Iowa men's basketball vs. Rutgers: Final score, stats, highlights

Rutgers spoiled No. 21 Iowa's home finale, blasting the Hawkeyes 86-72 Saturday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena to earn a regular-season split.

The Hawkeyes fell to 21-8 overall and 10-8 in the Big Ten. The Scarlet Knights are now 14-14, 7-11.

Coverage from Carver:

» For Iowa basketball, March comes in like a cold lamb

» Fran McCaffery and shooting touch absent for Iowa vs. Rutgers

» Game recap: Rutgers routs Iowa

Turning point: Iowa's offense was off all day, but particularly during a stretch in the second half. The Hawkeyes went more than 10 minutes without a field goal, going 0 for 8 before Nicholas Baer's jumper. After getting within 50-41 with 13:01 left thanks to six straight free throws, the Hawkeyes fell behind 65-45 almost five minutes later as Rutgers made 6 of 7 shots. That included 3-pointers from Ron Harper Jr. and Geo Baker (2).

MVP: Harper poured in a career high 27 points on 9-for-13 shooting, including 4-for-7 from deep. His previous career high? Sixteen points in a loss to Iowa two weeks ago.

Key stat: 24.9. That's the difference between Rutgers' and Iowa's second-half field goal percentages (59.3 to 34.4) The Hawkeyes made 15 of 21 free throws, but struggled from the field, including a 5-of-19 mark from deep. Iowa shot 35.7 percent overall for the game.

Stat leaders

Points: Nicholas Baer, Iowa (17); Ron Harper Jr., Rutgers (27)

Rebounds: Tyler Cook, Iowa (8); Geo Baker, Myles Johnson, Rutgers (6)

Assists: Joe Wieskamp, Iowa (3); Geo Baker, Rutgers (9)

Steals: Jordan Bohannon, Iowa (2); Geo Baker, Eugene Omoruyi, Caleb McConnell, Rutgers (2)

Blocks: Joe Wieskamp, Iowa (2); Ron Harper Jr., Rutgers (1)

3-Pointers: Nicholas Baer, Iowa (4-12); Issa Thiam, Rutgers (4-6)

Up next: Iowa visits No. 18 Wisconsin at 6 p.m. Thursday (ESPN). It's the second of head coach Fran McCaffery's two-game suspension.