June 29, 2005
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Iowa’s men’s basketball team will host North Carolina State on Wednesday, Nov. 30 as the Hawkeyes return to the Big Ten/ACC Challenge for the first time since the 2002-03 season. Game time will be 8:30 p.m. CT. The contest will be televised to a national cable audience on ESPN2.
Iowa is 1-3 in the Challenge, defeating Georgia Tech in 2001 in Iowa City. Iowa lost to Maryland in Baltimore in 2000, at Florida State in 2003 and to Duke in Chicago in 2002. N.C. State defeated Purdue in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge last year to improve to 4-2 in the event.
“It’s exciting to be back in the Challenge and hosting an ACC team in Carver-Hawkeye Arena,” said Iowa Coach Steve Alford. “Playing a team from the ACC, you always know it’s a quality opponent that is well coached. It’s a real plus for our home schedule to face an ACC opponent and it makes our overall non-conference schedule that much stronger.”
The Wolfpack posted a 21-14 record a year ago and return three starters and eight lettermen. N.C. State advanced to the Sweet 16 in the 2005 NCAA Tournament with a win over Connecticut before falling to Wisconsin. Coach Herb Sendek has posted a 169-122 overall record in nine seasons, leading his team to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
Iowa posted a 21-12 record last season, making its fifth straight post-season appearance after a fifth straight winning season. The Hawkeyes lost to Cincinnati in the first round of the NCAA Tournament after advancing to the semi-finals of the Big Ten Tournament.
Iowa returns 11 lettermen and five starters from a year ago, including senior forward Greg Brunner and senior guard Jeff Horner. Horner and Brunner have each scored over 1,000 career points and Brunner has ranked second in Big Ten rebounding the past two seasons.
North Carolina State holds a 3-2 series advantage over Iowa, but none of the previous five games have been played in Iowa City or Raleigh. The teams last met in 1989, with the Wolfpack winning 102-96 in double overtime in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Providence, RI.
With the re-alignment of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big Ten/ACC Challenge includes 11 games for the first time as every Big Ten Conference team will participate. Here is the schedule:
Monday, Nov. 28
Virginia Tech at Ohio State, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Tuesday, Nov. 29
Wisconsin at Wake Forest, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN; Purdue at Florida State, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2; Clemson at Penn State, 8 p.m. ET, ESPNU; Illinois at North Carolina, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN; Miami at Michigan, 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Wednesday, Nov. 30 North Carolina State at Iowa, 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2;
Georgia Tech at Michigan State, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN; Minnesota at Maryland, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2; Northwestern at Virginia, 8 p.m. ET, ESPNU; Duke at Indiana, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN