# 1969–70 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team

The 1969–70 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team represented the University of Iowa in intercollegiate basketball during the 1969–70 season. The team was led by Ralph Miller and played their home games at the Iowa Field House. The Hawkeyes finished the season 20–5 and won the Big Ten title with a 14–0 conference record. To date, this is the last outright regular season conference title for the Iowa men's basketball team.
After opening the season 3–4, the Hawkeyes won 17 of their final 18 games. Led by a nucleus of players known as the "Six Pack" – John Johnson, Chad Calabria, Fred Brown, Glenn "Stick" Vidnovic, Dick Jensen, and Ben McGilmer – the team averaged 98.7 points per game including a conference-record 102.9 points per game in Big Ten games. They opened NCAA tournament play with a 104–103 loss to eventual National runner-up Jacksonville. The Hawkeyes regrouped to defeat Notre Dame 121–106 in the Mideast Regional Third-Place game.

## Schedule/results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season |||||||||
| 12/6/1969* | | at Southern Illinois | L 67–73 | 0–1 | – | – | – | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| 12/9/1969* | | St. Francis (PA) | W 81–68 | 1–1 | – | – | – | Iowa Field House (12,909) Iowa City, IA |
| 12/11/1969* | | No. 7 Duquesne | W 98–87 | 2–1 | 23 – Vidnovic | 13 – Johnson | – | Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA |
| 12/18/1969* | | at Cincinnati | L 105–114 | 2–2 | 33 – Johnson | – | – | Armory Fieldhouse (7,000) Cincinnati, Ohio |
| 12/20/1969* | | Creighton | L 88–97 | 2–3 | – | – | – | Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA |
| 12/22/1969* | | Drake Rivalry | W 101–78 | 3–3 | 23 – Calabria | 13 – Johnson | – | Iowa Field House (13,503) Iowa City, IA |
| 12/26/1969* | | vs. St. John's Rainbow Classic | L 55–57 | 3–4 | – | – | – | Honolulu International Center Honolulu |
| 12/30/1969* | | at Hawaii Rainbow Classic | W 111–60 | 4–4 | 33 – Johnson | – | – | Honolulu International Center Honolulu, HI |
| 1/3/1970 | | No. 17 Purdue | W 94–88 | 5–4 (1–0) | – | – | – | Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA |
| 1/6/1970 | | at Michigan | W 107–99 | 6–4 (2–0) | 34 – Johnson | – | – | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| 1/10/1970 | | at Wisconsin | W 92–74 | 7–4 (3–0) | 31 – Johnson | – | – | Wisconsin Field House Madison, Wisconsin |
| 1/24/1970* | No. 20 | Tennessee Tech | W 96–68 | 8–4 | 25 – Calabria | 11 – McGilmer | – | Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA |
| 1/31/1970 | No. 20 | Indiana | W 100–93 | 9–4 (4–0) | 31 – Vidnovic | – | – | Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA |
| 2/3/1970 | No. 20 | Minnesota | W 90–77 | 10–4 (5–0) | 33 – Johnson | – | – | Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA |
| 2/7/1970 | No. 20 | at Indiana | W 104–89 | 11–4 (6–0) | 33 – Johnson | – | – | New Fieldhouse Bloomington, Indiana |
| 2/10/1970 | No. 14 | Wisconsin | W 119–100 | 12–4 (7–0) | 29 – Tied | 8 – Johnson | – | Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA |
| 2/14/1970 | No. 14 | Michigan State | W 103–77 | 13–4 (8–0) | 36 – Johnson | – | – | Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA |
| 2/17/1970 | No. 11 | at Illinois Rivalry | W 83–81 | 14–4 (9–0) | 22 – Brown | – | – | Assembly Hall (16,128) Champaign, Illinois |
| 2/21/1970 | No. 11 | at Ohio State | W 97–89 | 15–4 (10–0) | 38 – Johnson | – | – | St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio |
| 2/24/1970 7:30 pm | No. 9 | Northwestern | W 116–97 | 16–4 (11–0) | 49 – Johnson | – | – | Iowa Field House (13,503) Iowa City, IA |
| 2/28/1970 | No. 9 | at Purdue | W 108–107 | 17–4 (12–0) | 26 – Johnson | 12 – Johnson | – | Purdue Arena (14,123) West Lafayette, Indiana |
| 3/3/1970 7:30 pm | No. 8 | Ohio State | W 113–92 | 18–4 (13–0) | 37 – Johnson | – | – | Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA |
| 3/7/1970 | No. 8 | at Northwestern | W 115–101 | 19–4 (14–0) | 32 – Johnson | – | – | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, Illinois |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| 3/12/1970* | No. 7 | vs. No. 4 Jacksonville Regional semifinal | L 103–104 | 19–5 | 27 – Brown | 8 – Tied | – | St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio |
| 3/14/1970* | No. 7 | vs. No. 9 Notre Dame Regional consolation | W 121–106 | 20–5 | 31 – Tied | 11 – Vidnovic | – | St. John Arena (13,865) Columbus, Ohio |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked :
| | 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 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 18 | 20 | 20 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 7 |
| Coaches | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 11 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 |

## Player stats

| Player | Games Played | FG-FGA | FG% | FT-FTA | FT% | Rebounds | Points | Avg. |
| John Johnson | 25 | 289-508 | .569 | 121-161 | .752 | 253 | 699 | 27.9 |
| Chad Calabria | 25 | 181-330 | .548 | 117-146 | .801 | 139 | 479 | 19.1 |
| Fred Brown | 24 | 180-360 | .500 | 69-86 | .802 | 91 | 429 | 17.9 |
| Glenn Vidnovic | 25 | 150-278 | .540 | 133-152 | .875 | 164 | 433 | 17.3 |
| Ben McGilmer | 25 | 100-178 | .562 | 58-70 | .829 | 109 | 258 | 10.3 |
| Dick Jensen | 23 | 29-80 | .363 | 14-29 | .483 | 111 | 72 | 3.1 |

## Awards and honors

* John Johnson – Third-Team All-American, AP and UPI; school-records of 27.9 ppg and 49 points in a single game vs. Northwestern on Feb. 24, 1970

## Team players in the 1970 NBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 1 | 7 | John Johnson | Cleveland Cavaliers |