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"That's just my style of basketball," said the senior, who leads the team in scoring (16.0 points per game) and is averaging 7.5 rebounds per game. "Jeff (Horner) plays that way too; he likes to wrestle around with the big guys.

"That's the way we've always played. That's the way I love to play. To walk out of a game with bruises; that lets everyone know I competed hard."

The team's gritty attitude, personified by Brunner and senior point guard Horner, combined with the fact that all five starters return from last year's team that lost to the University of Cincinnati in the first round of the NCAA tournament to finish 21-12, gives it a foundation for setting loftier goals.

Iowa will get an early opportunity to match up against some of the best teams in the nation when the Hawkeyes (2-0) play No. 8 University of Kentucky (2-0) in one championship round game of the Guardians Classic Monday night.

In the first championship round game, No. 2 Texas (2-0) will play No. 14 West Virginia (2-0) in Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium at 7 p.m. followed by the Hawkeyes and the Wildcats at 9. The winners will play for the championship at 9 p.m. Tuesday after the losers play the third-place game at 7.

"Everybody dreams of playing the Kentuckys, Dukes and North Carolinas of the world," Brunner said. "That's one thing we're looking forward to in this tournament.

"Playing Kentucky, West Virginia and Texas, if you can beat any of those teams it's going to help you out later in the season and give you a better RPI. Those teams are always going to put up wins, be successful."

In late January, head coach Steve Alford dismissed leading scorer Pierre Pierce who was averaging 17.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 20 games after learning he was the subject of a police investigation.

The highly productive yet equally problematic guard, who was charged with third-degree sexual abuse in 2002, had returned to the school under a zero-tolerance policy. Recently, Pierce was sentenced to four years in prison for several offenses including assaulting an ex-girlfriend.

Instead, players including guards Mike Henderson and Adam Haluska, made the most of their increased roles helping the Hawkeyes advance to the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament by knocking off Final Four-bound Michigan State along the way and reaching the NCAA tournament.

"Anytime adversity hits, guys have an opportunity to go in either direction," Alford said. "We have very good leaders in Greg Brunner and Jeff Horner.

"I think they did a phenomenal job and made sure that Mike Henderson and Adam Haluska engaged themselves last year and I hope that helps us now."

Horner is second on the team with 14.5 ppg and leads the Hawkeyes with 7.5 assists while the 6-5 Haluska is third with 13.0 ppg and 3.5 rpg. Henderson, averaging 9.5 ppg and 4.5 rpg, is the starting shooting guard, but handles the ball well enough freeing up Horner to score.

Iowa's experienced backcourt is balanced out by its frontcourt of Brunner and 6-11 center Erek Hansen with 6-8 Doug Thomas and 6-9 Alex Thompson coming off the bench.

It made sense when Iowa was shunned for No. 4 Michigan State, which returns most of its top players after reaching the Final Four, but not so much when NCAA finalist and No. 17 Illinois, which lost two of its top guards to the NBA, and No. 23 Indiana, which has several talented transfers eligible but has been in a downward spiral recently were mentioned ahead of the Hawkeyes.

"Right now it doesn't matter, we're looking forward to the ranking at the end," Brunner said. "I think all of the guys have the determination to have a successful year."

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