SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Gonzaga men's basketball will play Iowa in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Dec. 19. The unofficial preseason No. 1 and No. 5 teams in the country will face off at the Sanford Pentagon in a regular-season game.
CBS Sports will produce and broadcast the game on CBS Television Network at 11 a.m. CT.
A limited number of tickets will go on sale later. Masks are required for all spectators and will be available for free at the door. The Sanford Pentagon will work closely with the schools and individual states and be ready to adjust based on guidelines and safety measures for all involved.
"Two of the best men's college basketball teams in the country are going to be playing on Heritage Court and televised nationally on CBS – what more could you ask for?" said Steve Young, president of Sanford Sports. "Gonzaga has always been a team at the top of our wish list to play at the Pentagon, and Iowa is loaded with talent. I can't say enough about these two programs and our staff for working together to make this incredible matchup happen."
A member of the Big Ten Conference, Iowa is coming off a 20-11 season, and a fifth-place conference finish with a mark of 11-9. The Hawkeyes were scheduled to play Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament before the game and tournament were cancelled to due COVID-19 concerns.
Iowa is an unofficial preseason top-five team for the 2020-21 season. All-American center Luka Garza is back for his senior season, and the Hawkeyes have six other players returning with starting experience, including upperclassmen all-conference honorees Jordan Bohannon and Joe Wieskamp, and Connor McCaffery, who led all Division I players in assist-to-turnover ratio a year ago.
"We are excited to return to Sioux Falls and the Sanford Pentagon to compete against a talented Gonzaga team on a national stage," said Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for
Mark Few and what his program has accomplished for quite some time. Adding a game of this magnitude to our schedule will be a good early test for our basketball team and prepare us for league play."
Gonzaga finished the 2019-20 season ranked second in the country, posting a 31-2 record with wins over Top 25 teams Oregon, Arizona Washington and North Carolina. The Bulldogs defeated Saint Mary's in the title game of the West Coast Conference Championships and were projected to receive a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Gonzaga is the unofficial No. 1 team in the country entering the season. Trendy preseason All-American pick
Corey Kispert returns for his senior season, along with
Joel Ayayi, who was named the 2020 West Coast Conference Tournament Most Outstanding Player. The Zags also welcome back talented a front court duo in
Drew Timme and
Anton Watson, and five-star recruit
Jalen Suggs leads the best recruiting class in GU history.
"We are looking forward to playing against an extremely talented Iowa team," Gonzaga head coach
Mark Few said. "We have the utmost respect for Fran McCaffery and his program. We are excited for the opportunity to compete in the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls in a nationally televised game on CBS."
This is the fourth all-time meeting between Gonzaga and Iowa. The Zags won the last meeting, 87-68, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Seattle. Iowa won the first two meetings, in Iowa City in 1984 (62-40) and in Spokane in 1985 (84-64).
About the Sanford Pentagon
The cornerstone of the Sanford Sports Complex in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is the Sanford Pentagon, a 160,000-square-foot, five-sided facility featuring nine basketball courts, including the 1950s/1960s-inspired Heritage Court. The venue combines state-of-the-art amenities—including high-definition video boards and executive suites—with period-specific finishes that are a nod to the nostalgic days of basketball.
The 3,200-seat Pentagon is home to Sanford POWER Basketball Academy, Sanford POWER Volleyball Academy, the NBA G League's Sioux Falls Skyforce, the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Women's and Men's Basketball tournaments and the South Dakota High School Basketball Hall of Fame. For more information, visit sanfordpentagon.com.
