Iowa to face Florida State in Challenge

IOWA CITY - Iowa will play host to Florida State on Dec. 2 as part the annual Big Ten-ACC Challenge this fall.

The teams have met only twice historically. The Hawkeyes beat Florida State in the 1988 NCAA tournament, while the Seminoles stopped Iowa 80-67 in the 2002 challenge.

Iowa has won its last two challenge games, outlasting Notre Dane at home in 2013, before upsetting North Carolina on the road last year. The Hawkeyes are 4-10 historically in the challenge.

Florida State was 17-16 last year and 8-10 in ACC play. The Seminoles did not compete in the postseason but return leading scorer and freshman All-American guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes, who averaged 14.9 points per game. Rathan-Mayes also led the Seminoles in assists (4.3 apg). Incoming senior forward Brandon Montay led Florida State in rebounding (5.5 rpg) and steals (1.1 spg) and ranked second in scoring (12.1 ppg). FSU brings back its top six leading scorers.

'They were good last year and they've got a lot of guys back,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said Wednesday from the Marshall County I-Club banquet at Elmwood Country Club. 'It's going to be a really tough game.”

Iowa (22-12) has competed in the last two NCAA tournaments and returns four of its five starters. The Hawkeyes finished 12-6 in Big Ten play and won their final six conference games. Incoming senior Jarrod Uthoff finished second on the team in scoring (12.4 ppg) and rebounding (6.4 rpg). Five returning players started at least 12 games last year.

The Big Ten has won or tied the challenge for the last six years. Every game will be televised by the ESPN family of networks. Florida State has lost seven straight Big Ten-ACC Challenge games. Its last series win was in 2007 against Minnesota.

Mon, Nov 30

- Clemson at Minnesota; Wake Forest at Rutgers

Tue, Dec 1

- No. 4 Maryland at No. 2 North Carolina; No. 5 Virginia at Ohio State; Michigan at NC State; Purdue at Pittsburgh; Northwestern at Virginia Tech; Miami (Fla.) at Nebraska

Wed, Dec 2

- No. 14 Indiana at No. 7 Duke; No. 21 Louisville at No. 12 Michigan State; No. 13 Notre Dame at Illinois; No. 25 Wisconsin at Syracuse; Florida State at Iowa; Penn State at Boston College

Here are the team records in the 169-game series:

ACC (94-75)

- Duke 14-2; Wake Forest 10-4; Maryland 10-5; Clemson 9-6; Virginia 9-6; North Carolina 8-8; Boston College 6-2; North Carolina State 6-9; Georgia Tech 6-9; Florida State 6-10; Miami 3-5; Virginia Tech 3-6; Louisville 1-0; Pittsburgh 1-1; Syracuse 1-1; Notre Dame 1-1

Big Ten (75-94)

- Minnesota 8-8; Purdue 8-6; Ohio State 7-7; Illinois 7-9; Wisconsin 7-9; Indiana 6-8; Penn State 6-8; Michigan 6-8; Michigan State 6-9; Northwestern 6-10; Iowa 4-10; Nebraska 3-1; Maryland 1-0

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