Keegan Murray racked up 35 points and Iowa cranked up the offense in a 94-75 romp past Utah State on Saturday night in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Murray shot 13-for-17 from the field, making two 3-point shots, and went 7-for-8 on free throws. He also had a game-high seven rebounds.
Kris Murray supplied 17 points, Patrick McCaffrey had 12 points and Jordan Bohannon added 11 points as Iowa (8-3) broke a three-game losing streak.
Iowa shot 54.7 percent from the field, though much of the damage was done inside the arc. The Hawkeyes were 8-for-26 from 3-point range.
There was also solid defensive stretches for Iowa. Utah State grabbed just two offensive rebounds in the game.
Brandon Horvath’s 18 points and Justin Bean’s 17 points paced Utah State (8-4). Each starter for the Aggies had at least two turnovers.
Iowa was coming off its lowest scoring output of the season, a 73-53 loss at Iowa State on Dec. 9. The Hawkeyes made sure scoring wouldn’t be an issue against the Aggies, grabbing a 51-43 at halftime.
Murray had 25 points on 10-for-12 shooting in the first half — a half that saw the Hawkeyes shoot 69 percent from the field.
The score was tied at 43-43 with 2 1/2 minutes left in the first half, but the Aggies went 0-for-4 with a turnover the rest of the half.
The Hawkeyes steadily increased their lead in the second half before an 10-0 burst created an 89-61 bulge with about 5 1/2 minutes remaining.
The Aggies had won two games in a row following a two-game skid. Their three previous losses this season came by a combined 18 points.
Utah State was aiming to improve to 5-0 in neutral-site games this season.
Iowa leads the series 3-1 after the first meeting in 14 years.
–Field Level Media
