WHO: North Dakota Fighting Hawks (0-0)
WHEN: 7:00 PM CT (Tuesday, November 7, 2023)
WHERE: Carver-Hawkeye Arena (Iowa City, IA)
TV: BTN+ ($; Charlie Fox, Jess Settles)
RADIO: Hawkeye Radio Network (Gary Dolphin, Bob Hansen)
MOBILE: BTN+ ($)
ONLINE: BTN+ ($)
FOLLOW: @IowaAwesome | @IowaHoops | @IowaonBTN
LINE: Iowa -19.5
KENPOM SPREAD: Iowa -19 (Iowa 87, North Dakota 68)
The last time these two teams faced off, in 2016, things got heated -- Iowa coach Fran McCaffery was so incensed by some physical play and unsportsmanlike actions near the end of the game that he nixed the traditional post-game handshake like and simply led his team off the court. Seven years is long enough to allow a heated situation to simmer down -- especially since the North Dakota coaching staff has undergone upheaval since then.
The coach in that 2016 game was Brian Jones, a longtime assistant under former Iowa coach Steve Alford. Jones was fired after the 2019 season, though, and replaced by current head man Paul Sather, who has gone 43-80 in his previous four seasons in Grand Forks.
Sather's best team at UND was actually his first one; the Fighting Hawks went 15-18 in 2019-20. They managed only 15 games combined in the next two seasons -- 9-17 in 2020-21 and 6-25 in 2021-22. A 13-20 mark last season was a small step forward, but the Fighting Hawks are still clawing their way toward competitiveness -- they enter 2023-24 ranked 254 in the KenPom rankings (Iowa, by comparison, is ranked No. 51).
For Iowa, this game represents a chance for a team flush with new faces to get some meaningful action under their belts. In the exhibition win over Quincy, Iowa started Dasonte Bowen, Tony Perkins, Patrick McCaffery, Payton Sandfort, and Ben Krikke. That same starting five will probably take the court to begin tonight's game as well, but there should be plenty of opportunities for Iowa's fresh faces to see action.
The Hawkeyes have a strong (and unusually large) freshman class, featuring bigs Owen Freeman and Ladji Dembele, wing Pryce Sandfort, and guard Brock Harding -- and all four figure to be part of the rotation this season. Freeman had 12 points and 7 rebounds in 14 minutes off the bench against Quincy, while Sandfort was Iowa's top outside shooter in the game, going 4/5 from deep.
Meanwhile, Josh Dix could be Iowa's sixth man this season and provide ball-handling chops as well as long-range shooting. Belmont transfer Even Brauns saw just under four minutes of action against Quincy, but he could play a larger role this season given his size (6'9", 245).
There's still a lot of uncertainty about how all the new parts on this Iowa team will mesh and this game is another opportunity to see how that process is going.
The Fighting Hawks return several of last year's top contributors. Bouncy freshman B.J. Omot (6'8", 175) led the team in scoring (12.0 ppg), despite not shooting particularly well from 2-point range (46.2%) or 3-point range (29.1%) and he's back for his sophomore season.
Georgian (the country, not the state) big man Tsotone Tsartsidze (6'9", 235), a former transfer from the College of Southern Idaho, is also back -- he was second on the team in scoring (10.9) and led the Fighting Hawks in rebounding (5.6 rpg).
The Fighting Hawks also return their third- and fourth-best scorers from last year, guard Treysen Eaglestaff (6'6", 190) and forward Brady Danielson (6'4", 205). Eaglestaff averaged 8.4 ppg; he's also their leading returning 3-point shooter (36%, 50/139). Danielson averaged 7.8 ppg and 3.8 rpg in 2022-23.
In terms of newcomers, North Dakota has added Eli King, a 6'4", 190 lb guard who played in just nine games for Iowa State last year. The Fighting Hawks also picked up guard Tyree Ihenacho (6'4", 190) through the transfer portal; Ihenacho averaged 4.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg, and 2.0 apg while playing 21 minutes for James Madison last season.
Last season, the Fighting Hawks played at an average tempo and had an adequate offense (218th in KenPom's offensive efficiency stats), but a dreadful defense (314th in the KenPom's defensive efficiency stats). UND couldn't force turnovers (327th in turnover generation) and couldn't prevent opponents from getting good looks at the basket last season (314th in opponent effective FG%).
