Hawkeye Fan Shop — A Black & Gold Store | 2017-18 Men’s Basketball Ticket Wait LIst | European Tour Central | Box Score (PDF) | Boxscore
By MATTHEW WEITZEL
hawkeyesports.com
BADEN, Switzerland — Six Hawkeyes scored in double figures in a 125-56 convincing victory for the men’s basketball team over the Swiss All-Stars Thursday evening to remain undefeated on its four-game European trip.
Thirteen of Iowa’s 14 players who played netted four points or more, led by freshman Luka Garza’s 24. Ryan Kriener, in his first action of the trip, tallied 14 points. Connor McCaffery scored 13 points, Christian Williams registered 12, while Isaiah Moss and Tyler Cook each had 10.
Iowa led 27-16 after the first quarter, but it was all Hawkeyes after the first 10 minutes. The Hawkeyes ended the first half on a 17-4 scoring run.
The Hawkeyes valued the ball on offense, committing only 11 turnovers, while creating problems for the Swiss’ offense, forcing a staggering 33 turnovers. Iowa dominated the glass, outrebounding the Swiss by 25 (68-43). Dom Uhl and Christian Williams led the Hawkeyes with eight boards, while Jack Nunge snagged seven.
HAWKEYE PERFORMER OF THE GAME
Luka Garza led all scorers for the second straight game in leading the offensive assault for the Hawkeyes. Garza made all seven of his free-throw attempts and was 8-of-12 from the field, including 1-of-2 from 3-point territory for his 24 points. Garza also was active on the glass, pulling down six rebounds and collecting three steals. The freshman filled the stat sheet with all those stats in only 11 minutes of action.
STAT OF THE GAME
There are a lot of gaudy numbers, but Iowa’s 42-point barrage in the second quarter put the game away before halftime. Eight different Hawkeyes scored in the second period, with Garza netting 14 of his game-high 24 points in his five minutes on the court that quarter.
COACH McCAFFERY’S COMMENTS
“I thought the way we came out tonight was really good. Our defense was substantially better for the whole game than the other night. We played extremely well the second half the other night, but tonight was 40 minutes of up-the-line and in-their-face defense. I thought we challenged them at the rim and had some great transition opportunities. In a game like this, you tend to look for yourself and we didn’t do that. We moved the ball and looked for each other and that’s what I am most proud of.”
LUKA GARZA’S COMMENTS
“My teammates did an incredible job sharing the basketball tonight. I felt like I ran the floor well and got some easy buckets in transition in some quick post-ups. I was also hitting the glass really hard. I’m learning more and more about my teammates with each game. I love playing with this team.”
NOTABLES
- Iowa is scheduled to play four exhibition games over the next seven days in Europe. The plan is to rotate starting lineups, while each of the scholarship players will see action in at least three games.
- Tonight’s starting lineup featured Christian Williams, Brady Ellingson, Jack Nunge, Nicholas Baer, and Tyler Cook.
- Jordan Bohannon did not play, but is expected to see action in the last two games. Cordell Pemsl and Maishe Dailey did not play tonight due to injury.
- Iowa had a huge advantage in height over the Swiss All-Stars. In addition to grabbing 25 more rebounds, the Hawkeyes rejected six shots, led by Nunge’s two. The Hawkeye rookie also was credited with a game-best four steals.
UP NEXT
Iowa will spend one more day in the beautiful city of Lucerne before traveling to Italy on Friday for its final leg of the trip. The Hawkeyes will face the Milan All-Stars Saturday at 1 p.m. (CT).
