Iowa Basketball vs Texas A&M-Commerce: How to Watch + Game Thread

Oh hey, look at that, basketball season is here. No, really, it’s here like, today.

The Iowa Hawkeyes are set to kick off their 2024-2025 basketball season as they play host to the the Texas A&M-Commerce Lions tonight in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The game marks the beginning of the Kenny Arnold Classic, with the Hawkeyes looking to start their season strong.

The tournament honors former Hawkeye great Kenny Arnold, who passed away in 2019 at the age of 59 after battling seizures and a cancerous brain tumor. Arnold was a key contributor on Iowa’s last Final Four team in 1980, particularly with injury to star Ronnie Lester.

Iowa should get things off to a solid start in 2024-2025. They’ve won their last 13 season openers and are coming off a 19-15 record in 2023-2024 (10-10 in Big Ten play). The big question as always under head coach Fran McCaffery, will be whether Iowa can improve on their defense this year. The Hawkeyes averaged 83.1 points per game a season ago, but gave up 79.4 PPG.

They kick off the new year against the Texas A&M-Commerce Lions, who finished last season 13-20 overall and 6-12 in the Southland Conference (good for 7th place) in their second season as a Division I program (formerly D II).

The Lions look to build some momentum under 8th year head coach Jaret Von Rosenburg. They’ll have their work cut out for them, however, after losing their top three leading scorers from a season ago. As is so common in today’s game, the Lions hit the portal to help fill the void, bringing in six transfers this offseason.

While there will certainly be some rust to shake off in the first game of the season, this one could be a track meet. We all know the Hawkeyes want to get up and down and play well north of 80 points per game. The Lions averaged 71.5 points per game a season ago while allowing opponents to score 74.6 points per game. With an over/under at 153.5 total points, look for the Hawkeyes to top both their average scored from last year and the average allowed by TAMC a season ago.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM CT. Unfortunately, you’ll need a subscription to catch this one as it will be streamed on BTN+. Here’s a look at the full details.

Date: Monday, November 4th
Time: 7:00 pm CT
Matchup: Texas A&M-Commerce Lions (0-0, 0-0) at Iowa Hawkeyes (0-0, 0-0)
Location: Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City, IA
TV: BTN+
DraftKings Line: Iowa -30.5, O/U 153.5

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.

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Go Hawks!

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