On a day the place the Hawkeyes had been buoyed by the return of Patrick McCaffery, it was his brother Connor McCaffery who delivered a game-sealing sequence to assist Iowa dispatch the visiting Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 93-82. The 93 factors had been by far probably the most Rutgers had allowed all season, up from the earlier excessive of 76 they gave up… to Iowa on their house flooring.
Kris Murray led all scorers with 24 factors within the victory, with 16 from Ahron Ulis as he continues to make strides in Massive Ten play.
Similar to Iowa’s profitable journey to Piscataway a number of weeks in the past, the Hawkeyes’ key to victory was their long-distance capturing. Patrick McCaffery drained all three of his deep makes an attempt in his emotional return, and the Hawkeyes as a complete made 12 of their 24 makes an attempt, which helped them preserve the lead for your entire second half.
Iowa additionally saved Rutgers in examine by forcing a bevy of turnovers — 18 in all — and that opportunistic protection helped clinch the sport within the closing minutes.
Tony Perkins snatched a rebound away from Clifford Omoruyi after a near-certain offensive rebound with the Scarlet Knights down solely 5 factors and gunning for a comeback, then on the following defensive possession Connor McCaffery deflected a excessive entry lob to Omoruyi, leading to a Perkins steal, then McCaffery nailed a 3 on the opposite finish to push the lead again to 10 factors with a minute left.
Few had been happier in regards to the game-sealing three than Riley Mulvey:
Iowa had a 13-point lead early within the second half and had saved it at or close to double digits for many of the first 10 minutes of the second half. However Aundre Hyatt went on a tear, matching Iowa’s long-distance capturing and racking up 16 factors (all within the second half) to carry the sport again to a aggressive tempo.
Rutgers was additionally led by Omoruyi, who shook off some mid-game ache in his ribcage to ship 15 factors and eight rebounds. Omoruyi additionally blocked three photographs and altered a number of extra on the rim, as Iowa went simply 10-for-20 on layups for the sport.
It is by no means a shock when Kris Murray leads this Iowa crew in scoring, however the contributions behind him seemed a bit of completely different — a blessing, particularly with Filip Rebraca fouling out after battling by frustration for seven factors and 6 rebounds within the recreation.
As talked about earlier, Ulis added 16 factors within the victory, together with 12 within the first half; his 16 had been only one off of his profession excessive, which he set… within the earlier recreation towards Michigan State. It is Ulis’ third consecutive recreation scoring in double digits, whereas he had only one such recreation towards a Massive Ten opponent in his profession previous to the streak.
Patrick McCaffery completed with 9 factors, all approaching his 3-for-3 capturing from deep. At the same time as Iowa received by double digits, with Rutgers slicing the result in 5 or fewer factors a number of instances within the second half, it is secure to say Iowa wanted each little bit of contribution it received from the returning junior — to say nothing of the aid of getting their teammate again from his struggles and able to contribute.
Final, freshman Josh Dix continued to impress with eight factors, an help and a block in simply 11 minutes of bench work. It is laborious to consider at instances, however Dix is simply 12 months faraway from a grisly damaged leg that ended his highschool profession and left substantial doubt as to how a lot he might contribute at a degree as excessive as Iowa’s, and the way shortly. As an alternative, not solely is Dix taking part in as a real freshman, however he is proving that no second is just too large, no gentle too brilliant for him.
The charity stripe, which had been lower than sort to Iowa in Thursday’s loss to Michigan State, ended up being one of many Hawkeyes’ greatest strengths on Sunday. Iowa went 29-for-34 from the road, together with a clutch 5-for-6 for Rebraca and 7-for-9 for Murray. The Hawkeyes’ capacity to transform on these scoring alternatives chastened the bodily Rutgers protection and saved the Scarlet Knights from the emotional increase of absolutely erasing their deficit within the second half.
Iowa lastly faces Northwestern on Tuesday, January 31, in a recreation that was postponed after the Wildcats had been unable to satisfy minimal availability necessities attributable to accidents and COVID.
That recreation will tip off at 8:00 pm Tuesday evening on the Massive Ten Community. After Iowa’s victory over Rutgers, Northwestern has taken sole possession of second place within the hotly aggressive Massive Ten, so that is one other alternative for the Hawkeyes to register a high quality win and proceed to roil the standings in the midst of the convention.
