IOWA CITY, Iowa – Senior Luka Garza became the Hawkeye G.O.A.T. on Sunday afternoon inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena, surpassing Roy Marble as the University of Iowa men’s basketball program’s all-time leading scorer. Garza led the 11th-ranked Hawkeyes to a 74-68 victory over Penn State – their fourth straight win.
The win moves Iowa to 17-6 overall and 11-5 in Big Ten play heading into week with games scheduled against No. 3 Michigan and No. 4 Ohio State.
Garza became the most prolific scorer in program history with a layup with 8:18 left in the game, giving Iowa a 56-54 lead. It was the first of 10 straight Iowa points, helping Iowa extend the lead to 64-56 with 5:51 to play.
Iowa dug in defensively to beat Penn State and Senior Jordan Bohannon’s 3-pointer at the 5:28 stretched Iowa’s lead to a game-high 11 points and Penn State never got any closer than five points the rest of the way.
Gary Dolphin on the Hawkeye Network. The 11th ranked Hawkeyes used a late 13-2 run to take command over the Nittany Lions.
Garza finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds, making 8-of-16 field goals and 7-of-11 free throws. He also had two assists and drew 12 fouls in the game. Sophomore CJ Fredrick scored 18 points – 14 in the first half – making 7-of-10 field goals and four 3s, and junior Joe Wieskamp had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Garza and his teammates celebrated the scoring mark after the game.
Iowa coach Fran McCaffery says he was happy Garza got to celebrate the record with a win.
It was also McCaffery’s 100th Big Ten victory.
Iowa had a higher field goal percentage (44.8 to 35.5) and 3-point field goal percentage (40.0 to 33.3) in the game, but the Hawkeyes went just 12-of-22 from the free throw stripe. Iowa was +11 on the glass (46-35) and had 19 assists on its 26 field goals.
Penn State led 41-36 at the half after shooting 47.1 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes. Iowa jumped out to a 19-6 lead in the early going before the Nittany Lions got going, reeling off nine straight to cut the lead to 19-6.
The Nittany Lions tied the game at 25 and then built a 39-33 lead with 51 seconds left in the opening half before taking a 41-36 lead into the break. After being held scoreless in the first half, Wieskamp scored the first nine Hawkeye points in half two.
Iowa trailed 49-42 with 17:10 left. Garza tied the late Roy Marble with a free throw at the 15:12 mark and a Keegan Murray 3-pointer gave Iowa a 51-49 lead with 13:28 left.
Three Penn State players reached double figures with Izaiah Brockington and Myreon Jones leading the way with 11 points apiece.
Iowa will travel to Ann Arbor to face nationally-ranked Michigan in the only regular season meeting. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. (CT) at the Crisler Center. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN.
