Iowa men's basketball was set to face USC and UCLA this week. Here's what you need to know about the games with the California wildfires raging.

UCLA absolutely crushed Iowa 94-70 at Pauley Pavilion to get back on track and snap a four-game losing streak of its own while Iowa picked up its second consecutive loss. However, the blowout defeat may not be the worst news from the game if you're an Iowa fan.

Lew Alcindor, Bill Walton, and John Wooden haven’t played or coached for UCLA inside Pauley Pavilion since the late 1960s and early 1970s, but the Iowa men’s basketball team allowed the 2024-25 rendition of the Bruins to look just like those famous squads on Friday evening in Los Angeles.

For the second-straight game in L.A., Iowa’s opponent shot over 62 percent and had lots of easy baskets. The Bruins made their first nine shots and cruised to a 33-point halftime lead.

After a solid offensive performance in a loss to USC on Tuesday, Iowa basketball (12-6, 3-4 Big Ten) leaves the city of Los Angeles with a whimper following a blowout 94-70 defeat vs. UCLA (12-6, 3-4 Big Ten) from Pauley Pavillion on Friday night.

Losing Sandfort, who averages 16.2 points per game, isn’t what the Hawkeyes (12-6 overall, 3-4 Big Ten, 55 NET) need right now. They’re coming off back-to-back losses to USC and UCLA, and they can’t afford too many more defeats, especially as they head into a five-game stretch that includes four home games.

The Trojans (11-6, 3-3 Big Ten) never trailed, shot 37-of-57 (67%) from the field, 10-of-15 (60%) from 3-point range and outrebounded the Hawkeyes (12-5, 3-3 Big Ten) 37-20 in the win.

Blood from eastern Iowa donors is now helping struggling hospitals in the Los Angeles area, as the still-burning wildfires have claimed at least 24 lives. Amanda Hess, spokeswoman for ImpactLife in Davenport,

LOS ANGELES — After a stretch of the schedule in which the UCLA men’s basketball team played five of six games away or at a neutral site, the Bruins had four days at home to prepare for Iowa. They studied film of the Hawkeyes, head coach Mick Cronin ...

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Los Angeles has long been a kind of dreamscape ... We may feel a sharpness in her words to shake us all, in Altadena, Asheville, Tampa, and Greenfield, Iowa, as we struggle through ever more fires, floods, hurricanes and tornadoes.

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