Iowa
Is Former Iowa Hawkeyes Standout Becoming a Lost Cause?
The Iowa Hawkeyes are definitely more known for their football program rather than their basketball acumen, but they have placed a few players into the NBA recently.
Two of them were twin brothers: Keegan and Kris Murray.
While Keegan was certainly the more highly regarded of the two, Kris was still considered a solid prospect, which is why he was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the 2023 NBA Draft.
Murray was a force at Iowa, playing both ends of the floor and establishing himself as one of the best all-around players in the Big Ten. Unfortunately, it has not gone that way for Murray in the pros.
The 24-year-old is now in his second NBA season and has shown very little signs of improvement. As as a matter of fact, he may have regressed this year, as he is averaging 4.1 points and 2.5 rebounds over 14.3 minutes per game on 44.1/24.2/41.3 shooting splits.
Yes, those shooting splits are ugly, and they don’t seem to be getting any better for Murray.
In fact, through eight games in March, the Hawkeyes product is shooting just 31.4 percent from the floor and a miserable 6.7 percent from three-point range.
Over his first two NBA campaigns, Murray is making just 25.9 percent of his long-distance tries and owns a paltry true-shooting percentage of 48.4 percent.
Is it still early in Murray’s career? Absolutely, but you would hope that he would have shown some sort of potential this year. Instead, he is actually playing less minutes as he continues to fall out of favor with Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups.
It’s getting to a point where Murray could be a lost cause, at least in terms of his offensive production. Perhaps a change of scenery would do him some good, but it seem hard to imagine that will suddenly fix his broken shot.
One thing about Murray is that he is a solid defender, so he has that working in his favor. But if he can’t corral his shot, it may be difficult for him to find consistent playing time anywhere moving forward.
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Women’s Basketball
March 22, 2025
Iowa vs. Murray State – First round NCAA tournament extended highlights
March 22, 2025
Watch the highlights from No. 6 Iowa vs. No. 11 Murray State in the first round of the 2025 women’s NCAA tournament.
It’s been a growth year for Drake Ayala.
Physical growth into a new weight class. Mental growth into a new realm of wrestling freedom and confidence. Growth into an expanded leadership role with the Iowa Hawkeyes.
“I think that I’ve just kinda grown up a lot,” Iowa’s junior 133-pounder said Friday night after booking a return trip to the NCAA finals. “I feel like I’m maturing, I’m growing into a leader, I’m growing into just a man.
“Me from last year — this very seat last year to now — it’s just night and day different. It doesn’t matter the weight class. I said at the beginning of the year I wasn’t coming up to 133 to throw my hat in the ring, I’m coming to win it all.”
He’ll get that opportunity Saturday night against top-seeded Lucas Byrd of Illinois. Ayala punched his pass to the finals with a 6-1 victory Friday night against Wisconsin’s Zan Fugitt to assure Iowa of an NCAA finalist for the 35th straight year.
Ayala kept that streak intact last year in Kansas City, where he beat Badger Eric Barnett in the 125-pound NCAA semis before dropping a 7-2 decision in the title bout against Arizona State’s Richard Figueroa.
This year he has a lot more company. Iowa went 3-for-3 in the semifinals as Michael Caliendo and Stephen Buchanan also secured spots in Saturday night’s championship round.
Caliendo built a seven-point cushion in the first two minutes and downed #2 seed Peyton Hall of West Virginia 14-10 at 165 to set up a rematch with Penn State’s top-seeded Mitchell Mesenbrink. The Nittany Lion sophomore has won each of their five previous encounters and notched a pair of technical falls, but the most recent meeting — a 4-1 victory for Mesenbrink in the Big Ten title bout — was their closest match yet.
“I know I can wrestle with him,” Caliendo said. “I know I can take him down. I just haven’t been able to put it all together in one match. I don’t think it’s a matter of skill, I think it’s just a matter of how I approach the match, strategy going into it.”
Buchanan clipped 2021 NCAA champ A.J. Ferrari of Cal State Bakersfield 3-0 at 197, collecting his points on a second-period rideout that yielded a riding-time advantage, a locked hands point early in the third period and an escape shortly thereafter.
“For me, it’s just another match,” said Buchanan, who won for the first time in three career tries against Ferrari. “He comes with a lot of noise, so it was difficult to stay focused, so all the videos that you see online, or whether you’re getting ready for a match right beside him. He’s a talker and he does a good job of it, and he brings in people to the sport. So I can respect him on that front, but from a competitor standpoint, just another match.”
Buchanan will face Penn State freshman Josh Barr in the title bout. The Hawkeye won a 4-1 decision when he battled Barr in January.
“He’s a young cat who can wrestle,” Buchanan said. “He has great coaches behind him, great team. You see him take losses and then come back and win, so that shows that he’s not scared to wrestle on all fronts, in all positions. So just looking forward to the match. I guess my biggest takeaway is he’s a competitor just like I am, and we are going to battle.”
Women’s Basketball
March 21, 2025
Michigan vs. Iowa State – First round NCAA tournament extended highlights
March 21, 2025
Watch the highlights from No. 6 Michigan and No. 11 Iowa State’s matchup in the first round of the 2025 women’s NCAA tournament.
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