IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) –Adam Haluska scored a career-high 36 points and Iowa topped the 100-point mark for the first time in three years in a 101-59 victory over Georgia State Wednesday.
Haluska, the Hawkeyes’ leading scorer, scored 22 points in the first half as Iowa (6-6) built a 20-point lead at the break. His big night continued early in the second as he scored nine of Iowa’s first 15 points. His 3-pointer with 9:28 left broke his career best.
Tyler Smith added 15 points and Tony Freeman scored 12 to help Iowa rebound after a historic defeat at Drake Saturday, Iowa’s first loss to their in-state rival since 1979.
Backup forward Josh Crawford’s put back with 3:12 left put Iowa over the 100 mark for the first time since Nov. 23, 2003.
The Panthers (4-6) struggled in every facet of the game and paid for it, suffering their largest margin of defeat this season. The Panthers shot just 34.5 percent, committed 25 turnovers and were outscored 44-16 in the paint.
Leonard Mendez and Rashad Chase scored 10 points apiece to lead Georgia State, while the Panthers’ leading scorer Lance Perique was held to four points and had six turnovers.
Iowa shot 52.9 percent from the field, made 52.4 percent from behind the 3-point line and scored 38 points on Panther turnovers.
The Panthers managed to keep pace for the first eight minutes of the game and actually led three different times. A long jumper by Norman Mitchell put the Panthers in front 15-14 at the 12:50 mark.
But then Haluska took over, answering Mitchell’s basket with his first 3-pointer of the game and sending Iowa on a 34-14 run to close out the half. Haluska scored 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting in the first half, including four 3-pointers, with the last one coming as he was off balance along the baseline just before the buzzer to give Iowa a 49-29 lead at the break.