The McLeod Center in Cedar Falls will be filled Saturday with more angst than animosity.
Drake enters a 7 p.m. men’s basketball showdown with a 5-10 record, having lost seven of its last eight games.
Northern Iowa is an uninspiring 9-7, despite upset wins against top-ranked Northern Carolina and No. 5 Iowa State.
As a result, the Bulldogs and Panthers have a combined .452 winning percentage -- the lowest heading into a game between these in-state rivals since the 2002-03 season.
“That sense of desperation and sense of how frustrated we’ve been coming off these recent losses has definitely added fuel to the fire,” Drake guard Reed Timmer said.