Hawkeye hoopers in search of a title

IOWA CITY — Exempt basketball tournaments became part of Iowa's annual basketball schedule back in 2004 with the program's trip to Maui. Every year, the Hawkeyes have traveled to face top-flight competition and arrived home a little disappointed.

In 2005, the Hawkeyes fell to No. 2 Texas in Guardians Classic championship in Kansas City. In 2012, they battled Wichita State in the Cancun Challenge finale but lost by 12. Two years ago, Iowa won its first games at the Battle 4 Atlantis before losing in overtime against Villanova. Last year, Iowa fell to ranked teams Texas and Syracuse in New York.

When you combine those tournament results with early Big Ten Tournament exits, it grates on the Hawkeyes as they enter the Advocare Invitational in Orlando this weekend.

'We've come up short in my career in championship games,' senior center Adam Woodbury said.

The unranked Hawkeyes (3-0) earned a tough draw in the eight-team tournament. They open with unranked Dayton (3-0), which received votes in both polls like Iowa at 8 p.m. Thursday (ESPN2). Last season the Flyers won 27 games, including two in the NCAA tournament. Coach Archie Miller has built Dayton into a powerhouse with five NCAA wins the last two seasons. He's compiled a 93-47 record over five years and is mentioned for every open high-profile coaching job.

'They're a team that plays defense,' Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. 'They can play fast. They've got a lot of different weapons, I think, and put pressure on the ball. So they'll challenge our offense with their quickness and their speed and their ability to create offense with their defense. But they also can score.'

Dayton already dispatched Alabama, which is in the field, 80-48 in an earlier game. Guard Charles Cooke scored 21 points that night and leads the Flyers with 15.3 points per game. Center Steve McElvene puts up 10.0 points and 8.7 rebounds and guard Scoochie Smith averages 10.3 points and 4.3 assists a game.

The winner likely will face No. 17 Notre Dame (3-0), who plays Monmouth (2-1). The Irish, which advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight last year, feature guard Demetrius Jackson (20.7 ppg, 5.0 apg) and forward Zach Auguste (17.0 ppg, 10.0 rpg). Monmouth beat UCLA in the season opener two weeks ago.

Other teams in the bracket include No. 23 Xavier (3-0), No. 20 Wichita State (2-1), USC (3-0) and Alabama (2-1).

Playing three games in four days is challenging, regardless of the opponent. It takes a narrow approach to have success, Iowa guard Anthony Clemmons said.

'I think you've just got to be locked in every day,' Clemmons said. 'Every other day you have a different opponent. You can't look ahead, you've got to take care of business that day or that night. The mindset is really just being locked in at all times and enjoying the process.'

But it's also exciting, Woodbury said.

'They're a little different, but it's always fun to go to a venue like that and have it kind of center around us,' Woodbury said. 'You have three different games to play in. Cool venues, a lot of fans come out and support us from all around the country. It's a fun atmosphere and hopefully we win a title.'

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