Late in the second half on December tenth at the Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa, the Hawkeyes were up by eight points on then fourth ranked Iowa State. The eight point lead was much too small at the time, though, as the Hawkeyes previously had a 20 point lead. The Cyclones ended the game on a 9-0 run and won 83-82. Since then the Hawkeyes have won five games in a row and knocked off two top 15 teams in one week as they beat a Denzel Valentine-less number one ranked Michigan State at home 83-70 and then on Saturday after a poor performance in the Rose Bowl from the Iowa football Hawkeyes the basketball Hawkeyes came back from 19 down to upset number 14 ranked Purdue 70-63 and secure themselves a spot in the top 25 for the first time this season at 19th and should move up as they won’t play another game this week after beating Nebraska 77-66 on Tuesday night in Iowa City and won’t play until next Thursday when they take on Michigan State in East Lansing for the first rematch of the young B1G season.

One player who has made an incredible difference so far this season is Senior Jarrod Uthoff. Uthoff is the Hawkeyes leading scorer averaging 18.6 points per game and is second in the nation with 50 blocks and is averaging 3.3 a game as well as almost a steal per game. Uthoff is not alone, though, as Mike Gesell has dominated in league play, recording his first career double-double against Nebraska. Gesell was also the leading scorer in the Michigan State game.

It is safe to say that the Hawkeyes could be a dominant force in the B1G this conference season, something that seems a little surprising after what happened in nonconference play. The Hawkeyes were undefeated heading into the early season Advocare Invitational before they faced up against the Dayton Flyers. Dayton outlasted the Hawkeyes in an 82-77 win. This was followed up by a 68-62 loss to Notre Dame before Iowa won their final game of the tournament with an 84-61 domination of Wichita State. From then on(discluding the Iowa State game) the Iowa Seniors have stepped up to the plate.
The Hawkeyes’ next game is January 14th at Michigan State on ESPN at 6:00 cst, a rematch of Iowa’s first ever home win versus a number one team on December 29th.