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<p class="maintitle"><span class="Fid_17"> Hawkeyes slicing through
history </span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_15"> By Scott Dochterman,</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_16"> The Gazette</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_5"> IOWA CITY - Iowa's men's
basketball team has sliced through dated markings from its past
the way companies under investigation try to shred their
documents.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_5"> No. 9 Iowa (16-3, 7-0) has won
its first seven Big Ten games for the first time since 1970. The
Hawkeyes swept Michigan State for the first time in 23 years and
Purdue in 12. Iowa has won 13 consecutive Big Ten regular-season
games for the first time since a 14-0 finish in 1970. The
Hawkeyes are tied atop the league standings with Indiana with
eyes on their first regular-season league title since 1979.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_5"> 'We know we're in the driver's
seat right now, we know we're playing well, but at the same
time, we're not even halfway done with the Big Ten so it doesn't
really mean anything yet,' Iowa guard Mike Gesell said. 'Our
ultimate goal is to win a Big Ten cham</span><span class="Fid_5">
pionship.'</span><span class="Fid_5"> Iowa has won five of seven
against ranked opponents - including all four in Big Ten play
and is 7-3 against top-50 teams in RPI. The team's 16-3 record
is the school's best since the 1986-87 squad started 18-0
overall.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_5"> In some ways, the basketball
team has taken its cue from the football squad, which finished
the regular season 12-0 for the first time in school history.
Like its football brethren, the basketball team received little
preseason acclaim despite four starters returning and an NCAA
tourna</span><span class="Fid_5"> ment win last year.</span><span
class="Fid_5"> 'We kind of look at them as they were an underdog
coming into the season and so were we,' Iowa center Adam
Woodbury said. 'Nobody picked either team to do very much,
obviously in the Big Ten or nationally. We kind of take that
same mind-set, that we're always being overlooked and we've
always got something to prove. So we're going to prove</span><span
class="Fid_5"> ourselves to everybody.' But Iowa's winning ways
quickly have shifted the team from hunter to hunted. Seven
different teams ranked above them in the latest Associated Press
poll have lost within the last week. Iowa has won nine straight
overall and beaten six of their seven Big Ten opponents by
double digits. The last time Iowa was ranked in the top five was
Jan. 10, 1989. The last time Iowa</span><span class="Fid_5"> was
in the top three was in 1987.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_5"> 'We're finally getting
recognition for being a great team, and we've always believed
we're a great team,' Uthoff said. 'I think stayed away from
looking at what we're ranked because the only ranking that
matters is at the end of the year.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_5"> 'We came in this year for a
Big Ten championship and looking forward to playing for a
national championship. That goal</span><span class="Fid_5"> has
not changed.'</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_6"> •</span><span class="Fid_4">
Comments: (319) 339-3169; <a
href="mailto:scott.dochterman@thegazette.com"><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:scott.dochterman@thegazette.com">scott.dochterman@thegazette.com</a></a></span></p>
<img src="cid:part2.07040206.09000402@gmail.com" onload="if
(this.width > 460) {this.height = this.height * 480 / this.width;
this.width = 460;}" height="155" width="234">
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_19"> Iowa guard Mike Gesell (10)
and center Adam Woodbury (34) high five Sunday on a 83-71
victory over Purdue at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa is 7-0 in Big
Ten play for the first time since 1970.</span></p>
<p class="abody"><span class="Fid_18"> Cliff Jette/The Gazette</span></p>
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