IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa men’s basketball team mounted a late comeback against No. 2 Purdue on Friday night before falling 77-70 in its Big Ten Conference opener at Mackey Arena. The Hawkeyes played without Big Ten leading scorer Keegan Murray, who missed the game because of injury.
Iowa (7-1) refused to back down, ultimately cutting a 19-point second-half deficit to two points with 2:40 left to play in regulation.
Purdue led 39-26 at halftime, as sophomore Tony Perkins led the charge offensively with 12 of his 14 total points on the game. The Boilermakers used an 11-1 run in just over two minute stretch to open a 63-44 lead with 9:54 remaining.
There was no quit in the Hawkeyes, as Iowa exploded out to a 24-7 run of its own, capped off by a sophomore Kris Murray 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 70-68 with 3:08 left to play.
The Boilermakers pushed the lead back to four points before a jumper from junior Joe Toussaint made the score 72-70 with 2:32 left to play. It would be Iowa’s final score of the night, though, as the Hawkeyes failed to convert on their final seven field goal attempts of the contest.
Redshirt sophomore Patrick McCaffery finished as Iowa’s leading scorer with 15 points. McCaffery drained 7-of-10 free throws and matched a Hawkeye-best five rebounds for the contest.
Sophomore Josh Ogundele also grabbed five boards while posting seven points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field. Each of those figures were career-bests Ogundele, who saw increased action filling at times for Keegan Murray; his 16 minutes were a season-high, up from a previous high of seven minutes versus Alabama State.
Perkins added two rebounds, two steals and an assist to go along with his 14 points. Kris Murray finished with 12 points, two rebounds and a steal, while Toussaint came up with seven points on 3-of-4 shooting, four assists, two rebounds and a steal.
Iowa forced 17 turnovers, including six steals while shooting 40 percent from the field on the other side of the floor. The Hawkeyes hit 15-of-21 free throws (68 percent), while shooting 5-of-21 (24 percent) from 3-point range.
Iowa (7-1, 0-1) will return home on Monday to host Illinois (6-2, 1-0) in the Hawkeyes’ conference home opener. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.
