Iowa Beat's Davidson, Will Play Gonzaga in Round of 32

After being upset by Penn State, the Hawkeyes faced an early exit in the Big Ten Tournament.  This led many to wonder how the Hawkeyes would respond in the Round of 64 in this years NCAA Tournament.  The Hawkeyes were able to combat the loss by pulling off one of the teams most impressive victories of the season, in a 83-52 win against the 10th seeded Davidson Wildcats.  Senior forward Aaron White led the potent Hawkeye offensive attack by scoring a game high 26 points. White caught fire in the second half shooting 8 for 9, scoring 17 points. The Hawkeyes dominated Davidson down low scoring 36 points in the paint and were very effecient finishing the game with a field-goal above 50%. On defense the Hawkeye's were able to use their size to their advantage and did not allow Davidson to get into a rhythm offenisvely. Iowa's defence held Davidson to a season low 53 points as the Wildcats were held to a 33.3 feild-goal percentage. The 31 point margin of victory set a school record for Iowa as the most lopsided won NCCA Tournament game in school history.

With the win against Davidson, the Hawkeye's will advance to the Round of 32 and face the 2nd seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs on Sunday March 22nd at 6:10 on TBS.  Gonzaga will be a tough test for Iowa as the Bulldogs have only lost twice this season by a combined total of 6 points. The Bulldogs finished the season winning three straight en route to the 3rd consecutive West Coast Conference Tournament tittle. Gonzaga has one of the most efficient offenses in the country and ranks 1st in the nation in field goal percentage and is top 10 in both points and assist per a game.

In order for Iowa to contain the Bulldog's high-scoring offense, the Hawkeye's must control the tempo of the game by avoiding getting into a track meet with Gonzaga's high flying offense. Gonzaga also shows strength in rebounding, averaging over 27 rebounds per a game which ranks 2nd nationally.  In order for the Hawkeyes to upset the Bulldogs, Iowa will need to protect the glass and limit Gonzaga's second chance opportunities.  A key match up in this game will be between Iowa's senior forward Arron White and Gonzaga's forward Kyle Wiltjer. White will have his hands full defensively, as Witjer led Gonzaga in scoring in the regular season, averaging 16.7 points per game and over 6 rebounds per game. To add to his success, Waltzer also had a big first game in the tournament against North Dakota State in which he led the Bulldogs in both scoring and rebounding with 23 points and 8 rebounds, shooting an efficient 8-12 from the field.  The winner of this match up will move on to the Sweet 16 to face the UCLA Bruins.

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