Jeff Johnson

Iowa men’s basketball team plays its final non-conference game of the season Monday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena against Massachusetts-Lowell. Transfer forward Alvaro Folgueiras is coming off his best game offensively for the Hawkeyes and could be a key player for them in Big Ten play.

ECHL hockey players went on strike Friday after attempts at negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement between the ECHL and Professional Hockey Players’ Association failed. The Iowa Heartlanders had their scheduled home game against Bloomington at Xtream Arena postponed, with weekend games Saturday and Sunday on the road against the Bison very much up in the air.

The Professional Hockey Players’ Association says hockey players in the ECHL will go on strike Friday unless a new collective bargaining agreement with the league is finalized. The sides have been negotiating since June, after the current CBA expired. The Iowa Heartlanders are a member of the ECHL and have a home game scheduled Friday night at Xtream Arena against Bloomington.

Cedar Rapids Prairie’s boys’ basketball team began this season with four straight road games. It took almost three weeks in before the Hawks got to play on their own floor, celebrating it with a 78-60 win Monday night over Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

The Iowa High School Athletic Association has released its first official boys basketball rankings of the season. Waukee Northwest, Huxley Ballard, Orange City Unity Christian and Fort Dodge St. Edmond are your numbers ones in their respective classes.

Iowa’s men’s basketball team goes into the holiday break with a 10-2 record after smashing Bucknell, 94-39, Saturday night at Casey’s Center in Des Moines. Believe it or not, Bucknell led the game early, 10-2. Alvaro Folgueiras had 10 points in a 17-0 run after that putting the Hawkeyes ahead for good.

A couple of guys intended to play major roles on this season’s Cedar Rapids Xavier boys basketball team didn’t play Friday night due to injuries. The Saints, who will be a main contender for the Class 3A state championship when healthy, found a way to get past scrappy Cedar Rapids Washington, 67-57.

Iowa plays Saturday afternoon against Bucknell at Casey’s Center in Des Moines, formerly known as Wells Fargo Arena. Hawkeye head coach Ben McCollum said this week he’d like to continue playing games in the state’s capital city, against a power-five conference opponent.

Iowa men’s basketball team takes a step back in competition after three straight games against Big Ten Conference/in-state foes, hosting Mid-American Conference opponent Western Michigan.

The first of two Crossover Challenge boys basketball events is January 3 at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse in downtown Cedar Rapids. Pairings were set earlier this week for the event, which consists of 14 teams playing seven games.

The Gazette sports writers Jeff Linder and Jeff Johnson talk about the Iowa high school boys and girls basketball 2025-2026 season so far.

Cedar Falls used a significant size advantage and significant experience advantage to beat Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 79-43, in a boys basketball game Tuesday night at Kennedy.

How many guys can tell you the stick curves used by other players? That’d be Keltie Jeri-Leon of the Iowa Heartlanders. The 25-year-old from British Columbia is a self-professed “hockey nerd.”

Iowa’s men’s basketball team played No. 4 Iowa State to the wire Thursday night before losing by four. As it did two weeks ago after a loss to nationally ranked Michigan State, the Hawkeyes were able to get an immediate bounce back, stomping Western Michigan, 91-51, Sunday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Iowa men’s basketball team takes a step back in competition after three straight games against Big Ten Conference/in-state foes, hosting Mid-American Conference opponent Western Michigan.