IOWA CITY, Ia. — Iowa star guard Peter Jok did his best to elevate his team’s rivalry with Northern Iowa on Wednesday.
First, the senior predicted “there’s probably going to be a lot of trash-talking” when the Hawkeyes and Panthers meet at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
During a later interview in Iowa’s practice gym, Jok got a head-start on that rhetoric.
“They hate us. We kind of hate them, too,” Jok said of Northern Iowa.
It’s because of the familiarity that goes back years between Hawkeye and Panther players.