No. 3 Bruins Cannot Take Unranked Iowa Lightly

The UCLA Bruins are back to their winning ways and are gearing up for a road battle with the dangerous Iowa Hawkeyes this Sunday. Despite being unranked, Iowa has posed issues for some of the Big Ten's best, and UCLA cannot take it lightly.

Feb 16, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Avary Cain (2), forward Kendall Dudley (22) and guard Kiki Rice (1) and guard Gabriela Jaquez (11) celebrate at the end of the game against the UCLA Bruins at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The No. 3 UCLA Bruins (25-1, 13-1) will hit the road for the final time in the regular season as they travel to the Midwest to face the Iowa Hawkeyes (18-8, 8-7) on Sunday afternoon. This is an opponent that the Bruins cannot underestimate as the Hawkeyes have given fits to the rest of the Big Ten.

There is no room for error for the Bruins right now in the Big Ten standings as they currently sit a half-game behind their bitter rival, No. 4 USC (24-2, 14-1) for first place. Both teams have one loss in conference, and for the Trojans, it is thanks to this dangerous Hawkeye team.

Back in early February, the Hawkeyes knocked off the Trojans by seven on their home floor, handing them their lone loss in Big Ten play. They will look to do the same thing to the Bruins, another top-five team.

The upset win over USC is not the only impressive mark for the Hawkeyes this season. They are coming off a recent overtime loss to the No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes, a team they took to the brink, on the road. The underdog Hawkeyes seem to play their best basketball against the best competition.

Despite being an unranked team with a sub-par conference record, the Hawkeyes rank ninth in the Big Ten in points per game (74.5) and fifth in field goal percentage (46.1%). They have the talent to pull off upset wins as we saw against USC, but the Bruins cannot fall victim if they want to win a title.

For UCLA, focusing on itself and executing like it has all season will be the main priority. If it plays the way it did in its latest 15-point win over No. 25 Illinois on Thursday, it should have no problem getting the job done.

If the Bruins are able to take care of business on their two-game road trip while the Trojans win their next game against Illinois, the final regular season game will decide which one of the newest conference teams will win their first Big Ten regular season title in program history.

Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @UCLAInsideronSI and @tcav30 and never miss another breaking news story again.

Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.