It's been awhile since I've given any updates on Iowa's fortunes, but with such a long break between our finale against Northwestern and our opening BTT game against Michigan I gave myself some leeway. 1st off, congrats are in order for the Iowa women's basketball team, which finished the regular season with a share of the conference crown before losing in the semis of the BTT to Purdue. They should still be rewarded with a high seed in the NCAAs and hopefully they can continue their great year and go on a good run, this is definitely a senior laden squad with a lot of heart and toughness. The Iowa wrestlers are also getting back to the dominate dynasties of the 80s and 90s, winning the Big Ten regular season and tourney titles for the 1st time since 2004 before the upcoming nationals, where we will be able to tell if Iowa wrestling truly is back. The boys ended up getting a much needed, very stressful yet entertaining win over the Wilcats in Evanston in a high octane game that I was afraid we were going to throw away at the end. We played about as perfect as possible out of the gate and jumped out to a huge lead, but we grew complacent and let NU get back in it before halftime. They made more threes in the 2nd to keep it close, but our guys countered with big shots of their own, from everyone, and played the defense necessary to get a big win that is needed for their confidence. NU dug themselves in too big of a hole to come out of, even though they made this a back and forth contest and made enough shots at the end to make it scary. Kelly had a fantastic offensive night with 18 huge points, while JJ found his stroke and nailed 5 threes, Freeman and Tate added plenty more double digit points along with leadership and poise, Looby played with an all-out energy on defense, and Gorney clinched the game with free throws. Freeman earned 3rd-team all conference honors, the only Hawkeye to earn any such honor, as he lead the team all year and provided poise and consistent shooting. Looby was our sportsmanship award winner because of his great attitude and love for the game he just barely learned. Our boys should come out fired and want to get revenge for UM coming back and embarassing us at Carver for our BTT game, and I look for us to win against a team with some talent, but also a team in a similar situation as us with the inconsistency and coaching change. While I address this, I can't forget about my Houston Rockets, who beat the Nets easily tonight for their 19th straight win!! I haven't forgotten about them or jumped off the bandwagon, just quiet on the blogging front. Their defense, the scoring of T-Mac, and the unselfish confidence of all the role players have made them a true contender even without Yao and I look for them to win at least a playoff series. Mutombo has been so inspiring all year and really embodies the attitude of this team. The streak has been too incredible for words, and it's neat to see the fans fill up the Toyota Center every game and create a real homecourt advantage, kind of a tough thing to do in the NBA. Big showdown with the Lakers on ABC this Sunday to see if we can keep the streak live.