Rutgers 48, Iowa 46: nightmare in New Jersey

Keegan Murray had his fifth double-double of the season and a team-high 13 points in a losing effort over Rutgers, 48-46.

The entire game was nothing short of what one might call a clunker. And the first half really set that pace.

With over six minutes to go, the score read 12-12 and Iowa had just pulled off nine consecutive scoreless possessions by my count.

Then Paul Mulcahy and Pat McCaffery traded threes, sparking a little 9-2 run for the Hawkeyes.

The half ended on some BS after Joe Toussaint picked Geo Baker’s pocket in front of the Rutgers basket with about 3 seconds left. JT took it down and snuck it in at the buzzer, but it was eventually waved off, which is insane.

It would have been a moment of vindication for JT, who had a bad brain fart in transition on a 2-1 that led to a turnover.

Still, Iowa led 27-24 at the break.

The second half started with a Bohannon 3 and a nice layup from Keegan, but then things went back a bit droughty. Rutgers attacked Bohannon on the other end of the court and that worked most of the time as they amassed a 6-2 run and brought it to 34-30.

Keegan then made a three, and it would be about three minutes until either team would score again with Aundre Hyatt making the back end of a pair.

Baker scored on back to back possessions while Iowa posted eight straight scoreless trips until Keegan Murray got fouled and made one of his shots. It was five minutes and 48 seconds between Iowa baskets as the Hawkeyes clung onto a 39-38 lead.

Rutgers eventually pulled away a bit thanks to two straight buckets from Baker and absolute ineptitude on the offensive end from Iowa.

The Hawkeyes were afraid to take open shots, and rightfully so, as the Black and Gold shot an abysmal 28 percent from the floor, while going just 6-27 from deep. Bohannon’s tries landed a mile short of the basket. Keegan pulled away an attempt at the last second and turned it over.

The game ended with some fireworks as Filip Rebraca was fouled driving to the rim while Iowa had a three point deficit. Rebraca got hurt on the way down and went straight to the locker room as Pat made one of his two chances in place of Rebraca.

Kris and JT trapped Paul Mulcahy and forced a turnover in transition and fed Pat to knot it at 46 with 22 seconds left.

With two ticks left on the clock, Keegan was called on some absolute bullshit. Ron Harper Jr. made his shots and that was all she wrote. All things considered, Iowa got a look at the end.

The rest

• I counted five air ball threes by Iowa—four from Bohannon and one from Kris. Two of Bohannon’s came in the final two minutes.
• Iowa had just 4 points off 14 Rutgers turnovers
• Zero players on Iowa’s bench scored. They went 0-11 overall.
• That fucking sucked.
• Rebraca was Iowa’s second-most important player tonight. He had 8 points, 2 steals and 10 crucial rebounds. If his injury is serious, that spells disaster for Iowa.
• Bohannon shot 2-11 and played 28 minutes.