Iowa’s date with Gonzaga headlines Top 25 slate
Third-ranked Iowa has put up big offensive numbers and lopsided wins behind a potential national player of the year in Luka Garza.
The next test — assuming everything stays on schedule amid the coronavirus pandemic — is to keep rolling against top-ranked Gonzaga.
The Hawkeyes (6-0) are set to face the Bulldogs on Saturday in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in the week’s biggest game on the AP Top 25 schedule. But Gonzaga — which remained atop an unchanged top 5 in Monday’s latest poll
— hasn’t played since beating West Virginia on Dec. 2 due to COVID-19 protocols, with five straight games being canceled or postponed.
That list included a matchup with No. 2 Baylor, which had to pause team activities Saturday.
The game would feature KenPom’s top two offenses, with the Hawkeyes ranked first in efficiency by averaging 118.9 points per 100 possessions followed by the Zags at 117.7.
Iowa hasn’t scored fewer than 93 points nor won a game by fewer than 13 points so far, with both marks coming in last week’s win against
No. 22 North Carolina. The Hawkeyes followed by scoring 105 points against Iowa State and 106 points against Northern Illinois while shooting 55% and making 23 3-pointers over the two games.
“Kids dream about this game growing up,” freshman guard Ahron Ulis said after Sunday’s Northern Illinois win. “We’re going into the game with a lot of confidence.”
Saturday’s busy slate
The Iowa- Gonzaga matchup isn’t the only notable one on the Saturday slate.
The afternoon includes 12th-ranked Wisconsin hosting No. 23 Louisville in a rescheduled game, announced Monday, from the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
There’s another ACC-Big Ten meeting that afternoon in Cleveland between No. 20 Ohio State and UNC in the annual CBS Sports Classic, a doubleheader that also features unranked Kentucky and UCLA.
That night, No. 7 Villanova and No. 17 Virginia are scheduled to meet in New York, though the Cavaliers had to pause team activities last week due to COVID-19 concerns within the program.