Garza Is Big Again In Hawkeyes' Win Over North Florida
November is becoming the Luka Garza show, even if the start of his latest performance wasn't the best.
Garza missed his first five shots in the first six minutes in Thursday's game against North Florida at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
But the Iowa junior center knew it was still early, and he could find spots in and around the Ospreys' zone defense.
Garza then scored 29 points as Iowa beat North Florida 83-68 in a Las Vegas Invitational preliminary game.
It wasn't going to be easy against North Florida's zone, and Garza found that out early.
Two of Garza’s first shots were blocked by North Florida forward Wajid Aminu, who is four inches shorter than the 6-foot-11 Garza.
“I was a little hesitant at first,” said Garza, who made seven of his next eight shots, including six consecutive. “I didn’t do a great job of finishing. I settled down and did better through the course of the game.”
“He missed a couple early,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “They were banging him pretty good, they were really physical. He just adjusts. He understands they play their zone in a certain way, and he’s going to be open in certain places. I thought he was really special in terms of just understanding what we needed.”
The Hawkeyes (3-1) led just 39-35 at halftime, then opened the second half with a 17-4 run.
“I thought we really battled defensively in the first half,” McCaffery said. “We felt like we had to establish that we were still going to play intense defense, and get consecutive stops. “It was the consecutive stops, and taking (the lead) to 17, that really changed the complexion of the game.”
Garza finished 12 of 18 from the field. He also had 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the season and the eighth of his career. Garza came into the game averaging 21.3 points and 10 rebounds, with 59 points and 22 rebounds in the last two games.
“I think my teammates are doing a great job of putting me in great positions,” Garza said. “I’m trying to finish when I get the ball. I think I’ve been doing a pretty decent job, but I have a lot of things to work on.”
Joe Wieskamp had 14 points for Iowa. Jack Nunge had 11 points, and freshman Joe Toussaint added 10.
Ivan Gandia-Rosa led North Florida (4-2) with 18 points, including six 3-pointers. Carter Henricksen had 17 with nine rebounds. Wajid Aminu had 13 points and blocked five shots, and J.T. Escobar added 12 points.
The Ospreys, who made 21 3-pointers in a 115-39 win over Trinity Baptist on Monday, made just 12 in this game.
