Early Iowa-UNI notes: No Bryce Cartwright; Iowa confidence on the rise?

Early notes from here in Cedar Falls:

Iowa point guard Bryce Cartwright pulled a hamstring muscle within the last few days and will not play tonight, Iowa associate sports information director Matt Weitzel confirmed.

Cartwright has tried to stretch and even participated in pre-game warmups but he's out. Cartwright averages 6.8 points and 4.3 assists a game.

That means Devyn Marble is the starter at the point.

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Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery was concerned about his team's confidence after playing poorly in a four-game stretch, which netted three losses. After Saturday's 75-54 win against Brown, McCaffery hopes the team's confidence level has rebounded.

"I definitely think we feel better about ourselves," McCaffery said. "I'm not sure we were playing like a confident bunch before that game. I don't think we were. We certainly weren't shooting the ball like a confident bunch, and you can't go on the road and win without making shots. So I'm hopeful that I do think we are feeling better after a win. We played good defense, we shot it better but now we've got to do it on the road against a team that's 7-1."

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Iowa senior Matt Gatens recalls his trips to Cedar Falls and Ames in 2009 with dissatisfaction. The Hawkeyes were blown out at UNI 67-50 and then were beaten two days later 81-71 at Iowa State.

"Thinking back, both times two years ago we let both games get out of hand," Gatens said. "Both teams got up around 20 points, and you just got to come out and take care of the ball, don't quick-shoot the ball, especially on the road. You've got to have good possessions and get good looks, and at the same time you've got to get stops, good team possessions and rebound."

Northern Iowa has beaten Iowa four of five in Cedar Falls, and Iowa State has beaten Iowa four straight at Hilton Coliseum. Iowa plays at Iowa State on Friday.