Iowa basketball: Hawks look to start winning streak vs Northwestern

The Iowa basketball team is back in action tomorrow evening as they head to Evanston to take on the Northwestern Wildcats. Here’s a preview of the game.

The beauty of college basketball is that if you have a big win or a big loss, you only have to wait a few days to either continue the momentum or stop the losing streak in its track. Tomorrow evening, when the Iowa basketball team squares off against the Northwestern Wildcats, they will look to create a winning streak after beating Nebraska Sunday afternoon in Iowa City.

While the Northwestern Wildcats aren’t particularly known for basketball (save for two seasons ago), they do present a tough challenge for the Hawkeyes tomorrow.

The Wildcats, sitting at 11-5, have four losses to currently ranked teams, and are not as far off from the Iowa basketball team as one would think according to KenPom. The Hawks rank as the 43rd best team according to KenPom analytics whereas the Wildcats sit just eight spots behind them at 51st.

Offensively, the Wildcats are one of the worst teams in the Big Ten. They are 12th in the Big Ten in points per game and 10th in the Big Ten in shooting percentage, but defensively, they are one of the better teams the Iowa basketball team will face this season.

The Wildcats are allowing just 63.2 points per game, tied for 27th in the nation and they are a top ten team in regards to stopping three-pointers.

Matching up against the height and size of the Iowa basketball team won’t be an issue either as the Wildcats are led by two senior forwards, Vic Law and Dererk Pardon who are averaging 17.6 points per game and 13.9 points per game. Law stands at 6’7” 200 pounds while Pardon stands 6’8” 235 pounds. The next two leading scorers, AJ Turner (9.5 ppg, 3.3 apg) and Ryan Taylor (12.5 ppg) stand 6’7” and 6’6”.

If nothing else, they actually pose a size advantage over the Iowa basketball team, which means it’ll be crucial to have Luka Garza back and healthy for the contest. Northwestern’s fifth starter, Anthony Gaines is the shortest one of the bunch and even he stands 6’4”.

Defensively, the one major weakness this team has is their ability to force turnovers. They are averaging just six steals a game, that happens to be the same as the Hawks (who aren’t exactly known as a defensive juggernaut).

While this is a game the Iowa basketball team should win, it’s by no means a guarantee, and KenPom actually gives the advantage to Northwestern. Even ESPN is giving Northwestern a 64.1% chance to win so this would be huge of the Hawks can walk into Evanston and steal a win.

Either way, we will find out in just 24 hours. Tipoff is set for 8 PM CST at Welsh-Ryan Arena.