Wake Forest 76, Iowa 73

I don’t get ESPNU. I discovered that tonight at an inopportune time: just after sitting down to enjoy the Hawks take on the Demon Deacons in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Instead of the game, all I got was a black background with Mediacom’s Blue Box of Death: “THIS CHANNEL SHOULD BE AVAILABLE SHORTLY.” So I had to do with bottom-line updates during the GT-Northwestern and Michigan-Clemson games.

At one point in the first half, the Hawks held an 18-point lead. They must have looked phenomenal. However, Wake obviously turned up the gas in the second half, battling back to put the Hawks down by 10.

For the second straight year, Iowa is beaten in The Challenge by a rain of threes. The final dagger came from way behind the arch with the game tied at 73-73 (I saw the highlights during the Michigan-Clemson halftime). With four seconds left, Matt Gatens tried to tie the game with a three of his own, but it was not to be.

The loss is heartbreaking, especially since the Big Ten could (should) be 5-0 in The Challenge. The Hawks are showing a lot of improvement. I am very eager to see them play Idaho State at Carver on Saturday.