AMES, Iowa — About that road losing streak in Hilton.
The University of Iowa men’s basketball team led from start-to-finish as it won in Ames for the first time in 16 years, downing Iowa State, 84-68, on Thursday night inside Hilton Coliseum. It was the Hawkeyes’ third win in the last four meetings in the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series.
The Hawkeyes came out hot, getting 3-balls from Joe Wieskamp, CJ Fredrick, Luka Garza, and a deep 3 from Jordan Bohannon to build a 14-4 lead 3 1/2 minutes in. Iowa made 10 of its first 18 shots to jump on the Cyclones, 24-10.
Iowa led by as many as 19 in the first half (35-16) and it took a 39-24 lead into the break.
The Hawkeyes withstood a Cyclone run to start the second half, as Iowa State scored 13 of the first 18 points to close to within 44-37 before Iowa had a big answer.
Connor McCaffery hit a 3-pointer at the 16:12 mark to push the lead back to double digits and Wieskamp followed with a 3-point play to extend the lead to 50-37.
The Hawkeyes kept going.
The lead stretched to 20 (63-43) on back-to-back 3-pointers from Wieskamp and Frederick with 11 1/2 minutes to play. Senior Ryan Kriener joined the party with a 3-pointer at the 8:46 mark and Garza followed with two free throws to extend the lead to a game-high 25 (73-48) with 8:25 left.
All five Iowa starters reached double figures in the game. Garza notched his sixth double-double (and second in as many games), finishing with 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting and 11 rebounds. It was his seventh 20-point game this season.
Wieskamp scored 13 points and had eight rebounds, Bohannon and McCaffery had 12 points apiece, and Fredrick added 11.
The Hawkeyes shot 43.1 percent (28-of-65) from the field, made 10 3-pointers — from six different players — and 18-of-20 free throws. Iowa State shot 42 percent from the field, but went just 6-of-26 from 3-point range and 4-of-7 from the free throw stripe.
Tyrese Haliburton paced Iowa State with 22 points and five assists in 40 minutes.
Quality Ws
The Hawkeyes posted their third win away from Iowa City this season and their seicond true road victory. Iowa won at Syracuse last week and it snapped an eight-game losing streak in Ames on Thursday night. The Hawkeyes also have a neutral court victory over Texas Tech.
Up Next
Iowa returns to action Dec. 21, traveling to Chicago to face Cincinnati in a neutral sight matchup at the United Center. Game time is set for 8 p.m. (CT).
