Iowa’s O hopes to stay hot vs. defense-minded Northwestern

Iowa followed its lowest-scoring game of the season with a 110-point eruption the next time out.The Hawkeyes will be one week removed from that scorching effort when they host Northwestern in Tuesday’s Big Ten opener in Iowa City, but rust won’t be the only roadblock for a potential repeat showing.Iowa (6-1) also is bracing for stiffer competition in conference play while navigating an injury to Seydou Traore. The reserve forward suffered a sprained ankle midway through the first half of a 110-77 home rout of South Carolina Upstate on Nov. 26.Also missing frontcourt contributors Even Brauns and Cooper Koch, the Hawkeyes still flexed their resilience and depth. Brock Harding notched a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds and Owen Freeman netted 17 points as five Iowa players scored in double figures.”Coming off a loss, going into Thanksgiving break here, we’ve got a couple days off coming, it’d be easy to kinda (think), ‘All right, let’s relax for this one, guys sit out,'” Harding said. “But I think we really locked in.”Northwestern (6-2) overcame 40.8 percent shooting to defeat UNLV 66-61 in the third-place game of the Arizona Tip-Off on Friday in Tempe, Ariz.

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