Iowa men’s next foe, Purdue, is still No. 1 even after loss at Indiana

Hawkeyes seek their second win over a No. 1 team during Fran McCaffery’s tenure at Iowa

Feb. 6, 2023 12:12 pm, Updated: Feb. 6, 2023 12:48 pm

Purdue's Mason Gillis (0) puts up a shot against Indiana's Trayce Jackson-Davis (23) during Purdue’s 79-74 loss Saturday in Bloomington, Ind. (Darron Cummings/Associated Press)

Iowa will seek its second win over a No. 1 men’s basketball team in its last three tries when it plays at Purdue on Thursday.

The Boilermakers remained No. 1 in Associated Press’ Top 25 Monday despite losing 79-74 at Indiana Saturday.

Purdue received 38 of the 62 first-place votes after being a unanimous No. 1 choice last week.

The Hawkeyes are 3-25 all-time against No. 1 teams. One of the wins was 83-70 over Michigan State on Dec. 29, 2015, in Iowa City. Mike Gesell scored 25 points for the Hawkeyes.

"It was one of the rare times in my career I thought we got, for (lack) of a better choice of words, punked," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said.

Iowa entered that game as a slight favorite. It won’t be favored Thursday.

Iowa has had just one other game against a No. 1 team since then, a 99-88 loss to Gonzaga in 2020 in Sioux Falls, S.D.

The Hawkeyes’ two other victories over No. 1 clubs were in the big cities. The first was 87-82 over UCLA in Chicago in 1965. The other was 70-68 over Connecticut in New York in 1999.

That win over UCLA was something. The Bruins won the national title that season, and the season before. They had won 43 of their previous 44 games before playing the Hawkeyes, who took an 8-5 record to Chicago Stadium, and lost five of their nine remaining games after the stunning win.