Iowa Values, Maryland Basketball. Prior to the tip-off of tonight's Terps game at UNI, Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack honored Brenda Frese with a proclamation (read by the UNI Athletic Director) for her accomplishments and for upholding the values of the state of Iowa. Vilsack recently announced that he's running for the Democratic nomination for President. While the BasketCases have no doubt that Brenda is completely deserving of tonight's honor, they also (in their jaded Washington mentality) wonder if perhaps Gov. Vilsack is pulling out all the stops to win the Maryland primary.

As for the game . . . despite a turnover-laden start, the Terps settled down and were up 35-8 at the break. (KT and Lang each had 12 points by then.) The Panthers' single-digit first half got the announcers feverishly studying their Maryland Media Guides to find the fewest points ever allowed by the Terps in a game. Turns out that number is 22. Fortunately for UNI, they will not enter the Maryland record books in that category as they picked it up in the second half, losing "only" by a score of 77-33.

It's clear from all the articles we read that Iowans extended a warm welcome to their homey, Brenda Frese, and to her Maryland Terrapins. Maryland will have an opportunity to return the favor when (according to media reports) they will host the UNI Panthers at Comcast next season.