# 1986–87 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team

The 1986–87 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team represented the University of Iowa as members of the Big Ten Conference. The team was led by first-year head coach Tom Davis and played their home games at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. They finished the season 30–5 overall and 14–4 in Big Ten play to finish in third place. The Hawkeyes won their first 18 games and ascended to the first #1 ranking in school history in late January. The 30 overall wins and 14 conference wins remain single-season school records. Iowa received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as #2 seed in the West Region. After defeating Santa Clara in the first round, UTEP in the second round, and Oklahoma in a thrilling Sweet Sixteen matchup, they lost to #1 UNLV in the West Regional Final, 84–81.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular Season |||||||||
| 11/28/1986* | No. 10 | at Alaska-Anchorage Great Alaska Shootout | W 91–81 | 1–0 | 18 – Marble | 12 – Lohaus | – | Sullivan Arena (4,369) Anchorage, AK |
| 11/29/1986* | No. 10 | vs. No. 17 NC State Great Alaska Shootout | W 90–89 | 2–0 | 26 – Armstrong | 10 – Horton | – | Sullivan Arena (3,780) Anchorage, AK |
| 11/30/1986* | No. 10 | vs. Northeastern Great Alaska Shootout | W 103–80 | 3–0 | 29 – Marble | 12 – Lohaus | – | Sullivan Arena (5,738) Anchorage, AK |
| 12/3/1986* 7:30 pm | No. 5 | Missouri-St. Louis | W 89–64 | 4–0 | 14 – Moe | 7 – Lohaus | – | Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,341) Iowa City, IA |
| 12/5/1986* | No. 5 | Delaware Amana-Hawkeye Classic | W 95–47 | 5–0 | 16 – Lohaus | 9 – Horton | – | Carver-Hawkeye Arena (8,340) Iowa City, IA |
| 12/6/1986* | No. 5 | Loyola Marymount Amana-Hawkeye Classic | W 103–80 | 6–0 | 21 – Armstrong | 9 – Lohaus | – | Carver-Hawkeye Arena (9,225) Iowa City, IA |
| 12/9/1986* | No. 4 | BYU | W 86–75 | 7–0 | 28 – Moe | 10 – Lohaus | – | Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,416) Iowa City, IA |
| 12/13/1986* | No. 4 | Drake Iowa Big Four | W 69–62 | 8–0 | 19 – Marble | 10 – Horton | – | Veterans Memorial Auditorium (12,125) Des Moines, IA |
| 12/20/1986* | No. 3 | Iowa State Rivalry | W 89–64 | 9–0 | – | – | – | Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,500) Iowa City, IA |
| 12/22/1986* | No. 3 | vs. Rider | W 104–71 | 10–0 | – | – | – | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA |
| 12/28/1986* | No. 3 | vs. Portland Anteater Classic | W 84–65 | 11–0 | – | – | – | Long Beach Arena Long Beach, CA |
| 12/29/1986* | No. 3 | vs. UC Irvine Anteater Classic | W 105–103 | 12–0 | – | – | – | Long Beach Arena Long Beach, CA |
| 1/3/1987 | No. 3 | Northwestern | W 80–44 | 13–0 (1–0) | 11 – 3 tied | – | – | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA |
| 1/5/1987 | No. 3 | Wisconsin | W 78–63 | 14–0 (2–0) | 16 – Horton | 8 – 2 tied | 6 – Marble | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA |
| 1/10/1987 | No. 2 | at Minnesota | W 78–57 | 15–0 (3–0) | 17 – Gamble | 7 – Horton | 2 – 2 tied | Williams Arena (16,104) Minneapolis, MN |
| 1/14/1987 | No. 2 | at No. 8 Illinois | W 91–88 | 16–0 (4–0) | 23 – Lohaus | 12 – Lohaus | – | Assembly Hall (16,666) Champaign, IL |
| 1/19/1987 8:05 pm, ESPN | No. 2 | at No. 6 Purdue | W 70–67 | 17–0 (5–0) | 19 – Gamble | 8 – 2 tied | – | Mackey Arena (14,123) West Lafayette, IN |
| 1/22/1987 | No. 1 | No. 3 Indiana | W 101–88 | 18–0 (6–0) | 17 – 2 tied | 11 – Horton | – | Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,570) Iowa City, IA |
| 1/24/1987 3:05 pm | No. 1 | Ohio State | L 76–80 | 18–1 (6–1) | 20 – Armstrong | 16 – Lohaus | 3 – 2 tied | Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,500) Iowa City, IA |
| 1/29/1987 | No. 2 | at Michigan State | W 89–75 | 19–1 (7–1) | 19 – Gamble | 8 – Wright | – | Jenison Fieldhouse (10,004) East Lansing, MI |
| 1/31/1987 | No. 2 | at Michigan | L 92–100 | 19–2 (7–2) | 22 – Gamble | 8 – Lohaus | – | Crisler Arena (13,609) Ann Arbor, MI |
| 2/4/1987 | No. 4 | Minnesota | W 78–47 | 20–2 (8–2) | 14 – Marble | 9 – Marble | – | Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,500) Iowa City, IA |
| 2/7/1987 | No. 4 | Arizona | W 89–80 | 21–2 | 20 – Gamble | 9 – Lohaus | – | McKale Center (13,377) Tucson, AZ |
| 2/12/1987 7:35 pm | No. 4 | No. 7 Purdue | L 73–80 | 21–3 (8–3) | 14 – 2 tied | 7 – 2 tied | – | Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,500) Iowa City, IA |
| 2/14/1987 | No. 4 | No. 11 Illinois | W 66–61 | 22–3 (9–3) | 13 – Lohaus | 8 – Lohaus | – | Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,500) Iowa City, IA |
| 2/18/1987 | No. 7 | at Ohio State | W 82–80 | 23–3 (10–3) | 24 – Marble | 9 – 2 tied | – | St. John Arena (13,541) Columbus, OH |
| 2/21/1987 | No. 7 | at No. 2 Indiana | L 75–84 | 23–4 (10–4) | 20 – Marble | 8 – Wright | – | Assembly Hall (17,343) Bloomington, IN |
| 2/26/1987 | No. 7 | Michigan State | W 93–64 | 24–4 (11–4) | 18 – Marble | 12 – Lohaus | – | Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,500) Iowa City, IA |
| 2/28/1987 | No. 7 | Michigan | W 95–85 | 25–4 (12–4) | 22 – Moe | 9 – Lohaus | – | Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,500) Iowa City, IA |
| 3/5/1987 | No. 6 | at Northwestern | W 103–76 | 26–4 (13–4) | 21 – Gamble | 10 – Lohaus | – | Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117) Evanston, IL |
| 3/8/1987 | No. 6 | at Wisconsin | W 81–71 | 27–4 (14–4) | 20 – Marble | 8 – Lohaus | – | Wisconsin Field House (11,866) Madison, WI |
| NCAA Tournament |||||||||
| 3/13/1987* | (2 W) No. 6 | vs. (15 W) Santa Clara First round | W 99–76 | 28–4 | 18 – Gamble | – | – | McKale Center Tucson, AZ |
| 3/15/1987* CBS | (2 W) No. 6 | vs. (7 W) UTEP Second Round | W 84–82 | 29–4 | 28 – Marble | 7 – Marble | – | McKale Center Tucson, AZ |
| 3/20/1987* CBS | (2 W) No. 6 | vs. (6 W) Oklahoma West Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen | W 93–91 | 30–4 | 26 – Gamble | 7 – Marble | – | Kingdome (23,035) Seattle, WA |
| 3/22/1987* CBS | (2 W) No. 6 | vs. (1 W) No. 1 UNLV West Regional Final – Elite Eight | L 81–84 | 30–5 | 18 – 2 tied | 7 – Lohaus | – | Kingdome (22,914) Seattle, WA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | 10 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 (1) | 3 (1) | 2 (3) | 2 (5) | 1 (34) | 2 (2) | 4 (1) | 4 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
| Coaches | Not released | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 (10) | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 7 |

## Awards and honors

* Tom Davis, Big Ten Men's Basketball Coach of the Year and AP College Basketball Coach of the Year

## Team players in the 1987 NBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 2 | 45 | Brad Lohaus | Boston Celtics |
| 3 | 63 | Kevin Gamble | Portland Trail Blazers |
| 5 | 111 | Gerry Wright | Detroit Pistons |
Overall, eight players from this team were selected in the NBA draft.