The Iowa Hawkeye men look for their third straight victory on Wednesday night when they host USC. The Hawkeyes are 4-4 in the Big Ten and have been idle for the past week. Coach Ben McCollum feels the time off was beneficial for his team.

USC is 4-5 in the Big Ten but coming off a 73-71 win at Wisconsin.

McCollum on what makes USC difficult to defend.

Senior guard Bennett Stirtz says the Trojans will be difficult to guard.

Stirtz says the Trojans do a good job of getting to the foul line and the Hawkeyes need to guard without fouling.

Iowa State women’s coach Bill Fennelly hopes the Cyclones have regained their confidence as they get set for Wednesday night’s game at 21st ranked Texas Tech. After dropping five straight games, ISU bounced back with two wins and is 4-5 in the Big 12.

Texas Tech is tied for third in the conference race with a record of 7-2.

Fennelly says it will be a tough assignment for his team.

The Northern Iowa men begin the second half of the Missouri Valley Conference race Wednesday night with a visit to Southern Illinois. The Panthers are 5-5 and tied for sixth in the league race while Southern is 2-7. UNI coach Ben Jacobson says the Salukis are primarily man-to-man on defense.

Jacobson says defending the paint will be a key for the Panthers.

Jacobson says the Salukis will try to use their depth.

In a night full of drama, the Atlantic Trojans split their double header with the Creston Panthers Monday night as the girls won 45-43, while the boys feel 63-58. Makenna Schroeder was the hero of the night for the Trojans, winning the game with a three-pointer at the buzzer.

This capped off a hectic final 90 seconds that saw Atlantic pull ahead, lose the lead, and ultimately win to sweep the season series and move to 10-7. Drama being the theme of the night, the boys’ game was no different. Although the Trojans controlled the third quarter, Creston came on late which set up what would be a back-and-forth final frame. To say the least, certain things did not go the Trojans’ way throughout the course of the game. However, the game ultimately came down to Creston making a few more shots than Atlantic as the Trojans fell to 4-11.

GIRLS

This game was every bit as dramatic as the first meeting back in early December. Neither team pulled away at any point with the largest lead being just six points. Although the Trojans opened the game on a 5-0 run, they would not see a lead that large until the halfway point of the third quarter. However, the DNA of the second meeting as opposed to the first was different. Back in early December, Kadley Bailey was an issue for the Trojans to deal with. On Monday night, the Trojans kept her relatively quiet. She scored just 11 points, only one of which came in the second half. However, this opened up other avenues for Creston to score as Ella Turner matched Bailey’s total while two other Panthers chipped in seven.

Despite the secondary scoring from Creston, the Trojans found a way. Trailing at the half, The Trojans had a great start to the third quarter and built their largest lead of the night. Katrina Williams scored 6 of her 11 in the frame as it looked as if Atlantic might start to pull away. However, Creston recovered and ended the third quarter on a 7-4 run to cut the Trojan lead to two.

Ther was little to no separation between the two teams in the fourth. The Panthers found an answer to nearly everything the Trojans threw at them, which included a pair of Schroeder threes on back-to-back possession. However, Creston hung around enough to get their opportunity. After Atlantic was whistled for a travel, Braylee Pokorny nailed an open three with 10 seconds left to give Creston the lead. With the clock ticking, Atlantic fumbled the ball, and struggled just to inbound. However, despite the chaos Zoey Kirchoff found Schroeder open on the left wing and she got the shot off with six-tenths of a second left to give the Trojans the win. Head coach Dan Vargason walked through the final seconds of the dramatic win.

Despite the Trojans limiting Bailey, Vargason felt that there was still more to give.

The Trojans have a tough stretch ahead, including two ranked teams and the expectations are nothing less than winning.

BOYS

Although the boys’ game lacked a buzzer beater, it still had its drama. Similar to the girls’ game, it was neck-and-neck for most of the night. Gavin McLaren nearly single-handedly kept the Trojans in the game early on, scoring the first nine points for Atlantic. 11 of his game leading 20 points game in the first half. However, as the half moved along, other Trojans got involved. Hudson McLaren and Sawyer Terrell each knocked down threes in the second quarter, while Shelton Mualia and Kale Jensen also chipped in. Despite the Trojans trailing by just two heading into the locker room, they found themselves in foul trouble, which would play a factor late in the game.

Coming out of the half the Trojans played their best basketball of the game. Gavin McLaren continued to be productive and added seven points in the frame, that helped the Trojans establish a seven-point lead. However, much like the girls’ game, the Panthers pushed back with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to just a single point.

Much of the fourth quarter was back and forth. Although Creston grabbed the lead early, Terrell knocked down a pair of threes to help bring Atlantic level. However, fouls became an issue for the Trojans late in the game. Hudson McLaren picked up four fouls in the final frame to foul out while Terrell picked up his last two as well. Meanwhile, Creston was not called for a single foul in the final frame of regulation. Getting to the line benefited the Panthers as Rhett Driskell went 5-for-7 from the charity stripe.  Jaxon Jondle also hit a big three to help Creston outscore the Trojans 9-4 over the final three minutes. Ultimately, it came down to who made more plays in the final minutes, and unfortunately for the Trojans they were unable to take advantage of their opportunities. Head coach Dalton Franken knew that the difference in the game was Creston’s ability to take advantage of the opportunities they got.

The fouls also added to the adversity.

Gavin McLaren led the way for the Trojans and Franken appreciated what he saw and how he’s been able to grow throughout the course of his career.

The Trojans will be back in action on Friday when they remain on the road for a doubleheader with St. Albert. For the boys, they will remain on the road after Friday as a part of a four-game road stretch, while the girls return home to face Exira-EHK on Monday.

BOYS

Hawkeye Ten Conference 

Creston – 63 vs Atlantic – 58

Non-Conference 

Exira-EHK – 59 vs Panorama – 52

Audubon – 74 vs East Sac County – 51

Clarinda – 70 vs ACGC – 37

Bedford – 78 vs Lenox – 48

GIRLS

Hawkeye Ten Conference 

Atlantic – 45 vs Creston – 43

Non-Conference 

Exira-EHK-Audubon – 64 vs Panorama – 38

Riverside – 50 vs OABCIG – 30

ACGC – 62 vs Clarinda – 58

Coon Rapids-Bayard – 53 vs Harlan – 39

Red Oak 41 vs Sidney – 38

Bedford – 59 vs Lenox – 34

IKM-Manning – 68 vs Ar-We-Va – 23

DUALS AT RED OAK

Southwest Valley – 30 vs East Mills – 21

Southwest Valley – 42 vs Shenandoah – 12

Abraham Lincoln – 36 vs Southwest Valley – 30

Red Oak – 29 vs Southwest Valley -28

Individual 

Southwest Valley Winner – Destiny Easley (4), Deklyn Mullen (4), Kenzie Maeder (4), Josslynn Benge (3), Akima Whipple (3), Journey Hartley (2), Alice Bell (2)

PLEASANTVILLE TROJAN DUALS

Creston – 39 vs Ballard – 36

Creston – 54 vs Pleasantville – 18

Creston – 51 vs Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont – 6

Akeny – 47 vs Creston – 27

The Iowa Hawkeye women are up to eighth in the latest AP top 25. The Hawkeyes are 9-0 in the Big Ten and 18-2 overall after wins over 15th ranked Maryland and 12th rated Ohio State. Freshman Addie Deal stepped in for injured senior Taylor McCabe and led the Hawkeyes with a season high 20 points against the Buckeyes.

That’s Iowa coach Jan Jensen, who says Deal has become more confident as she has gained experience.

With McCabe sidelined, Iowa’s depth will take a hit as they get ready for a trip to the west coast.

Deal says with McCabe out everyone will need to pick up the slack.

Deal was named the Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Week. Sophomore center Ava Heiden is the Big Ten Player-of-the-Week. She had 20 points and eight rebounds in the win at Maryland and 18 points and eight boards in Sunday’s victory over the Buckeyes.

Hall of Fame high school baseball coach Dennis Olejniczak (oh-lin-zack) died over the weekend at the age of 86. Darin Svenson reports.

Iowa State has climbed to eighth in the latest AP men’s basketball poll. The Cyclones are 18-2 after a pair of lopsided wins last week and the play of Milan Momcilovic has been a big part of it. In his last three games, the junior forward has averaged 27-and-a-half points and has connected on 18 of 31 from three point range. He feels experience has been a big part of his success.

Momcilovic says his teammates are finding him.

Cyclone coach T.J. Otzelberger.

The Cyclones return to action Thursday by hosting Colorado.