Bohnenkamp: 5 Observations from Iowa-Utah St.

Hawkeyes Get back on Track in Sioux Falls

Iowa Hawkeyes forward Keegan Murray (15) drives on Utah State Aggies forward Brandon Horvath (4) in the second half at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on Dec 18, 2021. (Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports)

Five observations from Iowa’s 94-75 win over Utah State on Saturday.

IT’S THE MURRAY SHOW…

Keegan Murray took the long layoff — the Hawkeyes hadn’t played since the December 9 game at Iowa State — to get his injured right ankle healthy.

He’s fine.

Murray had a career-high 35 points, making 13-of-17 shots.

“The last nine days have been really helpful for me,” Murray said. “I feel more like myself again.”

That can be a scary thought to the rest of the Big Ten, considering Murray is averaging 23.5 points per game.

Utah State’s pack-line defense is designed to slow teams, but Murray knew the key was staying active.

“Don’t let the defense get set,” he said. “So, for me, it was just moving around, getting down the court as fast as I could. They weren’t able to set their defense, and that’s where I got a lot of the easy baskets.”

That activity allowed him to draw 10 fouls.

“That’s an incredible stat, when you think about it,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said.

Murray wasn’t at his best in Iowa’s three-game losing streak. He missed the game at Purdue and was slowed in losses to Illinois and Iowa State.

He looked, as he said, more like himself. And that’s the key for this team.

…AND THE MURRAY SHOW

Keegan’s twin brother, Kris, came off the bench to score a career-high 17 points. He was 6-of-8 from the field, hitting three 3-pointers.

“For him, it’s just getting easy baskets,” Keegan Murray said. “And then just finding his rhythm in the game.”

“Kris is very aggressive,” forward Patrick McCaffery said. “That’s how he is, by nature, and that’s what makes him really good.”

HITTING THE BOARDS

The Hawkeyes had been outrebounded 144-85 in their losing streak. But they held a 35-23 rebounding edge in this game.

“It was definitely a point of emphasis the last week or so to just keep them off the glass,” Patrick McCaffery said. “More than anything it came down to just pursuing the ball. I think that was the big emphasis — just pursuing the ball, going after the ball.”

“It has to be consistent — consistency in effort and execution at both ends,” Fran McCaffery said.

Utah State was limited to just two offensive rebounds. Iowa State had 21 in last week’s 73-53 win.

“It was limiting them to one shot, and that was critical,” Fran McCaffery said.

SHARING THE BALL

The Hawkeyes had 21 assists on 35 field goals, but what was more impressive about that number was nine players had at least one assist.

“That’s how we’ve been,” Fran McCaffery said when asked about it in the post-game press conference. “We’ve always had unselfish teams. I think it’s important you point that, because as a coach I’m really proud of that.”

BOUNCING BACK

The Hawkeyes had a long time to stew on the losing streak, especially on the Iowa State loss, but in this game they had fun.

“I would just say we came together as a group,” Keegan Murray said. “Obviously the last three games were tough for us. But we just came together as a group. Everybody got healthy, as much as they could. We practiced well this week. Today it paid off.”

“I think we’re a pretty spirited group just by nature,” Patrick McCaffery said. “We’ve got a lot of guys with big personalities.”

The Hawkeyes always get finals week off, so Fran McCaffery said the week wasn’t unusual.

“You know what? Not much different than what we always do,” he said when asked how the Hawkeyes handled the week. “If anything, we focused more on getting healthy — we were banged up.”