Hawkeye men start rugged 2 days in San Diego by playing Oklahoma Thursday

The last time Iowa played Oklahoma in men’s basketball? Oh, what a night.

Oklahoma opened a 37-21 lead. Iowa scored 19 straight points. The Sooners pulled back ahead for a 41-40 halftime edge.

The game went to overtime. Iowa led 90-85 with three minutes left. Oklahoma peeled off six straight points. The Hawkeyes had the ball with 51 seconds left. B.J. Armstrong missed a 3-pointer and Iowa rebounded. Roy Marble missed a shot, the rebound was tapped out of bounds, and Iowa kept possession with 11 seconds remaining.

Finally, Armstrong passed to Kevin Gamble who swished a 3-pointer with three seconds left, and Iowa got a 93-91 NCAA tournament West Regional semifinal win on a Friday night in Seattle’s Kingdome.

That was 1987.

The Kingdome is gone. Never has a Hawkeyes men’s team gone so deep in the NCAAs since. And Thursday’s Iowa-Oklahoma meeting (2 p.m., CT, FS1) is a lot farther down the Pacific coast, in San Diego.

It’s not in a football stadium, but rather the 5,000-seat LionTree Arena on the campus of UC San Diego. It’s a first-round game in the Rady Children’s Hospital Invitational. Four teams from four major conferences are the invitees, with USC and Seton Hall the others.

So, the Hawkeyes have the chance to add one or two good wins to their account should such things matter in March, which they probably will.

It starts with Oklahoma, a 4-0 team that hasn’t met an opponent rivaling the Creighton club that is the only one to defeat 3-1 Iowa.

The Sooners are the modern-day college basketball team. Meaning, they went heavy in the NCAA transfer portal after going 15-17 last season and 5-13 in the Big 12.

Coach Porter Moser brought in players from Georgia Tech, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Siena and Utah Valley, all of whom are in his rotation.

Iowa has had more roster stability, but its one transfer this season has played up a storm lately. Senior power forward Ben Krikke has tallied 49 points over his last two games.

Krikke will contend with 6-foot-10 Oklahoma senior center Sam Godwin, tied for second in the nation in offensive rebounds with five per game. He transferred from Wofford before last season.

Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said Wednesday that his friend Moser’s team “has got depth. Probably more than he’s had in a long time. He can go small and quick. He’s got size. He’s got a number of different guys score. Probably his most-athletic team. They’ve got a lot of speed and quickness and athletic ability, flying to the glass.”

The game won’t have the impact of the last Iowa-Oklahoma clash, but it should be entertaining. The Sooners press and run. The Hawkeyes press and run.

Then the Hawkeyes will play again Friday, either against Seton Hall (4-0) or USC (3-1) at 5 p.m. (CT) Friday, depending on Thursday’s results.

Comments: (319) 398-8440; mike.hlas@thegazette.com