Garza Too Much to Handle in Boilers' Loss at No. 4-ranked Iowa
IOWA CITY, Iowa – It's a tall task – literally and figuratively — to deal with Iowa big man Luka Garza. The reigning Big Ten player of the year is a scoring machine, and he did just enough to lead the Hawkeyes to a 70-55 win over Purdue on Tuesday night.
Purdue's defensive effort was actually pretty impressive, considering Iowa led the nation in scoring with a 98.7 average coming into the game. But the Boilers' own offensive struggles were too much to overcome in their first Big Ten road game of the season. The Boilers are now 1-1 in league play, and 6-3 overall.
"We had a slow adjustment at times, and he knocked down some shots," said Purdue coach Matt Painter of Garza. "He's a fantastic player. He's worked so hard. I love seeing guys develop and improve and work hard.
Garza, who came into the game leading the nation in scoring at 29.3 points per game, has now scored 20 points or more in 17 straight Big Ten games, snapping a tie with former Ohio State star Dennis Hopson, who had done it 16 times back in 1987. The Hawkeyes (7-1, 1-0 Big Ten) bounced back nicely after its only loss last weekend, when they fell to No. 1 Gonzaga 99-88 on Saturday.
"We're a veteran team," said Garza, who dealt with foul trouble much of the night and played only 31 minutes. "We know what it's like to take a loss, and then have a short stretch into the next game. We knew we had to flush it, learn from it, and take those things into the next game. We did that tonight at a really high level. Defending and getting rebounds tonight, that was one of the best efforts we had."
Purdue shot just 39.7 percent from the field, and the 55 points were the second-lowest total of the season for the Boilermakers. They had 14 turnovers, many coming at inopportune times.
“It speaks for itself. When we take care of the ball and execute, we’re a really good team. When we turn the ball over, we take away possessions from ourselves,'' Purdue center Trevion Williams said. "We have to take care of it and be better.”
Purdue led 13-11 seven minutes into the game before the Hawkeyes went on 10-0 to pull ahead. Purdue tied it again at 21-all with six minutes to go in the first half, but then Iowa went wild again and took a 10-point lead into the break.
Purdue got no closer than seven points in the second half, but that came with 3:53 to go and it looked like the Boilermakers might steal on. But they missed seven of their last eight shots and Iowa hung on.
"It was just a lack of execution," Painter said. "Just a lot of little things, whether that's being able to step up and get a catch, or screening, or running a play right. Our execution wasn't very good. We have to do a better job of getting into position to get quality shots."
Playing catch-up made it tough on the Boilers, especially since shots weren't falling consistently. They were just 8-for-25 shooting from three-point range, too. Trevion Williams led the Boilers with 14 points, and Brandon Newman added 11.
"We were playing from behind today," Purdue guard Sasha Stefanovic said. "It was a struggle to get going."
The loss ended Purdue's four-game winning streak against the Hawkeyes, a series the Boilers had been dominating of late. They've won five of six in the series, by an average of 21.2 points. It's the only time they play all year.
The Hawkeyes and Boilermakers only play once this season. Purdue had a four-game winning streak in the series and had won five of the last six games against Iowa by an average of 21.2 points.
Purdue returns to Mackey Arena on Christmas Day to take on Maryland. It's a 2:30 p.m. ET start on Friday.
Iowa-Purdue box score: CLICK HERE
