UNI has beaten Iowa four times since 1990 but a victory tonight would be their first-ever in Iowa City as the teams hook-up for the 35th time tonight in Carver-Hawkeye. Both teams are off to impressive starts. The Panthers are 3-1 after a victory at Loyola-Chicago. The Hawks are 6-1 and have climbed to 17th on the latest A-P poll. Iowa coach Steve Alford says you have two confident teams playing good basketball, so he says both teams are pretty similar in being pleased with where they are right now. Both teams have scoring depth and Alford says the game will feature several key matchups, not just one or two. Alford says UNI’s play has not surprised the Hawkeyes who were soundly beaten by the Panthers a year ago. He says he knows his team is hungry and wants to take care of its home floor. Each team has three native Iowans in the starting lineup and others coming off the bench. Alford says that adds to the rivalry, as he says they each know each other. He says they know the winner gets to “talk junk” throughout the rest of the year and that’s what makes the game fun. Iowa leads the all-time seres with 29 wins to five for UNI but thePanthers have won two out of the last three.
