Carver-Hawkeye arena experienced one of its largest attendance figures last night when the Iowa men’s basketball team took of the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame as part of the ACC/Big Ten challenge. The Hawkeyes were able to fight their way to a 98-93 victory.
Iowa was only one of two Big Ten teams to take down their ACC competitor last night. The only other victory for the conference came from Minnesota. The other teams that played, Illinois, Indiana, Penn State, and Michigan, all suffered defeats at the hands of their ACC opponents.
The atmosphere that the home fans of Iowa City were able to create for their team help propel the Hawkeye team to out-perform Notre Dame even though this game marked their fourth game in just six days. Coming off of a long trip to the Bahamas over the holiday weekend that resulted in a second place finish in the Battle 4 Atlantis, the Hawkeyes were still able to pull off an impressive performance against a strong Fighting Irish team.
Iowa was led by the strong play of Roy Devyn Marble and Aaron who were the leading scorers and took charge when the game got tight. To complement the strong play of these exceptional players, three other players were also able to score double digit points.
The Hawkeyes were also able to ride the momentum of Zach McCabe’s success behind the three point line. McCabe came up big for the team during their run in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament and has not slowed down since coming back to Iowa.
The Fighting Irish fought back against the momentum that the Hawkeyes had created in the first half by battling back to start the second half. However, the strong leadership and the influence of the crowd are what ultimately led the Hawkeyes to victory.
The men’s basketball team will look to continue their success when they take the court next on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines where they will face the Drake Bulldogs as part of the Hy-Vee Big Four Classic.
