If you've ever had a tough time getting started the day after Thanksgiving, well, you can probably empathize with the Iowa men's basketball team tonight and their sluggish performance against Portland State. Iowa never trailed in the game, but it took a while for the Hawkeyes to really take control of the game, mainly because their shooting touch was decidedly lacking for long stretches. Put it this way: Iowa led 10-7... halfway through the first half.
The offense picked up slightly after that -- Iowa finished with 30 points in the first half, so they more than doubled their performance of the first 10 minutes in the second 10 minutes. But it was still a pretty dreadful half: Iowa shot just 36% (12/33) from the floor, including 22% (2/9) from long range. The only saving grace? Portland State was even worse: the Vikings made just 29% of their shots (8/28) and only 15% (2/13) of their 3-point tries. The only Hawkeye who didn't struggle in the first half? Keegan Murray, of course. Murray had 21 points (2/3 of Iowa's total points!) on 9/13 shooting (1/4 from deep), while also adding 8 rebounds, 2 steals, and a block while playing all 20 minutes of the first half. Non-Murray Hawkeyes shot 3/20 from the floor and the only other Iowa player with more than two points was... Kris Murray, Keegan's twin brother. Kris had five points on 2/6 shooting in almost 11 minutes of action.
Fortunately, the rest of the Iowa team decided to show up for the second half -- and they decided to make a few buckets, too. After trading buckets for the first few minutes after the break, Iowa ripped off a 20-4 run to firmly take control of the game and turn it into the rout everyone expected it to be. 12 of those 20 points came from Patrick McCaffery, who scored with a mix of 3-pointers, floaters, transition dunks, layups, and a free throws. Up 59-33 with nine minutes to play, the final few minutes were simply a stress-free march to the finish line (and a victory).
Top Dunks from tonight pic.twitter.com/DWHbHqgCKs
— Iowa Mens Basketball (@IowaHoops) November 27, 2021
After making only 36% of their shots in the opening stanza, Iowa made 61% (20/33) from the floor after the break, including 40% (4/10) from 3-point range. (Portland State, meanwhile, continued to struggle, making just 32% (12/37) of their shots and only 14% (2/14) from deep.) The Murray twins dominated the action for Iowa in the first half, but a few of their teammates stepped up in the second half. Keegan actually had just two points on 1/3 shooting in the second half and Kris Murray had eight points on 3/3 shooting. Patrick McCaffery, playing in his first game in a while, erupted in the second half for 14 points (with 12 of them coming in that aforementioned 20-4 run) on 5/6 shooting. In addition to eight points off the bench from Kris Murray, Iowa also got eight points each from Tony Perkins (3/4 shooting) and Austin Ash (3/3 shooting, 2/2 from beyond the arc).
Iowa ended up dominating because they crushed Portland State in the paint (46-22) and in transition (20-6 in fast break points). They also got big contributions from their bench (36 points, 10 assists, 20 rebounds, 5 steals, 1 block), which offset the struggles from several starters. Joe Toussaint had just two points on 1/4 shooting and his three assists were somewhat wiped out by the three turnovers he also had. Filip Rebraca also had three turnovers, though he managed five points and nine rebounds (as well as two blocks and a steal) in his time on the floor. Jordan Bohannon couldn't find his range, either, going just 1/4 from the floor and 0/3 from 3-point range. Payton Sandfort's shot also wasn't clicking from deep (0/4); Iowa is going to struggle to win games against better competition when Bohannon and Sandfort are both cold from deep.
The "against better competition" portion of that last sentence is relevant as well, because the cupcake portion of Iowa's schedule is officially over, at least for a few weeks. Iowa is 6-0 so far this season, but those six teams are a combined 5-20 against Division I competition this season. Their next five opponents are a combined 23-5 against Division I competition this season. Business is about to pick up. We're about to find out a lot more about how Iowa measures up against quality competition this year.
In the meantime, let's enjoy these dunks from tonight's game:
Top Dunks from tonight pic.twitter.com/DWHbHqgCKs
— Iowa Mens Basketball (@IowaHoops) November 27, 2021
Keegan Murray absolutely BAPTIZED a dude there. Goddamn.
NEXT: Iowa heads to Charlottesville to take on Virginia (5-2, KenPom: 47) as part of the 2021 ACC-Big Ten Chalenge on Monday, November 29 (6 PM CT, ESPN2).
