IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa men’s basketball team fell to No. 1 Purdue, 87-73, on Thursday night at Mackey Arena. Iowa moves to 15-9 on the season and 7-6 in Big Ten play.
The Hawkeyes mounted a comeback on 60 percent (21-of-35) shooting the second half, cutting a 17-point halftime deficit down to six with 5:39 left to play.
Junior Kris Murray scored 18 of his 24 points on the night in the final 20 minutes, hitting 7-of-9 (78 percent) from the floor in the second half. The Boilermakers would hold on to pick up their 12th Big Ten victory on the season.
Fifth-year Filip Rebraca was next in line for Iowa in scoring, posting 17 points on 8-of-12 (67 percent) efficiency from the floor and 1-of-1 shooting at the line. Rebraca also grabbed five rebounds and three assists against Purdue.
Redshirt junior Patrick McCaffery finished with a career-best five steals, nine points, two rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
The Boilermakers dominated the rebounding battle, 43-23, in part thanks to a game-best 14 rebounds from Purdue big Zach Edey. Iowa narrowly outscored Purdue in the paint, however, 42-38.
The Hawkeyes finished 45 percent (31-of-69) from the floor, 86 percent (6-of-7) from the free throw line and 28 percent (5-of-18) from behind the arc.
HEAR FROM HEAD COACH FRAN MCCAFFERY
“Our anticipation and rotations [on defense] were not good enough, clearly. It’s hard, because they got a lot of them and they are a team that is very unselfish. They move it, they share it. There is no selfishness at all with this team, so you have a lot of ground to cover when you are doubling. Now you’ve got a three guarding a four. There is always somebody at the front of the rim, so you have got to guard that person.
Payton [Sandfort] got hot a little bit. So did Patrick [McCaffery]. That was good to see. Coming out of the gate, I don’t know that we ran our offense as crystally as I would have liked, but we weren’t getting bad shots. I mean, we weren’t getting seconds, which is hard to do against them. We missed 38 shots and got eight of them back. When you are struggling to score you have got to get a few of them back. They missed 27 shots and got 13 of them back. Now, granted, they are the number one offensive rebounding team in the country. Ededy is a handful, but you have got to be flying around a little bit more, especially if you are missing nine threes. The ball is going to bouncing. You have to get a couple of them back.”
HAWKEYE NOTABLES
- Tonight was just the third loss in 10 games for the Hawkeyes, dating back to Jan. 5.
- Iowa had two players in double figures: Kris Murray (24) and Filip Rebraca (17). Murray reached 20+ points for the 10th time this season.
- Tonight was the only regular season meeting between the two teams.
- Iowa was credited with 22 assists, surpassing 20 assists for the sixth time this season. The 22 assists are the most by the Hawkeyes in a conference game this season and most since recording 24 against Omaha (Nov. 21, 2022).
- The Hawkeyes made 60 percent (21-of-35) of their field-goal attempts in the second half, their second highest shooting percentage in a half in a league game this season (64 percent in the second half versus Maryland on Jan. 15, 2023).
- Connor McCaffery tied a season high with eight assists. Patrick McCaffery collected a game and personal-best five steals to go along with nine points, two blocks, two assists, and two rebounds.
- Iowa made 15-of-17 field-goal attempts spanning 9:41 (17:49-8:08) in the second half.
- Iowa had a +9 turnover margin, its best margin in a league contest this season and second best in any game this year (+18 versus North Carolina A&T on Nov. 11, 2022).
- Tonight was Iowa’s fourth contest of the season against a ranked opponent (2-2). Iowa fell to 3-22 all-time against a top-ranked foe in program history.
UP NEXT
Iowa (15-9, 7-6) returns to action on Sunday at Minnesota (7-15, 1-11) in the only regular season meeting between the two teams. Tipoff is scheduled for 12:01 p.m. (CT) at Williams Arena in Minneapolis.
