Fun Facts: Texas-Iowa basketball

So Iowa is playing the nation's No. 10 team in its third game of the season, and in New York's Madison Square Garden to boot. That's fun, huh?

So this obviously calls for some Fun Facts.

1. The series between the Longhorns and Hawkeyes is at two wins apiece. They've never met in Austin or Iowa City. One game was in Greensboro, N.C. (an Iowa NCAA tourney win in 1992), one was in Maui, and the other two were in Kansas City, Mo.

2. Texas beat North Dakota State, 85-50. Three nights later, Iowa beat North Dakota State, 87-56. North Dakota State plays Kennesaw State Friday night, and there's no way the Bison will lose that game by 30-plus points.

3. Iowa senior forward Aaron White averaged 1.9 assists last year. Through two games this season, he's averaging 5.5.

4. Texas 6-foot-11 freshman Myles Turner has eight blocked shots in his first two college games. He averaged 6.8 blocks in his senior year at Trinity High School in Euless, Texas. Turner is a McDonald's All-American who chose Texas over Duke and Kansas.

For a Graceland.com story on the resurgence of big men in basketball (Turner included), click here.

5. Iowa guard Anthony Clemmons has scored 12 and 11 points in his first two games. He had one game of double-digit scoring last season.

6. Clemmons attended Sexton High School in Lansing, Mich. That's where junior Carlo Marble, the brother of former Hawkeye Devyn Marble, is in school.

7. Texas has 18 NCAA tournament victories since Iowa's last one, in 2001. But the Longhorns haven't reached a Sweet 16 since 2008.

8. Iowa has had five players score in double-figures in each of its first two games.

9. Iowa will play either California or Syracuse in the Garden on Friday. The lousiest game the arena will host between now and Sunday definitely won't involve the Hawkeyes. The Philadelphia 76ers play the New York Knicks Saturday night. The Knicks are 3-10 and the Sixers are 0-11.

10. This 2K Classic benefits Wounded Warrior Project. Few better causes exist.