A ROAD TEST: WFU will play tonight at Iowa

[IE]

Coach Dino Gaudio will road test his Wake Forest basketball team at 7:05 tonight against Iowa in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

The Deacons, 3-0 after home victories against Fairfield, N.C. Central and Winston-Salem State, will return to the ACC/Big Ten Challenge after not being invited a year ago. They?ll play an Iowa team that fell to 4-2 over the weekend with losses to Bradley (67-56) and Utah State (75-62) in the South Padre Invitational Tournament.

Coach Steve Alford left Iowa after eight seasons and was replaced by Todd Lickliter, who built his reputation while coaching Butler to the Final 16 of the NCAA Tournament last year. Butler, the champion of the Horizon Conference, finished 29-7 last season, giving Lickliter a 131-61 record in six seasons at the school.

?The ACC/Big Ten Challenge is an honor to play in, and we?re proud to represent the ACC and hopefully we can go to Iowa and have a good showing,? Gaudio said. ?I think we?ll go in well-prepared.?

Sophomore guard Ish Smith said that the Deacons are ready for their first road challenge.

?I love road games,? Smith said. ?I?m telling you, I love road games. It?s just something about going into somebody else?s house and beating them and leaving there with a smile on your face.

?With 20,000 fans yelling at you, there?s nothing better than winning and there?s nothing they can do.?

Sophomore forward L.D. Williams said he?s not apprehensive about the young Deacons venturing away from Joel Coliseum.

?I?ll go to war with all these guys, no matter where we are,? Williams said.

Iowa started seniors Justin Johnson, Justin Looby and Seth Gorney, sophomore Dan Bohall and freshman Jeff Peterson in their last game against Utah State, but two freshman reserves, Jarryd Cole and Jake Kelly, played 25 and 34 minutes respectively. Johnson led the Hawkeyes with 14 points, but made only 5 of 16 field-goal attempts.

Cole contributed 10 points and 6 rebounds and Kelley had eight points and three rebounds.

The Hawkeyes started the season 4-0 with victories over Idaho State (58-43), Northern Colorado (59-47), Florida-Gulf Coast (62-49) and Maryland-Eastern Shore (65-48).

 

[IE]

Preview: Wake Forest at Iowa


STORYLINE

After losing two games over the weekend at the South Padre Invitational, the Hawkeyes will attempt to remain unbeaten at home when they host Wake Forest in the opening game of the 2007 ACC-Big Ten Challenge. The game is the first of 11 between schools from the two conferences over the next three days and Iowa will be looking to improve on its own 2-4 record in previous match-ups in the series between the two leagues. Wake Forest is 6-1 all-time in the event.

BREAKDOWN

Tangibles: Balance has been big for the Demon Deacons so far this season. L.D. Williams leads a group of four scorers averging in double figures at 15 points per game. He also has been Wake Forest?s top rebounder during its 3-0 start, averaging 7.7. The Demon Deacons have been forcing an average of 23.3 turnovers a game, 10 more than the number of turnovers Wake Forest has committed. Iowa is coming off of its lowest turnover total of the season. The Hawkeyes committed just seven in Saturday?s loss to Utah State, but average 16 on the year. Advantage: Wake Forest

Intangibles: This will be the first road game of the season and the biggest test the Demon Deacons have faced so far this season. Wake Forest has beaten Fairfield (85-60), North Carolina Central (75-58) and Winston-Salem State (73-53) to open the year. Iowa expects to have Cyrus Tate available for action tonight. The junior sat out Saturday?s game because of a concussion. Without Tate, the Hawkeyes dressed just nine players for the loss to Utah State. Advantage: Iowa

 

[IE]

Men's basketball: Wake big test for learning Hawkeyes


Proof is in the tape.

"Coach was showing us some edits," Iowa basketball player Kurt Looby said Saturday night. "What we're doing wrong is just some simple stuff - like two guys guarding the same guy, and then somebody else is open for a jump shot.

"We can't be making those mistakes, because we're playing Division I players."


The Hawkeyes' rapid-fire early season continues with today's 6 p.m. game against Wake Forest in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The Hawkeyes are 4-2 after losing Friday and Saturday in the South Padre Island (Texas) Invitational, while Wake Forest is 3-0.

"We need to learn from our mistakes," Looby said, "because the season is rolling."

Lickliter walked slowly to the locker room after his team trailed Utah State at halftime Saturday, even stopping once to pick up a piece of trash.

He walked even slower after the 75-62 loss.

"It's us," Lickliter said. "Coaches have to do more, I have to do more. I have to figure out a way for them to rise."

Lickliter last lost two games in a row while coaching at Butler during the 2005-06 season - against Loyola of Chicago and Youngstown State.

His last three-game losing streak came in the 2004-05 season - against Wright State, Cleveland State and Illinois-Chicago.

"This is hard for him," Looby said. "He's doing a good job getting us prepared. We as players have to be physically and mentally ready to play the game.

"He can't teach anybody how to get tough. It's all on us."

Lickliter is teaching a new system - spreading the offense, shooting three-pointers, and playing help defense.

"I have to imagine the transition is tough on players," said Bob Hansen, former Iowa star and now a broadcaster on the Iowa radio network. "Todd likes to teach the kids, and he takes responsibility for teaching them, just as any great teacher would.

"Think back to your favorite teacher in high school, the one that really cared about you and wanted to teach you, and wanted to see you get better. That's Todd.

"His belief is that you haven't taught them until they've learned. The responsibility is on you the teacher, you the coach, to keep teaching these kids."

That's what Lickliter will continue.

"There are two kinds of players that struggle a little - the guys that won't do what they're asked, and that is not our guys, and then there are the guys that do only what they are asked," Lickliter said. "Right now, our players are not comfortable with venturing out and making adjustments."

Wake Forest is wearing "coach" patches on their uniforms, honoring former coach Skip Prosser. He died last summer of an apparent heart attack.

"He was a classy guy," Lickliter said. "He always had the welfare of the student-athlete at heart, and he's dearly missed in the coaching fraternity."

 

[DR STRANGELOVE]

should be a great game! go deacons!

 

[BUCSnotYUCKS]

I'm interested in doing HALF bets on this game and was wondering if anyone knew the tempo's that Wake and Iowa like to play?

I'm showing O/U 61 for the 1h, which I really would like to take the U, but I'm not sure how these teams play.

I've done a little research and it appears IOWA averages about 60pts a game where WF who hasn't played anyone, is scoring around 77pts. It's hard to tell because of the opponents they've played.