Tale of the Tape: Iowa vs. North Carolina

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Perception equals reality when the Big Ten-ACC Challenge games are announced every May.

That's why tonight's battle in Madison between No. 4 Duke and No. 2 Wisconsin earns the 14-game series' top billing. But Iowa (5-2) earned its own high-profile slot with its game (6:30 p.m. ESPN) at No. 12 North Carolina (5-1). Both teams competed in the NCAA tournament last year and there's plenty of personal connections between the squads. But if the leagues and ESPN didn't think Iowa belonged in a prime-time slot against a blue-blood program, it wouldn't have happened.

'It's a tremendous opportunity,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. 'You know, I think any time you play in this challenge, you're going to play a terrific opponent. But I mean, everybody knows that Carolina is a little different.

'Of course I played in that league. I coached in that state, I know what that means. I have tremendous respect for Coach (Roy) Williams. I've known him a long time. You know, it's a nationally televised game on ESPN. It's just a great opportunity for our guys to put together a game plan and try to go on the road and beat a top five team in a difficult environment and do the things that we do well and compete against a team that physically is very gifted, certainly with size and speed and depth, length, I mean, all of those things.

'That's what college basketball is all about, being in those types of situations and seeing how you perform.”

Iowa stepped forward during last year's challenge with a raucous 98-93 home win against Notre Dame. Before that outing, Iowa had lost seven straight Big Ten-ACC Challenge games to teams like Wake Forest, Clemson and Virginia Tech.

The Hawkeyes have posted back-to-back 20-win seasons and have played in three consecutive postseason tournaments. Although Iowa has beaten several league opponents during McCaffery's tenure, winning a non-conference game at North Carolina would add a level of prestige for the program.

'You always want a signature win,” Iowa guard Mike Gesell said. 'This would be a huge one for us in a hostile road environment. It will be a good one for us.”

THE MAIN MATCHUP

Gesell (4.9 ppg, 21.9 mpg) and North Carolina counterpart Marcus Paige (15.2 ppg, 30.7 mpg) are close friends, based on their days together with the Martin Brothers' AAU team. They played alongside one another back then (along with Iowa center Adam Woodbury), and now must face each other.

'We both know each other's games like the back of our hand,” Gesell said. 'It's going to be an interesting matchup, and we're going to definitely go at each other. Just because we're friends doesn't mean we're going to take it easy on each other. We're going to try to beat each other.”

Paige, who grew up in Marion, agrees.

'I think I know their games really well, but I also know they know my game really well,” Paige said. 'We spent so much time together. We know everything about each other so there's no advantage there. But I think it gives both teams an advantage scoutingwise because they have a resource they can go to, tips and anything they can pick up from Mike or Adam or Coach Williams or myself.”

Both players stand 6-foot-1 but their trajectories are different since heading to their colleges. Paige was a second-team All-American last year and averages 15.2 points a game. Paige shoots 37.7 percent from the floor. Gesell has struggled this year at 4.9 points a game and has knocked down just 26.2 percent of his shots. Iowa needs Gesell to play the game of his college life against one of his best friends.

OTHER MATCHUPS

Iowa appears stronger along the post with 6-9 Jarrod Uthoff (11.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg), 6-9 Aaron White (16.7 ppg, 7.6 rpg) and 7-1 Woodbury (9.1 ppg, 6.3 rpg), along with 6-10 Gabe Olaseni (7.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg). North Carolina counters with 6-9 Kennedy Meeks (13.8 ppg, 9.7 rpg), 6-9 Brice Johnson (11.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg). Massive Joel James (6-10, 280) and Isaiah Hicks (6-8, 230) come off the bench. Hicks puts up 7.8 points a game.

Uthoff leads Iowa with 14 3-pointers (in 29 attempts) but surprisingly has sputtered at the free-throw line at just 9 of 19. White ranks seventh with 41 free throws made. Olaseni has blocked 20 shots.

'Aaron White does a lot of scoring, Uthoff does a lot of scoring, shooting 14 for 29 or something crazy like that from 3,” Williams said. 'A lot of good things, 119 assists, they force more turnovers than they've had. They have higher percentage of their baskets that are directly related to an assist. So when I'm looking at all those stats, it makes you think that they're more of a team, and that's always the most difficult kind to play.”

COMBO AREA

North Carolina boasts three combo players poised to give Iowa problems. Justin Jackson, a 6-8 freshman, averages 11.7 points and 2.8 rebounds. J.P. Tokoto (6-6 junior) is a versatile athlete, averaging 8.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and leads the Tar Heels with 27 assists. Forward Theo Pinson (6-6) puts up 4.0 rebounds a game and plays 15.7 minutes, while 6-0 guard Nate Britt scores 5.2 off the bench.

'They've got great length, great speed, so you're going to deal with ... they're going to be up in the passing lanes, they'll be trapping at times, so you deal with that, and then they'll press some and they'll play close at half court some, but then they've got a lot of size,” McCaffery said. 'So if you get it to the rim, can you finish, can you make a good decision at the rim? So that's a challenge for anybody.”

Iowa's biggest struggles this season lie primarily with a back-court shooting slump. Gesell, senior shooter Josh Oglesby and sophomore guard Peter Jok have combined to shoot just 27 percent from the floor, 26.2 percent from 3-point range and score only 14.4 points a game. Oglesby and Gesell each average nearly 22 minutes a game, while Jok sits at 14. Gesell does have 27 assists to only 11 turnovers and he led the Big Ten in that category last year.

Anthony Clemmons has been a bright spot for Iowa on offense at 7.3 points. He's shooting 40.5 percent from the floor and 45 percent from 3-point range.

KEY STATISTICS

SCORING/OPP: Iowa 73.7/57.6; UNC 81.3/64.2

FG%/OPP FG%: Iowa 43.2/34.8; UNC 44.9/33.7

3PT%/OPP 3PT%: Iowa 34.3/29.2; UNC 31.6/26.8

FT%: Iowa 72.9; UNC 68.2

LIKELY STARTERS

Iowa: G Mike Gesell (6-2); G Anthony Clemmons (6-2); F Jarrod Uthoff (6-9); F Aaron White (6-9); C Adam Woodbury (7-1)

North Carolina: G Marcus Paige (6-1); G J.P. Tokoto (6-6); G Justin Jackson (6-8); F Brice Johnson (6-9); F Kennedy Meeks (6-9)

KEY RESERVES

Iowa: C Gabe Olaseni (6-10); G Josh Oglesby (6-6); G Peter Jok (6-6); G Trey Dickerson (6-1); F Dominique Uhl (6-9)

North Carolina: F Theo Pinson (6-6); G Nate Britt (6-0); F Isaiah Hicks (6-8); F Joel James (6-10)

IOWA NOTES

- Aaron White is the only Big Ten player with 100-plus points, 50-plus rebounds, 10-plus steals through seven games

- White is the active Big Ten leader in rebounds (706) and is fourth in scoring (1,418)

- Adam Woodbury has matched the same number of double-digit scoring games as last year (four)

- As of Monday, Iowa ranks 20th nationally with 6.3 blocks per game

NORTH CAROLINA NOTES

- North Carolina s 86-3 at home against non-conference opponents under Roy Williams

- Kennedy Meeks is third in the ACC in rebounding at 9.7 per game and third in field goal percentage at .615

- Marcus Paige has 973 career points. If he scores 27, he becomes the 71st Tar Heel to score 1,000.

- The last time they played, North Carolina beat Iowa 106-92 to win the Maui Invitational in 2004. North Carolina's Raymond Felton earned tournament MVP honors with 13 points, five rebounds, nine assists and one turnover against Iowa.

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