If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? Against a Nebraska game coming off its first Big Ten win of the season, Iowa used the same blueprint that worked like gangbusters on Thursday against Maryland -- jump out to a big lead in the first half, snuff out any hopes of a comeback early in the second half, then coast to victory. And, surprise, it worked just as well today, as Iowa was able to cruise to a 98-75 victory over the Huskers and give Iowa fans plenty of stress-free time to finish their Super Bowl preparations.
As the game got underway, Iowa was a bit sloppy on both ends of the court; they struggled to keep Nebraska out of the lane and they struggled to take good shots when they had the ball. Nebraska actually led 15-11 six minutes into the game. Then Iowa went on a 42-10 run to finish the half and... yeah. Game over, man. Keegan Murray had a personal 12-0 run during that 42-10 blitz by Iowa, and finished with 24 points on 9/14 shooting in the first half. He was scoring, rebounding, stealing, defending... you name it, he was on top of it. Also, he and Joe Toussaint were doing cool shit like this:
Think @IowaHoops is having fun today?
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) February 13, 2022
Peep the @jtoussaint_2 dish on the break. pic.twitter.com/huje9frO9d
That's some straight-up Showtime Lakers or Harlem Globetrotters shit, man. Just absolutely nasty.
Nebraska could do nothing against the Keegs-led Iowa onslaught in the first half. They turned the ball over 12 times and when they didn't turn the ball over, they struggled to make any shots (9/29). Iowa's defense played pretty well in the first half, but a lot of Nebraska's errors were also self-inflicted; they threw a few passes to invisible teammates in the first row and plenty of shots were good looks that were simply bricked badly.
The second half didn't start out much better for the Huskers. The Hawkeyes quickly pushed the lead out to 30 points and led by as much as 36 at a few points during the opening seven minutes of the half. With 13:24 to play and Iowa up 75-43, Fran substituted Jordan Bohannon and Keegan Murray, no doubt hoping that their days could be done and they could get a little added rest for the grueling stretch of games Iowa has coming up over the next 10 days. Alas, Iowa also went cold at that point, missing six of their next seven shots, though they still led 25. Nebraska continued to make baskets while Iowa missed on a few possessions, but they still only managed to cut Iowa's lead down to... 19 points. Seriously, that was as close as Nebraska got in the second half. Keegan Murray scored Iowa's next 8 points to provide some needed juice for the Iowa offense, before a 3-pointer from Bohannon and a jumper from Payton Sandfort pushed Iowa's lead back out to 28 points. Things never really got uncomfortable in the second half, but the game was truly on ice at that point, even if for all intents and purposes, the entire second half was pretty much "chips and salsa time." (RIP, Mac.)
The win over Maryland was a two-man show, with Keegan Murray dominating around the rim and Jordan Bohannon dazzling from deep as they each dropped 30-pieces on the Terrapins. Today was strictly a solo effort, with Keegan Murray absolutely dominating the floor in this one. He finished with 37 points (a brand-new career high) on 15/21 shooting (plus a 4/5 effort at the free throw line), as well as six rebounds, three steals, two blocks, and -- get this -- zero fouls. That foul statistic is noteworthy because that's been a huge contributing factor in Iowa's monster first halves in recent games. There was a stretch of games where Keegs kept picking up two fouls early and getting locked away in two foul-jail for long stretches of the first half as a result. We can debate the merits of that approach, but what's even better is making it a moot point by just avoiding fouls in the first half. Iowa's offense can touch the heavens when Keegan Murray is on the floor and having him out there more often in the first half has definitely contributed to Iowa's monster starts in recent games. Also, just look at Keegs playing the passing lanes:
Nobody has more steals slams this year than @IowaHoops' @keegan3murray. pic.twitter.com/KRHzSg1wrA
— Iowa On BTN (@IowaOnBTN) February 13, 2022
What an absolute monster.
While Keegan was an unquestioned superstar today, he did get some valuable assistance from a few teammates as well. Bohannon didn't match his 30-point effort from a few nights ago, but he did have 10 points on 3/7 shooting (2/5 from long range), as well as 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal. The other starters struggled a bit, though; Filip Rebraca missed several layups and had just 4 points on 2/7 shooting to go along with 6 rebounds. Patrick McCaffery had just 9 points on 3/10 shooting, though he did have 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals.
Several bench players made positive contributions to this win, though. Payton Sandfort showed off some sweet shooting (especially in the first half) and had 12 points on 5/8 shooting (2/4 from 3-point range). He also had a team-high 8 rebounds, despite playing just 17 minutes. Kris Murray also finished in double figures in scoring, with 12 points on 5/7 shooting, plus 7 rebounds and 2 blocks. Joe Toussaint's shot wasn't falling (2 points on 1/6 shooting), but he did have 4 assists and 3 steals and a handful of key hustle plays in 16 minutes of work. He played sparingly (if at all) after taking hard elbow to the head in the second half; hopefully he's OK, as Iowa's defensive intensity noticeably slipped without him on the court.
There really isn't much to take away from this game, other than "Keegan Murray is still really, really, really awesome." Nebraska is a very bad basketball team who, for long periods of this game, played very badly. They turned the ball over 15 times (against just 9 giveaways by Iowa) and Iowa rode that to a 24-9 edge in points off turnovers (and a 21-8 lead in points in transition). Iowa also had a 14-7 advantage in second chance points (with a 10-6 edge in offensive rebounds). Iowa also beat them 50-40 in points in the paint and outdid them from behind the three-point arc (10/28 vs 7/25; neither team was particularly sharp from deep). They're a much better team than Nebraska and today they played like it, which resulted in a very comfortable win. It's certainly nice to see Iowa take care of business and put away bad teams like this, something they've struggled to do at times. No struggles today, though. Just another satisfying Nebrasketball #BEATEMDOWN.
NEXT: Iowa welcomes Michigan (13-10, 7-6 Big Ten) to Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Thursday, February 17 (6 PM CT, ESPN/ESPN2).
