Murray-go-round for Hawkeyes in racehorse win

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The speed limit between the Iowa-South Dakota border and Sioux Falls is 80 mph. Which, coincidentally, was the pace with which the Iowa men’s basketball team played here Saturday night.

The Hawkeyes (8-3) flew back to Iowa early Sunday morning after flying around for 40 minutes in the Sanford Pentagon. They shot 54.7 percent from the field, out-rebounded the Aggies 35-23, and snapped a 3-game losing streak with a 94-75 victory over their 8-4 foe.

Iowa sophomore forward Keegan Murray scored 25 first-half points and had a career-high 35 overall. Most of his baskets were in the paint, and many were in transition. He made 13 of 17 field goal tries, and was set up nicely by a variety of teammates. Nine Hawkeyes had assists.

“Keep moving,” Murray said about how he kept getting the ball when and where he wanted it. “Don’t let the defense get set. For me it was just moving around, getting down the court as fast as I could so they weren’t able to set their defense, and that’s where I got a lot of easy baskets.”

The game became a very Murray Christmas in the second half. Keegan’s twin brother, Kris Murray, made a pair of second-half 3-pointers within 34 seconds to up the Hawkeyes’ advantage to 72-58.

Kris Murray finished with 17 points, tying his career-high. All but two came after halftime.

“Kris is very aggressive,” said Iowa forward Patrick McCaffery, who had 12 points. “That’s just kind of how he is by nature. And that’s what makes him really good.

“He’s a scorer, man. So we just have to get him the ball.”

It was Mississippi Valley Conference Night in Sioux Falls. The Murrays, Jordan Bohannon and McCaffery, all from Valley schools in Cedar Rapids, Marion and Iowa City, combined for 75 points. Keegan Murray drew 10 fouls.

“There’s a reason they have the fourth-ranked offense in the country,” said Utah State Coach Ryan Odom. “They get it up the court really fast.”

The Murrays, Odom said, “both know how to play off one another. Obviously, Keegan’s one of the best players in the country. … They were posting him up and he was catching it on the block. Because they move you around so much, he’s able to get angles in there.”

Iowa began this game seemingly without a defensive clue, getting shredded by Utah State cuts to the basket. Each of the Aggies’ first 13 field goals came with an assist attached. A 9-0 run put USU up 27-23 and induced a Fran McCaffery timeout with 9:09 left in the half.

However, Iowa’s defense tightened as it maintained its own offensive ferocity. Keegan Murray scored 18 straight points for his team in the space of 6:08, and Iowa pulled away to a 51-43 halftime lead after a half with 14 lead-changes.

Iowa shot 69 percent from the field in the half, and was 17-of-21 in 2-point shooting. The Hawkeyes wore down the seven players Utah State used in the first 20 minutes.

To emphatically finish things off, Iowa ran off 10 straight points for an 89-61 lead with 5:33 left, the final two on a Keegan Murray dunk in transition. He left the game with 5:11 to play.

Iowa’s next points? Kris Murray’s third 3-pointer in four tries.

Instead of this being a 94-92 white-knuckler, the Hawkeyes buckled down on something that had been loose as a Christmas goose the previous three games. They held the Aggies to a mere two offensive boards.

That was after Iowa had been out-rebounded by a total of 59 in its previous three games, losses to Purdue, Illinois and Iowa State.

“We definitely put an emphasis throughout the last week or so on keeping them off the offensive glass,” Patrick McCaffery said.

It was all a far cry from the Hawkeyes’ previous game, a 73-53 loss at Iowa State on Dec. 9 in which the Cyclones had 50 boards to Iowa’s 32. The Hawkeyes were rested, refreshed, and certainly ready this night.

Keegan Murray’s recent ankle issue appeared to have been left behind in Iowa. Having his brother sparkle alongside him was a bonus.

“It can be huge when we play together and we don’t miss a beat,” Kris said. “It’s so fun playing with him.”

Iowa’s next game is Tuesday at home, a rare 7 p.m. start. The foe is Southeastern Louisiana.

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