The Iowa Hawkeyes are set to take the floor in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 727 days after their chance at a run was taken away last year when COVID-19 reared its ugly head*. Now, the Hawkeyes are back in action with their highest seed since 1987. That group made the Elite 8, a feat which has yet to be matched.
Standing in Iowa’s way will be 15th seed Grand Canyon. As we’ve noted all week, the Antelopes boast a tremendous amount of length for a low-major program. They start twin towers that include 6’10” Alessandro Lever and 7’0” Asbjorn Midtgaard that will look to attack National Player of the Year Luka Garza. Without the depth of injured Jack Nunge, can the Hawkeyes find an answer for the size of Grand Canyon?
Despite the size, the Lopes have struggled this season in matchups with high quality opponents. GCU lost its only two matchups with power 6 opponents and went just 2-3 in games against non-quadrant 4 opponents. The Hawkeyes will be just their 2nd Q1 game of the year. Will Iowa’s battle-tested lineup be able to offset the size of Grand Canyon? Can the Hawkeyes keep the defense playing at the level we’ve seen over the last several weeks? Or will the Antelopes be the second team this year and just the 10th team in NCAA Tournament history (shout out Ohio State for entering the record books on day 1) to knock off a 2 seed in the first round?
As we start the countdown to tipoff, here’s everything you need to know about today’s NCAA Tournament matchup between your Iowa Hawkeyes and the Grand Canyon Antelopes.
Matchup: 15 Grand Canyon Antelopes (17-6, 17-6) vs 2 Iowa Hawkeyes (21-8, 14-6)
When: Saturday, March 20th at 5:25 pm CT
Where: Indiana Farmer’s Coliseum - Indianapolis, IN
TV: TBS
Video Streaming: March Madness Live
Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network (click to find your local station)
Audio Streaming: TuneIn Radio
Game Line: Iowa -14.5, Over/Under 145
Be sure to check out our full coverage of today’s matchup, including a statistical look at how GCU and Iowa matchup, the full matchup preview and a detailed breakdown of Grand Canyon’s size. You can find all our coverage of the 2021 NCAA Tournament in the Tournament Central stream here.
Play nice in the comments and Go Hawks!
*You’ll note the thread is also up roughly 727 hours earlier than normal. Forgive us if we’re a bit excited to get back at this.
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