We thought that once National Player of the Year Luka Garza graduated and moved on, Iowa wouldn’t have someone to lead the country in scoring. And yet, sophomore forward Keegan Murray has become the biggest breakout star in the country.
The 6’8 versatile forward in No. 1 in NCAA Basketball with 23.2 ppg and 8.0 rpg on 58% shooting from the field, including 1.5 steals and nearly two blocks a night. Murray had a career-high 35 points in a win over Utah State and a 20-20 performance against NC Central early on in the season.
Yet the issue has been the supporting cast offensively, which is weird because Iowa is currently No. 3 nationally in scoring at 87.6 ppg. However, that’s been due to them running up the score against the more inferior opponents. Against teams like Iowa State, Illinois, and Purdue, the average is around 72 ppg. That’s still good against power conference competition but the team still isn’t good defensively, which makes them very vulnerable to defeats.
The Hawkeyes do have a trio of double-digit scorers in Patrick McCaffery, Jordan Bohannon, and Kris Murray, but the two best passers on the team are guards Ahron Ulis and Joe Toussaint, who combines for 6.9 apg but just 7.5 apg. Coach Fran McCaffery is still looking for ideal lineups that are good offensively but still can stop someone, hence the rather large overall rotation.
Losses to Purdue and Illinois aren’t bad at all but that still gives Iowa an 0-2 start in league play. The emergence of Murray now gives the Hawkeyes NCAA Tournament aspirations but they’ll need to find a way to defend better to get enough resume-building victories.