Saturday showcase for Hawkeyes after a Friday feast against Rutgers

INDIANAPOLIS — The Iowa men’s basketball team is ready for its close-up.

It’s CBS, Jim Nantz and Bill Raftery and Grant Hill and Tracy Wolfson, the network’s March Madness “A Team.” It’s the Hawkeyes in the Big Ten tournament semifinals on a Saturday afternoon against Indiana, a national showcase for a team that sure looks ready to go bigger than regional.

Iowa exorcised the memory of a 48-46 Jan. 19 loss at Rutgers with an 84-74 triumph over the Scarlet Knights on Friday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Rutgers played its game when the two teams met in January. Iowa played its game here in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament, improved to 24-9, and put itself into a Saturday game against the Hoosiers for the right to play in Sunday’s championship.

“Happy and ready to move on,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said after the game.

The fifth-seeded Hawkeyes didn’t seem ready to move on in the game’s first five minutes when they fell behind 15-5. After their 112-76 squash of Northwestern here Thursday, maybe it took them five minutes to move back into the present.

Once they did, though, it was another dose of dominance. Iowa went on a 15-1 run for a 28-20 lead that was nudged up to 41-32 at halftime.

Keegan Murray had the last eight points in that run with a dunk off a coast-to-coast drive, a three-point play on a post-up, and a three-point play on a jam off a lob from Connor McCaffery.

For the second straight game, Murray had 26 points and eight rebounds. He eclipsed the program’s single-season scoring record late in the game, and now has 750 points this season. Luka Garza scored 747 a year ago.

It looked like a record with a great chance to endure a while. Instead, the ink on it barely dried before it was topped.

“Last year I really just tried to learn from Luka as much as I can,” Murray said. “Obviously, when you have the National Player of the Year on your team, you just kind of want to resemble him in a way.

“So it's an honor for me, for sure.”

Murray had plenty of help against Rutgers (18-13). Jordan Bohannon and Tony Perkins had 16 points each. Subs Kris Murray, Joe Toussaint and Connor McCaffery played extended minutes in Iowa’s first-half turnaround.

“I think we were really connected in zone,” Connor McCaffery said, “kind of stymied them a little bit. They weren’t moving as much.

“We felt we kind of changed the game a little bit, changed the pace of the game. We were getting stops, rebounds. We rebounded and we pushed it. That’s the thing we didn’t do the last time we played them.”

Toussaint had foul trouble and was mostly a spectator in the Northwestern romp. Friday, Connor McCaffery said, “he came in and affected the pace and obviously defended.”

Iowa’s lead grew as large as 67-49 with 10:19 left, but things dried up for a while and Rutgers pulled to within 71-63. Then Perkins drove, lost control of the ball while in the air, and sort of shot-putted toward the basket. He banked it in with 5:36 remaining, and the Scarlet Knights never again got closer than 10 points.

“I got hit going up,” Perkins said, “so it kind of bobbled out once I shot the floater. I didn't think it was going to go in.” He said he thought he’d chase down the rebound “and get a put-back, but it went in, so I'll take it.”

Perkins is back home again in Indianapolis, and loving it.

“Knowing I'm playing in my home city and seeing everybody in the crowds that I know, grew up with,” Perkins said, “it really boosts my energy a lot.”

Saturday, Perkins plays against his home-state team. Indiana is the tourney’s No. 9 seed. It eliminated top-seed Illinois on Friday in a tense, tight tilt, 65-63.

The Hoosiers will have the much-larger fan support. The Hawkeyes will bring 10 wins in their last 12 games, all by double-digits.

“You have to be really impressed with the job that Indiana's done here in particular,” Fran McCaffery said.

The Hawkeyes haven’t been too shabby themselves.

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