Garza Is Center Of Attention As Hawkeyes Win Season Opener

Fran McCaffery has seen it for a while.

McCaffery has watched junior center Luka Garza grow into one of Iowa's best players.

So, after Garza opened the season with a double-double in the Hawkeyes' 87-60 win over SIUE on Friday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, it was nothing unexpected for the Hawkeyes' coach.

“He’s one of the hardest working guys I’ve ever been around," McCaffery said. "That’s no exaggeration. He never takes a possession off at either end.”

Garza, Iowa's leading returning scorer from a team that reached the second round of the NCAA tournament last season, had 20 points and 12 rebounds as the Hawkeyes won their ninth consecutive season opener.

It was the sixth double-double of Garza's career.

“I think we just really followed the game plan,” said Garza, who had 14 points and seven rebounds in the first half. “We really wanted to get the ball inside. I was just able to be put into great positions by my teammates who tried to get me the ball. And when they put me into those positions, I’m going to try to find a way to score.”

Garza took over inside where forward Tyler Cook, Iowa’s leading scorer last season before leaving for a professional career, left off.

.@IowaHoops opened the season strong, and Luka led the way: pic.twitter.com/F1Y7YFTRPo
— Iowa On BTN (@IowaOnBTN) November 9, 2019

“I just worked a lot over the summer, tried to get stronger,” Garza said. “Now that I moved into TC’s position at the ‘5’, I’m more of a true center, for sure.”

Garza averaged 12.1 points as a freshman, 13.1 points as a sophomore.

McCaffery has admired the growth.

"Now that he's a junior, he has been through it all," he said. "His feel for everything is so much better, and he was pretty good when he got here."

Garza was 7-of-13 from the field and 6-of-10 in free throws.

"We're throwing him the ball," McCaffery said. "He's going to make a play one way or the other. He gets to the free-throw line. We can run our offense through him."

There was sloppiness from the Hawkeyes early, something that is to be expected in a season opener.

SIUE got to within 26-22 late in the first half. But the Hawkeyes went on a 12-4 run, started by a 3-pointer from senior guard Jordan Bohannon, to close the half then opened the second half with a 17-8 run over the first six minutes.

Kenyon Duling and Cam Williams each had 10 points for SIUE (1-1).