No. 25 Iowa gets a visit 36 years in the making when UCLA makes its way to Iowa City, Iowa, as Big Ten Conference play resumes Saturday.
The Hawkeyes (11-2, 1-1 Big Ten) ride a three-game winning streak in which they scored 90-plus points in each victory. The most recent of which was a 90-62 romp vs. UMass Lowell on Monday when Bennett Stirtz continued his strong start with 22 points, while pushing his season average to 17.1 points.
Stirtz’s scoring output is tied for 11th in the Big Ten, and he ranks sixth in the conference in assists per game at 5.2 after dishing out eight on Monday.
The rout in the nonconference finale improved the Hawkeyes to 8-0 at home this season. The next challenge comes from UCLA, which hasn’t played in Iowa City since 1990.
“(The nonconference) schedule has prepared us,” Iowa coach Ben McCollum said. “Our two road games (losses to top-10 ranked Michigan State and Iowa State) were fantastic games for us to play, got us ready and now we’ve just got to carry it over into Big Ten play here on Saturday.”
UCLA (10-3, 2-0) is playing its first true road game since escaping its Big Ten opener at Washington on Dec. 3 with an 82-80 win. Two of the Bruins’ three losses, however, came on neutral courts played closer to the campuses of Cal and Gonzaga.
Since dropping the latter, an 82-72 setback against Gonzaga at Seattle on Dec. 13, UCLA has run off three straight wins, each by double-digit margins.
The Bruins went into their holiday break following a 97-65 rout of UC Riverside, marking their third consecutive game scoring at least 90 points. It is the highest-scoring three-game run for UCLA in coach Mick Cronin’s tenure, beginning with the 2019-20 season.
Cronin recently mixed up the lineup, utilizing more three-guard looks with Skyy Clark, Donovan Dent and Trent Perry sharing the floor. The perimeter playmakers are scoring 14.2, 12.6 and 9.7 points per game, respectively, to complement forward Tyler Bilodeau’s team-best 19.0 per contest.
UCLA looks to find the right combination of offensive production without sacrificing defense or rebounding as it heads into the bulk of the Big Ten slate. The Bruins have a narrow plus-1.2 per-game rebounding margin on the season, compared to Iowa’s 3.4.
“I don’t worry about (playing small) because they have nothing to do with our rebounding,” Cronin said of the guards. “The issue is if you play small, you have to be a tremendous offensive team. You’re playing small because you’re going to spread the floor.”
UCLA also looks to crack an Iowa defense that has held opponents to 60.1 points per game, fourth fewest in Division I. The Hawkeyes have been especially effective with perimeter defense, surrendering just 5.6 made 3-pointers per game — the nation’s 12th-lowest yield.
The Bruins have not relied heavily on 3-pointers, making a little more than eight per game, but have shot effectively as a team from distance. UCLA is shooting 39.8% from 3-point range, 14th nationally.
