Iowa Basketball: 3 biggest takeaways from defeat to No. 1 Gonzaga Bulldogs

There was a lot to take away from Iowa Basketball losing to No. 1 Gonzaga on Saturday.

For the Iowa Basketball program, this was arguably the biggest game in the Fran McCaffery era. A preseason top-5 team, the Hawkeyes have in many opinions to be the best individual player of the season in Luka Garza and an experienced supporting cast. They averaged over 100 ppg in the first six wins of the season, including wins over both North Carolina and in-state rival Iowa State.

But their opponent on Saturday was a completely different beast. It was No. 1 Gonzaga, who already scored wins over top-10 teams Kansas and West Virginia. The Bulldogs looked like the favorites to win the national championship and is just getting started.

But the No. 1 team had to go on a “pause” due to multiple positives for the Covid-19 disease. They weren’t able to practice much since and one of the pre-game storylines was whether rust would be a factor for the Bulldogs to start out. And with the Hawkeyes having a juggernaut offense, that could’ve potentially been the way for them to win the game.

Unfortunately for Iowa, that never happened. Gonzaga went off for 10 made three-pointers in the first half alone. Freshman phenom Jalen Suggs was fantastic overall making seven long balls and scoring a season-high 27 points to lead the Bulldogs to a 99-88 victory.

Luka Garza did all he could in the 37 minutes he played. He went for 30 points and 10 rebounds on 13/18 shooting from the field while drawing a ton of fouls on Drew Timme and others. Joe Wieskamp had 20 points to provide some help but as a team, Iowa went 4-22 from deep and 14-26 from the free throw line.

It’s a disappointing result for Iowa Basketball, missing out on a potential No. 1 ranking. But the team still has national title aspirations even after the loss. Here are some specific takeaways from the game for the Hawkeyes.