College basketball schedule: Bragging rights on the line in the Hawkeye State

With exam week in full swing around the country, not many teams have been in action these last few days. Friday features a relatively light slate as well, but college basketball fans will still be treated to a good one.

After a couple ranked teams take the court earlier in the evening, all eyes will turn to the Hawkeye State at 9:30 p.m. for a showdown between No. 23 Iowa and No. 17 Iowa State in Ames.

Here’s the full schedule for Friday night. All times Eastern:

Arkansas-Little Rock vs. No. 16 Memphis (8 p.m., ESPN3)

Winners of five straight, the Tigers get a guarantee game on Friday when the Trojans come to town. The game will serve as a tune-up before Memphis faces No. 19 Florida on Dec. 17 in the Jimmy V Classic. Through seven games, Memphis has been stellar offensively, ranking in the top 30 in points per game (86.4) and field goal percentage (49.4%). Arkansas-Little Rock comes into the game 3-5 with just one win over Division I competition.

Elon vs. No. 21 Colorado (8:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network)

Since opening its season with a loss to Baylor, Colorado has won nine in a row, including victories over Harvard, then-No. 6 Kansas and at Colorado State. Five of those wins have come by single digits, but the Buffaloes figure to have a little wider a margin for error on Friday before a game with Oklahoma State on Dec. 21. Colorado is one of three ranked teams in the Pac-12 and is led by Spencer Dinwiddle, who is putting up 15.3 points per game.

No. 23 Iowa vs. No. 17 Iowa State (9:30 p.m., ESPNU)

This in-state rivalry game should be better than the powers-that-be at ESPN had counted on, seeing that it was relegated to ESPNU. The last time these two teams met as ranked squads was 1987 and this will be the first game of the season for Iowa as a member of the Top 25. The Hawkeyes and Cyclones are a combined 17-1 this season and represent two of the best scoring teams in the country. Iowa State leads the nation in scoring with 91.7 points per game, led by Melvin Ejim’s 18 per contest. Iowa has put up 89.5 a game.

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