On Tuesday the Hawkeyes were flat for the majority of 40 minutes against Duke. In less than 48 hours they must regroup to take on an Iowa State team that embarrassed them a season ago, 73-53. I don't expect Iowa to be flat against a Cyclones team that may be a bit overrated thanks to wins over a now-unranked North Carolina.

This is a sneaky must-win game for the Hawkeyes, and it's not just for rivalry bragging rights in the CyHawk series. First, Iowa is in the midst of a tough three-game stretch across five days that started with the loss to Duke in Madison Square Garden and includes a visit from Wisconsin on Sunday. Those are three strong defensive teams, and Tuesday night's defeat was the worst offensive performance of the season for Iowa. Second, this game could have NCAA Tournament implications, and the Hawkeyes could find themselves as a bubble team in early March. Iowa State is currently a top-30 team in the NET rankings (a Quad 1 opportunity if they finish there), so this is the kind of non-conference win that could be the difference in making or missing the Big Dance.

I probably play this normally, but I don't think Iowa leading scorer and rebounder Kris Murray (19.4 ppg, 10.1 rpg) is playing. He was spotted in a walking boot after Tuesday's loss to Duke and while I don't like to go by message board chatter, well ... While obviously Iowa would like to win the Cy-Hawk game, it's much more important to have Murray healthy for Big Ten play. This may drop to a pick'em when/if Murray is ruled out. Even if he's limited, I think a good ISU team can cover if not win.