Battle of Unbeaten Teams Tuesday Night in Iowa City

It's only late November, but Tuesday night's game in Iowa City is a biggie. The Iowa Hawkeyes, 5-0 and ranked 14th in the nation, take on an undefeated team looking for respect.

Iowa hosts 6-0 Pittsburgh Tuesday evening. The Panthers aren't ranked, despite their undefeated record. While Iowa has defeated Connecticut and Oregon in its first five games, there have been no marquee names on the Pittsburgh schedule to this point. Ranked teams Duke, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Florida State all appear on the Panthers schedule later in the season. The ACC will be about as much fun this year as the Big 10 where six teams, besides Iowa, are ranked in the Top 25.

Pittsburgh is averaging nearly 82 points per game this year and is giving up just 65 points-per-game (ppg). They have four players averaging at least 9.3 ppg, according to information provided by the University of Iowa Sports Information Department.

Iowa has averaged nearly 89 points-per-game to this point and totally demolished Alabama State last Wednesday night. Those victories over UConn and Oregon in New York City were impressive and convincing.

It's been nearly 21 months since Pittsburgh last won a road game, in February of 2017. They'll want this one. Badly. Iowa has been improving greatly and with games with #22 Wisconsin Friday night and at #9 Michigan State next Monday this season could take an ugly turn very quickly. That's what makes Tuesday night's game so important for the Hawks. It's likely to be a physical contest featuring two top-notch conferences. Keep the momentum, Hawks.

Tip-off is 8:05 Tuesday night inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena and on ESPNU.