With Luka Garza present, Hawkeyes try to make Tuesday a complete night of celebration

IOWA CITY — Tuesday night will feature a halftime of celebration for Iowa men’s basketball, then we’ll see if it’s a complete evening of revelry.

The official retirement of Luka Garza’s No. 55 Hawkeyes jersey will be held at halftime of Tuesday’s Michigan State-Iowa game, along with retired jerseys of Iowa greats Chuck Darling, Roy Marble and Murray Wier.

That will be the filling in the middle of what Iowa hopes is a tasty basketball cookie in which the last bite is a victory over always-imposing Michigan State.

The Hawkeyes beat the Spartans twice last season. Now they’ll try to do it with Luka Garza as a spectator, not a participant.

Iowa made its 2021-22 debut in Associated Press’ Top 25 Monday, at No. 25. The Hawkeyes climbed over Michigan State, which absorbed two defeats last week and was a poll point behind Iowa in the rankings.

At 9-6, however, the Spartans are a game ahead of Iowa in the Big Ten standings. The Hawkeyes are fresh off a 75-62 win at then-No. 18 Ohio State, a substantial piece to their NCAA tournament candidacy.

“To get this win against Ohio State, giving them their first loss at home, that just says a lot about our team,” Iowa guard Joe Toussaint said Monday. “We’re ready to go, we’re ready to go to war with anybody.”

Hawkeye forward Kris Murray called the AP ranking “great.”

“It’s a confidence-builder because it’s kind of toward the end of the season, the regular season, anyway. ”It’s good to kind of be in that realm of teams and just shows that we’re kind of peaking at the right time.“

While the current Hawkeyes try to get two games over .500 in the Big Ten for the first time this season, the focus in the arena will shift at halftime to those who came before.

Family representatives of all four honorees will be present. All four of Marble’s children will be there, including another stellar former Hawkeye player, Devyn Marble.

Garza’s Detroit Pistons are on the NBA All-Star Game break, so this was the optimal time for the 2021 National Player of the Year to return to Carver-Hawkeye Arena. He attended the Hawkeyes’ Monday practice.

Garza led the Big Ten in scoring in each of the last two seasons, was a first-team All-American in both, scored a total of 60 points in Iowa’s two NCAA tourney games last year, had a 44-point game at Michigan as a junior, and we could go on and on.

“He’s an inspiration,” Toussaint said. “He’s not the fastest, tallest, not the biggest, not the most-skilled. He just works hard.

“I work hard. I come in and work on my game every single day. He’s the person who inspired me, and that was even if he wasn’t talking to me. I see how he worked and I just added that to my life, just felt like I want the same thing for myself.”

“He didn’t have to say much to me,” Murray said. “It was just his effort and attitude every single day. He brought an insane amount of effort, never lapsed at any part of the year. Every practice he gave his best.”

Garza has averaged 5.2 points in 29 appearances for the Pistons with a pair of 20-point games. He has averaged 20.1 points over seven games with Detroit’s G League team.

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