Iowa's Kris Murray takes a shot during a game against Bethune-Cookman on Nov. 7, 2022 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. (Rob Howe/HawkeyeNation.com)
Takeaways: Hawkeyes Pass Road Test at Seton Hall
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The first road test for Iowa this season wasn’t going to be easy against a Seton Hall team that had already built a defensive reputation in the opening week of the season.
The Hawkeyes were the ones who provided the defense.
Iowa’s 83-67 win on Wednesday night in the Gavitt Games matchup was all about how the Hawkeyes (3-0) shut down the Pirates (2-1).
Seton Hall shot just 35.8 percent from the field, 20 percent in the first half. The Pirates also committed 16 turnovers that were converted into 18 Iowa points.
The Hawkeyes had their own shooting issues — 33.3 percent in the first half — but they shot 56 percent in the second half and committed just eight turnovers for the game.
Iowa continues to put together long scoring runs. The Hawkeyes had scoring spurts of 12-0 and 10-0 in the first half, their sixth and seventh scoring runs of 10-0 or better through the first three games.
Iowa’s nonconference schedule is built to challenge the Hawkeyes. The first road win was big.
The other takeaways from the win:
MURRAY’S RISE
Kris Murray matched his career high with 29 points, and added 11 rebounds for the second double-double of his career.
The junior forward got the Hawkeyes going after they fell behind 10-2 in the first five minutes. Murray scored 12 of Iowa’s first 16 points, and had 16 points in the first half.
Murray was 10-of-20 from the field.
REBRACA’S NUMBERS
Filip Rebraca had 10 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season and 27th of his career.
But it was another well-rounded game for Rebraca, a fifth-year player who has become more assertive offensively.
Rebraca also had four blocks, two steals and an assist.
Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said before the season he expected Rebraca to take a bigger role. Rebraca has logged the second-most minutes among the Hawkeyes, and is the team’s leading rebounder.
ANOTHER PERKINS SHOW
Tony Perkins continues to assert himself as Iowa’s point guard.
Perkins had 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Thirteen of his points came in the second half. He also had a team-high five assists against two turnovers.
Perkins has 16 assists against three turnovers this season.
MORE DOUBLE FIGURES FOR PATRICK
Patrick McCaffery has scored in double figures in each of Iowa’s games this season. McCaffery had 11 points in 21 minutes. He is averaging 14.7 points, second-best on the team behind Murray’s 21.7.
