Iowa Thumps Northwestern, 82-61

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The 24th-ranked University of Iowa men’s basketball team cruised to an 82-61 Senior Night victory over Northwestern on Monday at Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

In a dominant first half that featured deeps 3s, forceful dunks, and an alley-oop, it was a steal and stylish layup from junior Joe Toussaint that gave Iowa its largest lead of the period at 33-13.

Sophomore Keegan Murray secured a double-double in the first 20 minutes, heading into the locker room with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and a 19-point Hawkeye advantage.

Murray didn’t let up in the second half. Fresh off his school-record fifth Big Ten Player of the Week honor this season, Murray finished with a dominant 26 points and 18 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season.

Murray also added three assists, two blocks, two steals, four dunks, an alley-oop slam to his total in 31 minutes of action.

Iowa’s seniors, for their part, left nothing on the floor. Jordan Bohannon, who has played a school and NCAA record 172 games, put up 18 points in his final showing at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Bohannon drained four 3-pointers to bring his Big Ten record career total to 435, which also ties for the sixth-most triples in college basketball history.

Senior Connor McCaffery posted a season-high 17 points, shooting 5-of-9 from behind the 3-point arc. McCaffery has shot 11-of-15 from 3-point range in Iowa’s last four games dating back to Feb. 19 at Ohio State. McCaffery and Bohannon shared a standing ovation as they were subbed out together for the final time with 2:55 remaining.

Austin Ash was Iowa’s final senior honored on Monday night. Ash lit the crowd up with a 3-point swish from the midcourt logo on his first shot attempt of the game with under five minutes left to play. Ash played the final six minutes of the game, dribbling out Iowa’s final possession to thunderous applause.

The Hawkeyes dominated the glass, out-rebounding Northwestern, 50-35. Iowa drained 13 3-pointers and led for nearly 38 minutes of game action en route to their 11th conference win.

QUOTING HEAD COACH FRAN MCCAFFERY
“This was a new team. We weren’t sure what we had, you know, we thought we could be good. I felt like we were going to be good. We scrimmaged Bradley and when I went to the scrimmage I had no idea what was going to happen. We played really well. I said I think we might have a chance. Then we had an early season schedule with some games we thought we could win. Go on the road and beat Virginia, okay, we got a chance. We didn’t play well against Iowa State. We played really well against Utah State. And just as you go through the ups and downs, this team stayed together and stayed positive, and again, continued to get great contribution from a lot of different people. And that’s what we’ve become. Any game you don’t know who’s going to do what, but a good number of them are going to play well, I know that.”

QUOTING NORTHWESTERN HEAD COACH CHRIS COLLINS ON KEEGAN MURRAY
“He’s so unique. He does everything. I don’t know what kind of player you put on him. He gets out in transition, and he runs. He makes 3s. He drives you from the perimeter, and he posts mismatches inside, and he’s a monster on the glass. Other than that, he stinks.”

NOTABLES

  • Iowa has won seven of their last eight games to improve to 21-8 overall and 11-7 in the Big Ten.
  • Iowa recorded its 15th home victory of the season, marking the third time in the Fran McCaffery era that a Hawkeye team won 15 or more home games in a single season.
  • Iowa has won 18 of its 21 games by 10 points or more, including 11 by 20 points or more.
  • All-America candidate Keegan Murray registered his team-leading eighth double-double by halftime. The sophomore finished the game with 26 points, 18 rebounds, three assists, one block and a steal. The 18 rebounds are the most by Murray during conference play and most since pulling down 21 against N.C. Central (Nov. 16, 2021).
  • The reigning Big Ten Player of the Week, Keegan Murray, moved up five spots on Iowa’s single season scoring list tonight by virtue of his 26 points. Murray now has 653 points this season, ranking sixth.
  • Iowa improved to 17-2 this season when scoring 80+ points and a perfect 18-0 when outrebounding its opponent. Iowa was +15 on the glass tonight.
  • Jordan Bohannon made four 3-pointers tonight moving into a tie for sixth place in NCAA history with 435 career 3-pointers. The 435 triples are the second most by a player from a major conference (457 by Duke’s J.J. Reddick).
  • Connor McCaffery netted a season-high 17 points, bolstered by draining a career high with five 3-pointers. He has made 3+ triples in back-to-back games. McCaffery is shooting 11-of-15 (.733) from long distance over the last four contests.
  • Tonight was Iowa’s seventh victory this month, marking its first seven-win month of February since winning all eight February contests in 1981.
  • Iowa made 13 3-pointers tonight, its second highest total in conference play this season (19 at Maryland).
  • Iowa held Northwestern to just 17 first-half points, the fewest first half points allowed by the Hawkeyes this season (20 by Western Michigan and Portland State in November). The 17 points are the fewest Iowa has allowed in a first half against a Big Ten opponent since holding Nebraska to 16 points on Feb. 22, 2015.
  • Iowa improved to 91-3 when holding opponents to fewer than 61 points, the last 12 years.
  • Tonight was the only regular season meeting between the two teams.

UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes return to action Thursday at Michigan. Tipoff is slated for 8:07 p.m. (CT) at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan.