Iowa @ Syracuse preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 21, 2014 ) Iowa 63, Syracuse 66

Iowa fell short of winning a title at last weekend's tournament, but it shouldn't expect any sympathy cards from Syracuse. The Orange lost both games at their tournament last weekend and hope to bounce back when they host the Hawkeyes on Tuesday in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

The Hawkeyes posted a quality win over Texas Tech at the Las Vegas Invitational but then came up short against San Diego State, 83-73, in the title game. The Hawkeyes were up nine at halftime before allowing Malachi Flynn to score 28 second-half points - Iowa only had 32 after intermission as a team - en route to a disappointing defeat. “It was his show,” Iowa guard CJ Fredrick said of Flynn. “And we couldn’t stop him.” Now the Hawkeyes must turn their attention to Orange guard Elijah Hughes, who is averaging 19 points per game and shooting over 40 percent from beyond the arc.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2

ABOUT IOWA (5-2): The Hawkeyes' best player so far has been Luka Garza, who is averaging team highs of 19.6 points and 10.1 rebounds, plus he has 12 of the team's 25 blocks so far. The junior center, however, is coming off a season-low nine-point effort against San Diego State in a game where Iowa allowed the Aztecs to shoot blistering percentages from the field (51.9 percent) and the 3-point line (11-of-24) -- and San Diego State also shot 18-of-19 from the foul line. Joe Wieskamp (10.9 points) shot just 2-of-10 in that one for five points, ending his streak of four straight double-digit scoring games.

ABOUT SYRACUSE (4-3): The Orange fell to Oklahoma State 86-72 and Penn State 85-64 in a disappointing showing in Brooklyn over the weekend despite a combined 47 points from Hughes in the two games. As a team, Syracuse shot just 33.3 percent against the Nittany Lions, missed 16 of their 22 3-pointers in that one and were outrebounded 57-28 in a performance that had coach Jim Boeheim preaching patience. "I thought this team would take a while," Boeheim said. "I thought it would take 10 or 12 games. (Now) I don't know if it'll be done in 15 or 20 games."

TIP-INS

1. This is Iowa's first-ever visit to the Carrier Dome. The Hawkeyes lead the all-time series 2-1.

2. All seven Syracuse games have been decided by at least 12 points.

3. Sophomore big man Jack Nunge, who was averaging 6.0 points and 4.6 rebounds for Iowa, tore his ACL over the weekend and will miss the remainder of the season.

PREDICTION: Iowa 74, Syracuse 69