Big Ten Basketball: Indiana tumbles, Rutgers storms up in latest power rankings
The Hawkeyes have been floating above water for the past couple of months, not getting major victories but not suffering awful defeats either. This is why they’re around the 9-10 seed range as of Monday night. The latest game for them was a 75-62 road win over Ohio State, led by 24 points from Keegan Murray.
If it wasn’t for Iowa not being a nationally ranked team and competing for a Big Ten title, Murray would definitely be a contender for Big Ten and National Player of the Year. On the season, the sophomore is averaging 23.4 ppg and 8.2 rpg, coming off individual performances of 30 and 37 points respectively against Maryland and Nebraska, both ending up in victories.
Double-digit contributions from Patrick McCaffery, Jordan Bohannon, and Keegan’s brother Kris Murray has let Iowa become a top-5 scoring offense in the country. The defense by no means has been elite but compared to a year ago, has shown some improvement.
The Hawkeyes aren’t guaranteed to make the NCAA tournament so they’ll need to get 1-2 wins over Michigan State, Michigan, or Illinois. Or maybe even more important, avoid bad losses to Nebraska and Northwestern in the next couple of weeks.