The Iowa Hawkeyes open the season at home tonight against Maryland-Eastern Shore in Iowa City. It is part of the Guardians Classic which has 16 teams at four different sites. The winners of each site meet later this month in Kansas City for the semifinal round. Iowa dropped its second exhibition game last week to the Harlem Globetrotters but coach Steve Alford says his team actually got more out of the loss, because they were able to identify their weaknesses.Alford says opening games are always tough because opponents are unknown. He says he likes to coach by preparation, and with openers, there’s no tape to review.Eastern Shore coach Thomas Trotter says they look forward to the challenge.Trotter says the early portion of the game will be important.Boston University and New Orleans meet in the other first round game.