The Hawkeyes second half collapse against Michigan State Friday night knocked them out of the NCAA tournament. The Hawkeyes, who haven't been to the NCAA tournament since 2006, will compete in their second consecutive NIT tournament. The three-seed Hawkeyes will host the sixth-seeded Indiana State Sycamores from the Missouri Valley Conference. Indiana State's coach, Greg Lansing, was an assistant at Iowa for seven years, including the final NCAA tournament season. Lansing is no stranger to the state of Iowa, he was the head coach at Des Moines Roosevelt. His father, Dave, coached high school ball in Iowa for 33 years, in fact, Greg still has plenty of family in the Des Moines area.
Beating Indiana State will be no easy task for the Hawkeyes. The Sycamores are led by three juniors, Jake Odum 6-4 G, Manny Arop 6-6 F and RJ Mahurin 6-9 F. They all average double-digits in scoring. Indiana State had victories against NCAA tournament qualifiers, Ole Miss, Miami, Wichita State and Creighton. They also went to overtime with New Mexico before letting the game slip away.
The Hawkeyes have had their best season since 2006, going 9-9 in the Big 10, the best conference in the country. Iowa lost five games by five points or less, including games against Indiana, Wisconsin and two against Michigan State, one in the Big Ten tournament. The Hawkeyes, like Indiana State aren't heavy on seniors. Eric May is the only senior that plays valuable minutes for either of the two teams. This should be a great game and both teams could be dancing next year.
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