Iowa Women's and Men's Basketball announce December 16th doubleheader at Wells Fargo Arena
The Hawkeyes are coming to Des Moines next basketball season. The Iowa Athletic Department announced on Wednesday morning that the men’s and women’s team will host a doubleheader at Wells Fargo Arena on December 16th. The men’s team will face Florida A&M, while the women’s team will take on Cleveland State. It will be the first time in program history that the Iowa women play at Wells Fargo Arena, while the men’s team will be making their ninth appearance.
“We’re excited to play in our state’s capital at Wells Fargo Arena,” said Lisa Bluder in a press release from the school. “It will be another great opportunity for both the men’s and women’s programs at Iowa to play in front of Hawkeye fans in Des Moines.”
“We look forward to returning to Des Moines for this unique event at Wells Fargo Arena,” said Fran McCaffery. “This men’s and women’s basketball doubleheader gives Hawkeye fans in central Iowa the opportunity to see both programs play close to home.”
It will be the first meeting between Iowa and Florida A&M, while it will be the Hawkeyes 18th meeting against a team from the SWAC. The Rattlers finished last season with a 7-22 record and were 11th in the SWAC standings. They played a brutal non-conference slate that included eight road games against power conference schools. The Rattlers will be led by 6’7 F Jaylen Bates. He averaged 9.0 points and 7.1 rebounds last season.
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The Iowa men’s team will be led by seniors Patrick McCaffery and Tony Perkins. They also return junior Payton Sandfort and have brought in a pair of transfers from mid-major schools. 6’9 F/C Ben Krikke transfers in from Valparaiso, while 6’9 C Evan Brauns recently announced his transfer to Iowa from Belmont. The Hawkeyes finished last season with a 19-14 record and made the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive season before falling to Auburn in the first round.
On the women’s side, it will be the first meeting between Iowa and Cleveland State. The Hawkeyes are 10-1 all-time against Horizon League teams, with their lone loss coming against IUPUI back in 2021. The Cleveland State Vikings finished last season with a 30-5 record, including a second place finish in the conference. They defeated Green Bay in the Horizon League Championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament as a 13 seed where they fell to Villanova in the opening round. The Vikings will be led by senior guard Destiny Leo, who averaged 17.9 points per game last season.
The Iowa women’s team returns three starters, including National Player of the Year Caitlin Clark, who averaged 27.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 8.6 assists for a Hawkeye squad that advanced to the National Championship game. They also return starting guards Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall, as well as Big Ten Sixth Player of they Year Hannah Stuelke.
Tip times for the doubleheader will be announced at a later date.
