Iowa’s basketball team arrived in Evanston ahead of Saturday’s snowstorm and coach Tom Davis credited team trainer John Streif with having the foresight to advocate leaving early for Sunday’s meeting with Northwestern.
“John may be the best trainer in the country,” Davis said. “He found out our plane was ready to go on New Year’s Day. He told me he thought we should leave (Friday instead of Saturday) because of the threat of bad weather.”
The blizzard also didn’t stop a lot of Iowa fans. With most of Northwestern’s students still on vacation, Iowa followers seemed to be a slight majority in the crowd of 4,925.
Fewer than 10 inches of snow fell near Bloomington, Ind. But many roads were snow-packed and icy. And whiteout conditions east of Danville, Ill,, and near the Indiana stateline made driving treacherous.
Still, the small number of fans who managed to fight their way to Assembly Hall to watch Indiana beat Illinois 62-53 was stunning.
The actual attendance was 7,249, the smallest crowd in the history of the Assembly Hall, which opened in 1972.
Indiana coach Bob Knight’s reaction: “It shouldn’t be tough for a team to play anywhere. If the darn game is scheduled, you just go play your butt off. That’s what good teams do.”
Elsewhere, other events were postponed by heavy snow and ice, including Cincinnati’s home basketball game against Marquette, which was rescheduled for Monday night.
The game between Minnesota at Purdue was postponed for the second straight day. It was not immediately rescheduled.
The Loyola-Wright State game, originally scheduled for Saturday but postponed by the blizzard, will be made up at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Gentile Center.
Purdue’s women’s team had its Big Ten game at Ohio State postponed. No makeup date was set. Also, the Michigan-Michigan State women’s game was postponed until Jan. 20.
Minor-league hockey games were postponed, including Grand Rapids at the Wolves in the IHL.
Balmoral Park canceled its racing card for a second straight night.
