Harper scores 27, Rutgers rolls Iowa 86-72
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Ron Harper Jr. scored a season-high 27 points and Rutgers rolled past No. 22 Iowa 86-72 on Saturday in the Hawkeyes‘ home finale.
Issa Thiam had 13 points for the Scarlet Knights (14-14, 7-11 Big Ten), who exacted revenge on Iowa after the Hawkeyes used a buzzer beater to beat them in Piscataway two weeks ago.
Iowa played without coach Fran McCaffery, who was suspended by the school for two games for yelling at an official in a hallway heading to the locker room following Tuesday’s loss at Ohio State.
It was Iowa’s third loss in four games — and the Hawkeyes (21-8, 10-8) needed some late heroics to top Indiana in their only win in that stretch.
The scariest thing for the Hawkeyes was how lopsided it was.
Rutgers jumped all over the Hawkeyes in the first half, hitting seven 3s — including 3 straight from Thiam from the same corner — to jump ahead 39-30. The Scarlet Knights then went on an 8-2 run straight out of the locker room to make it 47-32.
Iowa, the national leader in free throws made entering play, got into the bonus with 13:21 left. But the Scarlet Knights kept getting open looks from beyond the arc from a generous Iowa defense, with Harper and Geo Baker hitting back-to-back 3s to help push the lead to 65-45.
Senior Nicholas Baer scored a season-high 17 points and Tyler Cook had 16 for Iowa (21-8, 10-8), which closed to 72-60 before allowing back-to-back dunks.
The Hawkeyes shot just 8 of 29 on 3s.
BIG PICTURE
Iowa: It’s impossible to say whether McCaffery’s absence hurt the Hawkeyes. But he’s the coach for a reason. Iowa came out lethargic in front of a sellout crowd on Senior Day, and failed to make the halftime adjustments needed to at least make a game of it.
Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights, who lost at Fordham and needed overtime to beat Columbia in December, are one of the most improved teams in America. They might win a game or two at the Big Ten tournament.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Iowa will almost certainly drop out of Monday’s poll.
UP NEXT
Iowa plays at Wisconsin on Thursday.
Rutgers hosts Penn State on Wednesday.
