Iowa Hawkeyes start NCAA men’s basketball tournament against Grand Canyon Antelopes

Iowa got a No. 2 seed in the NCAA men's basketball tournament and will begin tourney play against Grand Canyon Saturday at a time and site to be determined.

The Hawkeyes (21-8) have their highest NCAA seed since 1987, when they last reached the Elite Eight.

Grand Canyon (17-6) of Phoenix won the Western Athletic Conference tournament Saturday with a 74-56 victory over New Mexico State after finishing first in the WAC regular-season standings.

The Antelopes are coached by Bryce Drew, who took two Valparaiso clubs and one Vanderbilt team to the NCAA tourney. He made his own NCAA tournament history as a player with a famous last-second shot for Valparaiso that beat Mississippi in the 1998 first round.

Grand Canyon's leading scorer is 7-foot senior Asbjorn Midtgaard from Helsingor, Denmark, who transferred from Wichita State.

Speaking of Wichita State, the Shockers will play Drake in an NCAA First Four game Thursday, with the winner to meet Southern California Saturday.

As for Iowa, if the Hawkeyes win Saturday, they will play the winner of Saturday's game between No. 7-seed Oregon and No. 10 Virginia Commonwealth Monday.

The top seed in Iowa's West Region is unbeaten, top-ranked Gonzaga, which beat the Hawkeyes 99-88 in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Dec. 21.

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