The #4 Iowa Hawkeyes (6-1, 0-0) are coming off their first loss of the season. While there’s no shame in losing to #1 Gonzaga, it’s important for the Hawks to limit the damage caused on Saturday to just one game. They’re playing a Purdue Boilermakers (6-2, 1-0) who’s had their way with Iowa the last couple years and well-positioned to give them another L. Boy would that be disappointing.
Anyways, this is Matt Painter’s 16th year leading the black and old gold (yeah they technically have the same color names despite Iowa’s being a yellow & Purdue’s being a khaki) and he’s put together quite a run - a couple shared regular season Big Ten titles, a conference tournament title, a handful of sweet 16s - without ever getting over the hump into the Final Four.