Iowa-Northwestern breakdown

RECORDS

Iowa 16-4, 7-1 Big Ten; Northwestern 15-7, 3-6 Big Ten

TV

2:06 p.m. BTN (Wayne Randazzo and Stephen Bardo)

LOCATION

Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,400)

LINE

Iowa by 14

SERIES

Iowa leads 114-59; Teams split last year; teams' only scheduled meeting this year

PROFILE

Iowa is ranked 3rd by AP and 4th by USA Today/Coaches; Northwestern is unranked

KEY MATCHUP

Northwestern point guard Bryant McIntosh vs. Iowa point guard Mike Gesell. McIntosh leads the Big Ten and ranks 10th nationally in assists per game (6.8). Gesell isn't far behind in third at 6.6. McIntosh is a prolific scorer, putting up 15.0 points a game. Gesell can score and averages 9.0 points a game.

Both teams are among the nation's top 10 in assist-to-turnover ratio: Iowa ranks third (1.74), while Northwestern is ninth (1.58).

KEY STATISTICS

SCORING/OPP: Iowa 81.0/68.2; NU 72.8/66.0

FG%/OPP FG%: Iowa 46.8/41.1; NU 44.9/40.6

3PT%/OPP 3PT%: Iowa 40.0/29.9; NU 34.3/34.7

FT%: Iowa 72.5: NU 67.2

LIKELY STARTERS

Iowa: G Mike Gesell (6-2; 9.0 ppg, 6.6 apg; 3.6 rpg); G Anthony Clemmons (6-2; 8.7 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 3.9 apg); G Peter Jok (6-6; 14.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg); F Jarrod Uthoff (6-9; 18.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg; 2.9 bpg); C Adam Woodbury (7-1; 9.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg)

Northwestern: G Bryant McIntosh (6-3; 15.0 ppg, 6.8 apg, 3.5 rpg); G Tre Demps (6-3; 13.7 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.4 apg); F Aaron Falzon (6-8; 9.3 ppg, 3.6 rpg); F Sanjay Lumpkin (6-6; 4.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg); C Alex Olah (7-0; 11.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg)

KEY RESERVES

Iowa: F Dom Uhl (6-9; 7.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg); G Brady Ellingson (6-4; 3.7 ppg, 0.9 rpg); F Nicholas Baer (6-7; 5.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg); F Ahmad Wagner (6-5, 2.4 ppg, 2.3 rpg)

Northwestern: C Derek Pardon (6-8; 9.9 ppg, 5.5 rpg); G Scottie Lindsey (6-5; 6.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg); F Nathan Taphorn (6-7; 4.6 ppg, 2.2 rpg) C Joey vanZegren (6-10; 4.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg) F Gavin Skelly (6-8; 2.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg)

WORTH WATCHING

Northwestern is in the midst of four consecutive games against ranked opponents, three of which took place on the road. The Wildcats battled No. 7 Maryland to overtime before losing 62-56, then were slaughtered by both No. 17 Indiana (89-57) and No. 11 Michigan State (76-45). Michigan State held the Wildcats to a season-low 20.8 percent shooting on Thursday night.

Iowa dropped its first game in Big Ten play at Maryland, 74-68, last Thursday. The Hawkeyes shot a season-low 20.8 percent from 3-point range. Jarrod Uthoff, the Big Ten's leading scorer, was held to a season-low nine points on 2-of-13 shooting.

'I've had games like before, they happen from time to time,' Uthoff said. 'The best players in the world have games like this. You can't overthink it. I'm going to get back in the gym, obviously, and work on my shot. It's nothing like reinventing the wheel. I just had an off game, and we'll bounce back on Sunday.'

Also, Iowa guard Peter Jok and his family's story will be featured as part of the 100th episode of BTN's 'The Journey' at 8:30 p.m. Sunday.

BOTTOM LINE/PREDICTION

At the outset, this game has domination written all over it. Iowa is much better every statistical category and six of its seven Big Ten wins were by double digits. If the Hawkeyes can get their offense free-flowing, then Iowa at worst wins by 10 or more points. However Northwestern is capable of scoring, so Iowa had better defend the perimeter against McIntosh and guard Tre Demps. The Wildcats also have played real physical with Iowa on defense, which led to upset wins in the 2014 Big Ten Tournament and last year at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

I think this has a 'just get through it' feel to it for Iowa, similar to the Nebraska win on Jan. 5. I see a good effort from Northwestern, which plays just enough defense and is aggravated enough after playing so poorly against Michigan State. But it won't be good enough to win against Big Ten co-leader Iowa, which has its own motivation after Thursday's loss at Maryland.

Prediction: Iowa 74, Northwestern 63

l Comments: (319) 339-3169; scott.dochterman@thegazette.com