a 7-9 conference record after a 74-72 overtime win at Michigan Saturday in the regular season finale. The 19 regular season wins are the most for an Iowa team under Coach Steve Alford and the most for the Hawkeyes since 1998. Alford has led the Hawkeyes to five straight winning seasons.

Iowa and Purdue split two games during the regular season. The Hawkeyes scored a 71-57 win Jan. 22 in Iowa City, while the Boilermakers defeated Iowa 66-63 Feb. 16 in West Lafayette.

The teams will be meeting for the second time in the Big Ten Tournament. Iowa, as the ninth seed, scored an 87-72 win over Purdue in the first round of the 2002 event in Indianapolis. The Hawkeyes advanced to the 2002 title game before falling to Ohio State.

Iowa holds an overall record of 8-6 in the previous seven conference tournaments, winning the event in 2001 at the United Center.

Northwestern and Michigan will meet in the opening game Thursday, while Ohio State will meet Penn State in the third and final first round game. The quarter finals will include Minnesota vs. Indiana, Illinois vs. Northwestern or Michigan, Michigan State vs. Iowa or Purdue and Wisconsin vs. Ohio State or Penn State.

Click HERE for complete information on the 2005 Big Ten Tournament.