Versatility and volume, thy names are Keegan Murray, Iowa Hawkeye

IOWA CITY — Seldom do you see players give back-to-back 30-point performances in Big Ten men’s basketball conference games.

Iowa’s Luka Garza, who averaged a massive 26.2 points in league play as a junior and 21.9 as a senior, didn’t. Before Sunday, the last Hawkeye to do it was Matt Gatens in 2012.

Cedar Rapids’ Keegan Murray scored a career-high 37 Sunday afternoon, three days after the sophomore forward dropped in 30 at Maryland. Both efforts were key to offensive showcases, the latest being Iowa’s 98-75 thumping of Nebraska (1-13 Big Ten) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“He’s the most-versatile player in our league,” Huskers Coach Fred Hoiberg said. “You talk about three-level (3-point arc, midrange, at the rim) scorers. He’s a true definition of that.

“He’s a guy that can get in the post. He beat us down the floor consistently tonight. We got deep post-up position, tried a couple guys on him, we put size on him. He got us on the perimeter. We put a guard on him, tried to get into him, and he got us on the post.

“His efficiency that he’s playing with is phenomenal right now.”

Murray was scoreless until he made two free throws with 14:37 left in the first half. Less than three minutes later, he had 12 points and Iowa was on its way to a 15-0 run for a 26-15 lead. He had 24 at halftime, when the Hawkeyes owned a whopping 53-25 advantage.

That three-level thing, the ability to fluidly go from one of those scoring areas to the next and prosper is beyond rare in the college game.

“He’s got a complete skill set,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. “We all know that, we’ve all seen that. But I think it’s his demeanor. He’s quietly just killing you, essentially.

“And he never lets up. He runs the floor. He attacks the glass. He rebounds defensively. He blocks shots. He plays the other team’s best defensive player. He slides his feet. He scores everywhere on the floor.

“No matter where he goes, he’s equally effective.”

Murray is mortal. Iowa hit a rough four-game patch on offense in which it lost three times from Jan. 19 to Jan. 31. Murray shot 34.5 percent (19-of-55) from the field over those games. In his last three, though, he is 36-of-53 for 67.9 percent and his team won each by double-digits.

“I just think our spacing is better,” Murray said. “Guys are sharing the ball. It’s not sticking as much as it was. I just think the more movement we’ve been having these last couple of games have really helped us a lot.”

Four of Murray’s teammates had at least three assists Sunday. Joe Toussaint came off the bench to put a charge in Iowa’s first-half offense and defense, with three assists and three steals in his first seven minutes. He had a beautiful behind-the-back pass and a football-type long throw to feed Murray for consecutive first-half buckets.

Iowa freshman forward Payton Sandfort scored 12 points and had a game-high eight rebounds in 16 minutes.

“When I first got here in the summer, I was going against (Murray) every day,” Sandfort said. “I would go home and call my dad and I’d be like ‘This dude is just kicking my butt. I don’t know if I’m built for this.’

“Then I started getting a little better playing against him, and then I see him go out here and he’s doing a lot worse than he did to me.”

Iowa, above .500 in the Big Ten for the first time this season at 7-6 (17-7 overall) will try to continue its torrid play Thursday when it hosts Michigan (7-6, 13-10) at 6 p.m.

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