Iowa basketball: Hawks look to extend win streak vs Northwestern

The Iowa basketball game is on a two-game winning streak and looks to make it three when they take on the Northwestern Wildcats tomorrow afternoon.

I will never make the mistake again of calling a game an easy game, especially in the Big Ten conference, but let’s be real here, playing Northwestern at Carver Hawkeye Arena is not like going on the road Wisconsin (which is coming up in just under a month). That being said, it’s important for the Iowa basketball team to not let their guard down and take care of business at home tomorrow when they host the Wildcats who are 12-10 overall and 3-8 in the Big Ten.

Since the last time these two teams faced, the Wildcats have went 1-5 whereas the Hawks have went 5-2.

Other than that, not much has change from Northwestern’s perspective. They are still led in scoring by forward Vic Law and center Dererk Pardon, and they still have a strong defense allowing just 64.3 points per game, good for 29th in the nation.

The Iowa basketball team, however, will look a lot different tomorrow afternoon than they did the last month in Evanston.

In that game, star forward Tyler Cook was ruled out for the game with an ankle injury and center Luka Garza was still coming back from an ankle injury and playing limited minutes off the bench.

Needless to say, Cook is quite healthy and outside of Thursday night’s aberration where Garza got into foul trouble quick and couldn’t get anything going, he has been on an absolute tear the last few weeks.

Much like the last game, the key will be for the Iowa basketball team to play sound defense like they have been the last two game and to put pressure on Northwestern’s defense to force them into foul trouble. It worked well last time as center Dererk Pardon fouled out with five minutes left in the game.

Barring a complete meltdown of every single Iowa shooter, this team should come away victorious in the matchup tomorrow.

According to KenPom, the Iowa basketball team has an 81% chance of winning this game, and ESPN is giving the Hawks an 82% chance of winning this game.

This game will be aired tomorrow at 530 PM Central Standard Time on the Big Ten Network. If you happen to be in the area, tickets can be found for as low a $16 to get into Carver Hawkeye Arena.