Iowa focuses on opportunity at ISU, not rivalry

IOWA CITY - Basketball fans in this state view Thursday's Cy-Hawk game as a rivalry. Iowa players view it as an opportunity.

'I think the rivalry stuff is a little bit more for the fans,” Iowa senior guard Mike Gesell said. 'I think we look at it more as an opportunity to play one of the best teams in the country in a road environment. A way to build our resume, not unlike what we did last year going into North Carolina. It's no bigger than in that sense.”

But ... Gesell also knows it's more than just another road game.

'People try to blow it up as a big Iowa-Iowa State game, which it is. It's fun for the fans and fun for the state,” he said. 'But as players you can't really get wrapped up in all that, and you've just got to go out there and play.”

The Hawkeyes (7-2) travel to Hilton Coliseum to face the No. 2-ranked Cyclones (7-0) at 6:30 p.m. Thursday (ESPN2). Iowa State has won the series' last six in Ames as well as the teams' last two meetings. The recent two losses were difficult for Iowa to absorb for completely different reasons.

With both teams ranked two years ago at Hilton, the Hawkeyes led by five with 1 minute, 21 seconds left. Iowa then committed a series of critical mistakes, from losing the ball after an offensive rebound to missing three free throws in the final minute to whiffing on a wide-open 3-pointer. The Cyclones scored the game's final eight points in an 85-82 win.

Last year, the Hawkeyes trailed ISU 41-35 early in the second half at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Everything then unraveled for Iowa, which committed five turnovers in a six-possession span. The Cyclones converted those turnovers - and a pair of offensive blunders - into a eye-popping 18-0 run and ultimately a 90-75 ISU win.

'They both suck, to put it bluntly,” Iowa center Adam Woodbury said. 'Anytime you lose, it really does suck. I wouldn't say one hurts more than the other one; obviously they both hurt a great deal. We're just going to try to play a little better this year and take care of the ball a little better and try to win.”

Iowa did respond after that loss with some big wins last year. The Hawkeyes won at Michigan, Indiana and Ohio State for the first time in regular-season play since 1970. Iowa was 6-3 in Big Ten road games and also won its first NCAA tournament game in 14 years.

This year, the Hawkeyes have faced five major opponents in their first nine games. They blasted Marquette 89-61 at the raucous Bradley Center and topped Florida State in an overtime Big Ten-ACC Challenge home game. Iowa lost two close games to Dayton and Notre Dame, but beat Wichita State at a three-game tournament in Orlando. Those experiences combined with last year's road success help the Hawkeyes believe they can withstand an unfriendly atmosphere.

'It's obviously an important game on our schedule,” Woodbury said. 'Anytime you face a top-five team in the nation, it's got to have your full attention. That being said, it's an in-state rival, the fans get up for it even more, it'll be a fun game. They've got a very good team, and we're excited to play them.”

Iowa does have five freshman players who've never played at an environment like Iowa State. Senior forward Jarrod Uthoff's offered easy advice - 'don't get rattled” - while Woodbury said the younger players should look to the Cy-Hawk football game as a blueprint for what they'll experience.

'You want them to focus on just a regular basketball game,” Woodbury said. 'But I feel like when we played football, they kind of saw the importance of the game and how big it was.

'Their football team (Iowa State) wasn't the greatest this year. They kind of saw that even though some teams might not be evenly matched, it's always going to be a good game. It's going to be a hostile environment no matter wherever it is. It's going to be a very tough environment for us to play in. I think it will be good for those new guys to get a little taste of it, and obviously we've got some guys who are from Iowa that are on the bench. They know what it's all about.”

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