NCAA Basketball: Toppin tightens grip on National Player of the Year race

Stats: 23.7 ppg, 9.8 rpg, 1.8 bpg

Luka Garza‘s candidacy was surging just a couple of weeks ago and, while he’s still putting up numbers, Iowa‘s struggles of late have stalled out his rise.

The Hawkeyes are 2-3 in their last five games with all of them coming on the road against Maryland, Purdue, and Indiana. Garza continues to produce – he has scored over 20 points in every game since Jan. 7 and put up 38 points in Iowa’s loss to the Hoosiers on Thursday – despite not getting much help.

The runaway favorite to win Big Ten Player of the Year, the biggest thing that stands in the way between Garza and winning National Player of the Year is his team. Despite his individual production, team success matters to voters. And if your team is fading during the most important stretch of the season, that’s not a good thing.

Iowa certainly has plenty of tough games down the stretch, too. Those are opportunities for Garza to shine on a national stage, but there’s a good chance the Hawkeyes continue to struggle. All of their remaining opponents rank in the KenPom top 30.

This week, though, Garza will match up individually with Minnesota’s Daniel Oturu and Ohio State’s Kaleb Wesson, two of the best big men in the country. If he continues to put up numbers against that competition, Iowa will likely have success, too.