Hawkeyes and Tar Heels tangle in ACC/Big Ten Challenge

Dec 3, 2014 - 4:22 PM Chapel Hill, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - The Iowa Hawkeyes play their first true road game of the season on Wednesday night, as they head to the Dean Smith Center to tangle with the 12th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Iowa is 5-2 on the young season, having claimed all of its wins at home, while its two setbacks occurred against Texas and Syracuse on back-to-back nights in New York City as part of the 2K Classic. The Hawkeyes' have since won three straight, with the most recent being a 77-44 rout of visiting Longwood last Saturday.

North Carolina brings a 5-1 record into this matchup, as the team has won two in a row since suffering a 74-66 loss to Butler in the Bahamas as part of the Battle 4 Atlantis. The Tar Heels responded to the defeat by posting double- digit wins over UCLA and Florida.

Iowa leads the all-time series with North Carolina, 2-1, and this is the first meeting since the Tar Heels took a 106-92 decision on Nov. 24, 2004.

Iowa's strength this season has been its ability to put the clamps down at the defensive end, as it yields only 57.6 ppg behind typical shooting efforts of .348 overall and .292 from 3-point range. From an offensive standpoint, the Hawkeyes are netting 73.7 ppg, and boast a pair of double-digit scorers in forwards Aaron White (16.7 ppg, 7.6 rpg) and Jarrod Uthoff (11.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg). Three others net at least 7.3 ppg for a team that is knocking down 43.2 percent of its total shots, which includes a 34.3 percent showing from beyond the arc, and owns favorable margins in both rebounding (+4.6) and turnovers (+2.6).

White turned in an impressive effort in the recent win over Longwood, as he went 8-of-12 from the floor to score 19 points, while Uthoff chipped in with 11 and Gabriel Olaseni came off the bench to tack on 10 more. Iowa was once again on point when it came to playing defense, as the Lancers hit just 31.3 percent of their field goal attempts, while committing 20 turnovers.

North Carolina has had very little trouble putting points on the board through the first few weeks of the season, as it is averaging 81.3 ppg in converting 44.9 percent of its total shots, although that includes only a 31.6 percent effort from 3-point land. There are four double-digit scorers on the roster, led by Marcus Paige and his 15.2 ppg. Kennedy Meeks is averaging a near double-double with 13.8 points and 9.7 rebounds per contest, the latter figure helping the team log a +4.7 rebounding differential. The Tar Heels are also on the plus side of the ledger in turnover margin (+3.3), while limiting the opposition to 33.7 percent field goal efficiency, which includes a dreadful 26.8 percent performance from long range.

All five starters scored in double figures for UNC in the 75-64 win over Florida in the Bahamas last week, as the team used a red-hot shooting effort in the opening half to keep the Gators at bay. Meeks led the Tar Heels with 18 points and 13 boards, although he was guilty of six of the team's 19 turnovers. Paige used a 9-of-10 effort at the foul line to tally 16 points for the winning side, as Florida was held to 32.8 percent shooting, which included a 6-of-27 effort from downtown.