The Iowa Hawkeyes vs. The Drake Bulldogs

On December 19, 2015, the Iowa Hawkeyes faced off against the Drake Bulldogs in the Hy-Vee Classic. Each year, the Iowa Hawkeyes face off against either Drake or UNI in the Big Four Classic while the Iowa State Cyclones play the other team. This year, the Hawks looked to come away with a win, after losing last year to UNI and losing last week in a heartbreaker against the Cyclones. While the Drake Bulldogs are not quite as good as the other three teams from the state of Iowa, they definitely came to play to try and upset the struggling Hawkeyes.  They played very well in the first half staying neck-and-neck with the Hawks through the first half. Going into the second half, the game was tied at 30 apiece. Iowa managed to pull off a 6-point win however with a strong 17 point performance from Mike Gesell. The Hawkeyes also managed to block a school-record 14 shots led by the freshman out Bettendorf, Iowa, Nicholas Baer. The Hawks will look to continue this momentum on Tuesday at Iowa City, against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles.