Men's Basketball Notebook: Hawkeyes Are Starting To Become A Hot Ticket
It's going to be difficult to get into Iowa's next two home men's basketball games.
It was announced before coach Fran McCaffery's weekly teleconference on Wednesday that Sunday's game against Illinois and the Feb. 8 game against Nebraska at Carver-Hawkeye Arena are sellouts.
It helps that both games are on weekends — the Hawkeyes have yet to play a Saturday or Sunday Big Ten home game this season.
It especially helps that the Hawkeyes are 15-5 overall, 6-3 in the Big Ten, ranked 18th in the two national polls, and in the chase for the conference title.
"I've been impressed with our crowds, even though they haven't been full," McCaffery said.
Iowa's average attendance at home this season has been 11,393. It's 11,774 for Big Ten home games. Carver-Hawkeye Arena holds approximately 15,000 fans.
Game times for both games are also reasonable — the game with Illinois starts at noon, while the game with Nebraska has a 5 p.m. tipoff.
Attendance for Monday's game against Wisconsin was 12,566. Attendance for the previous two home games — Maryland (11,721) and Michigan (14,136) was hampered by winter storms.
"Our fans have typically responded extremely well on any weekend game we've had in the Big Ten, pretty much since I've got here," McCaffery said. "I'm thankful that it's somewhat a reflection of their appreciation for this team. Our fans have always responded well when they've had the opportunity to get here."
No time off
Thursday's game at Maryland will be the second of a three-game, seven-day stretch for the Hawkeyes.
That means no time off this week.
"We just pretty much keep grinding," McCaffery said. "Cut back a little bit (on practice), watch some film, get some shooting. We've got a lot of stuff to cover."
NCAA rules allow teams to go a full week without a day off, provided they make it up either the week before or the week after.
"There's a formula we're following," McCaffery said.
Nunge's rehabilitation
Forward Jack Nunge, who had knee surgery in December and is out for the rest of the season, is progressing in his rehabilitation.
"I think he's proceeding pretty well — in fact, we talked about this yesterday, he and I," McCaffery said.
McCaffery said Nunge's surgery went "extremely well."
"He's been walking, doing stuff every day," McCaffery said. "He's been diligent, as you would expect. He's really in a good place, I think."
Nunge played in five games this season, averaging six points per game.
All eyes on the Hawkeyes
Iowa's 68-62 win over Wisconsin drew the highest number of viewers for a basketball game on BTN this season.
The game had 505,000 viewers, topping the 448,000 who viewed the Michigan-Illinois game in December.
