Preview: Hawkeyes Look to Straighten Out Road Woes at Northwestern

[RobHowe]

Iowa has dropped its last eight Big Ten contests away from home:

LINK

 

[JG10Hawk]

Kenpom/Sagarin Composite:



Kenpom:



Summary:

Basically the inverse of each other. Iowa is more efficient on offense, Northwestern is more efficient on defense. Northwestern plays at a much slower pace.

 

[InGoodCo]

Correct me if I am wrong, but as it stands, this would be a QUAD 1 win correct?

 

[JG10Hawk]

Correct me if I am wrong, but as it stands, this would be a QUAD 1 win correct?

Yep

 

[Tierney]

It will be nice to see Northwestern without that point guard Bryant McIntosh. He killed Iowa in the past.

 

[SidFarkas]

Push the pace
Play the 3-2 matchup
Rebound like hell
Would be a great spot to return to Carver Saturday with a chance to be at .500 in B1G.

 

[WindsorHawk]

NW opens as a 3.5 point favorite.

 

[RobHowe]

I watched Northwestern play at Indiana, where it lost by 2, and at home against Michigan, when it also lost by only 2.

Iowa needs to be much better than it's been on the road the last two seasons. Take care of the basketball and play connected on defense.

 

[Stanzi]

This is a very winnable game. NW's slow pace should also help since they will be less likely to quickly blow a lead wide open. We have shown time and time again that we basically give up once the other team's lead is big enough. It seems to be a sign of mental weakness that the team has had since Fran became coach. If the game stays close or we get the lead early I like our chances.

 

[PCHawk]

This is huge in two ways. One is we dont have enough winnable games to let one slip away. Two is if we dont show we can win on the road in this spot, it's unlikely that we will get the 3 road wins (at least) we are going to need this year to make the dance.

 

[RobHowe]

Northwestern opens as a 3.5-point favorite.

 

[Northside Hawk]

I watched Northwestern play at Indiana, where it lost by 2, and at home against Michigan, when it also lost by only 2.

Iowa needs to be much better than it's been on the road the last two seasons. Take care of the basketball and play connected on defense.

To be fair, 4-11 and 0-4 Illinois gave them all they could handle in Evanston on Sunday as well.

If Illinois pulls down one more defensive rebound they probably win that game.

What's concerning from Iowa's standpoint is that B1G teams are seldom that flat at home twice in a row.

 

[revkev73]

This is huge in two ways. One is we dont have enough winnable games to let one slip away. Two is if we dont show we can win on the road in this spot, it's unlikely that we will get the 3 road wins (at least) we are going to need this year to make the dance.

One doesn't want to start 1-4, usually not a happy ending.

 

[Ian Pike Hammer]

Iowa has dropped its last eight Big Ten contests away from home:

LINK

Simply can't survive in this conf. w/out winning a few on the road! Gotta have this one. If we hit our 3's and get to the FT line we can ride the bus home in style.

 

[RobHowe]

To be fair, 4-11 and 0-4 Illinois gave them all they could handle in Evanston on Sunday as well.

If Illinois pulls down one more defensive rebound they probably win that game.

What's concerning from Iowa's standpoint is that B1G teams are seldom that flat at home twice in a row.

Didn't see that game, but point taken. Bryant almost beat Iowa at Carver. Weird things happen in college hoops. Long season. And, Illinois-NW is a rivalry.

My point was that Iowa will need to play well to win tonight. Northwestern is not bad, which is why it opened as a 3.5 point favorite and that number has only dropped to 3.