Iowa Basketball vs. Creighton Prediction: Hawkeyes Return To The Capital City

After a tough overtime loss to Virginia Tech on Nov. 10, Iowa men's basketball will look to bounce back on Sunday afternoon. 

It won't be easy, though, as the Hawkeyes will venture to Iowa's capital city – Des Moines – for another key non-conference tilt, this time against the Creighton Bluejays of the Big East Conference. 

Though Iowa and Creighton are far from rivals, Sunday figures to feature a great regional matchup between two successful programs. The Rush Radio Network – an independent podcast network based out of Des Moines – reported earlier this week that over 11,000 tickets have been sold for this game, so it should be a good environment. 

Here's everything you need to know about the matchup, including game time, TV channel, and our prediction for the contest. 

Matchup: Creighton Bluejays (2-1) vs. Iowa Hawkeyes (2-1) 

Location: Casey's Center (formerly Wells Fargo Arena) in Des Moines, Iowa 

Scheduled game time: Nov. 15 at 2 p.m. 

TV: FS1 

Announcers: Cory Provus (play-by-play) and Nick Bahe (analyst) 

Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network (Gary Dolphin, Bobby Hansen) 

Student Radio: KRUI 89.7 (Dom D'Angelo, Erik Lopez) 

Head coach: Alan Huss (1st season) 

Record at Creighton: 2-1 (58-15 career record)

KenPom rank (as of Nov. 13): 53 

Though Nebraska has surpassed Creighton as the more successful basketball program in the state of Nebraska over the last year, don't forget that the Bluejays are just three years removed from an Elite Eight appearance. This is a program that expects to contend for Big East championships and be a regular participant in the NCAA tournament. 

Creighton had expectations of doing just that in 2025-26, but the wheels completely fell off for longtime head coach Greg McDermott last year. The Bluejays were ranked No. 23 in the preseason AP Poll, but slumped to a disappointing 16-18 mark – just McDermott's second losing season in his career and first in 11 years. 

High Point head coach Alan Huss – a Creighton alum – was named Creighton's associate head coach and head coach in waiting before the 2026 season, and sure enough, McDermott announced his retirement just before the end of the year, resulting in Huss taking over the position for the 2026-27 campaign. 

The Bluejays are certainly a more-challenging job than High Point, but considering Huss led the Panthers to their first-ever NCAA tournament berth, Creighton feels like he is the man to bring back success to Omaha. 

The Jays were picked to finish seventh in the Big East this year, but Huss does have a pair of experienced guards to build around. South Flora transfer Wes Enis has been terrific so far (19.7 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 2 APG), as has San Diego State transfer (15.7 PPG, 4.3 APG, 3.7 RPG). 

Creighton will hope those two can help engineer a victory in Des Moines, but Bluejay fans aren't too optimistic about a win after their team fell 89-82 to Kansas State on Tuesday evening. Creighton allowed the Wildcats to shoot 57% from the floor in that game, so that could be something to monitor for Iowa, which was really good from the floor against Virginia Tech. 

This will be Creighton's first visit to Des Moines in 15 years, and it's safe to say that meeting didn't go very well for Iowa. Fran McCaffery's second Hawkeye team was no match for Doug McDermott and a potent Bluejay attack, succumbing in blowout fashion, 82-59. 

Creighton has had some good teams since, but I don't think 2027 is one of them – yet. There's certainly talent on this Bluejay team, but they are clearly still trying to find themselves (only three returning starters).

Iowa head coach Ben McCollum was very upset with his defense in the Virginia Tech game, and while I don't see it completely being fixed after one game, the Hawkeyes are primed for a bounce-back opportunity and will get it in front of some loyal fans in Des Moines. 

Prediction: Iowa 77, Creighton 69