The Iowa Hawkeyes play Coppin State today (Saturday) in Iowa City, in their final non-conference game before the Christmas break. Iowa opens the Big Ten season hosting Indiana in Iowa City on December 31st. You can hear the game on KJAN, beginning at 11-a.m.

Coach Fran McCaffery says they want to finish this portion of the schedule on a good note. “We wanna keep playing the way we’re playing, hard, solid D, sharing the ball, a lot of different guys feeling good about their game, and that’s the way you want to go into Indiana,” McCaffery said. The Hawkeyes have been shooting the ball well lately, and freshman guard Mike GeSsell says it’s a matter of being confident.

“Whether you miss your last one, missed your last five, you have to continue to shoot with confidence. We are really confident the players we have on this team can shoot the ball,” GeSsell said. He says coach McCaffery is going to continue giving them the green light to shoot, even if they miss a few shots. While they have a winning record and have been shooting the ball well, GeSsell said after the win over South Carolina State that they still have room to improve on defense.

“You know that was kind of our weakness as a team last year and we still have some breakdowns at times,” GeSsell said. He says if they can cut out the breakdowns they will improve as a team. Iowa is 10-2 heading into Saturday’s game.

(Radio Iowa/Sports)

The Iowa State Cyclones are off until January 1st when they face Yale and then open the Big 12 season January 9th at Kansas. I-S-U wrapped up their final game of this year with a 76-61 win over Missouri-Kansas City. Coach Fred Hoiberg said after their last game that they have some things to work on before returning to action. “We’ve got to tighten everything up. When we’re playing well, when we’re clicking, when everybody is all in together, we are a pretty darn good team. When we are not, we struggle a little,” Hoiberg said.

He says the team has learned from its loses so far and improved. “You know I like the way we’re playing right now…and hopefully we’ll keep making strides,” Hoiberg said. I-S-U wraps up this portion of the season with a 9-3 record.

(Radio Iowa/Sports)

BOYS BASKETBALL
Creston 64, Red Oak 50
IKM-Manning 79, OA-BCIG 49
Sioux City, East 60, Council Bluffs, Abraham Lincoln 46
St. Albert, Council Bluffs 73, Clarinda Academy 59
Villisca 79, Heartland Christian 33
West Monona, Onawa 74, Siouxland Community Christian 31

POSTPONEMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS
Lewis Central vs. Atlantic, ppd.
Kuemper Catholic, Carroll vs. Denison-Schleswig, ppd. to Jan 22.
Glenwood vs. Harlan, ppd. to Feb 4.
Carroll vs. Carlisle, ppd.
Coon Rapids-Bayard vs. Madrid, ppd.
Earlham vs. West Central Valley, Stuart, ppd.
CAM, Anita vs. Ankeny Christian Academy, ppd.
Panorama, Panora vs. Woodward Academy, ppd.
Grandview Park Baptist, Des Moines vs. Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton, ppd.
Clarinda vs. Shenandoah, ppd.
Glidden-Ralston vs. Orient-Macksburg, ppd.

GIRLS BASKETBALL
Council Bluffs, Abraham Lincoln 42, Sioux City, East 37
Heartland Christian 48, Villisca 42
IKM-Manning 93, OA-BCIG 62
Red Oak 64, Creston 31
West Monona, Onawa 60, Siouxland Community Christian 36

POSTPONEMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS
Denison-Schleswig vs. Kuemper Catholic, Carroll, ppd.
Atlantic vs. Lewis Central, ppd.
Harlan vs. Glenwood, ppd.
Carroll vs. Carlisle, ppd.
Coon Rapids-Bayard vs. Madrid, ppd.
Earlham vs. West Central Valley, Stuart, ppd.
Ankeny Christian Academy vs. CAM, Anita, ppd.
Clarinda vs. Shenandoah, ppd.

AKRON, Iowa (AP) — A judge has dismissed sex charges against a former wrestling coach in northwest Iowa. Chad Utesch of Ireton had the charges dismissed earlier this week. They included one count of felony sexual exploitation by a school employee and several misdemeanor counts of the same charge. The judge ruled Utesch, a former wrestling coach at Akron-Westfield High School, did not meet the statutory definition of a school employee at the time of the alleged offenses because he did not have valid coaching authorization.

The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department says Utesch had inappropriate contact with a 17-year-old female student in 2011.