The Sports Xchange
Dec 19, 2017

Iowa trailed for a mere 15 seconds on Tuesday night before going on a 14-2 run to take control and the Hawkeyes breezed past Southern Utah 92-64 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.

Luka Garza came off the bench to score 17 points for the Hawkeyes (7-6), who won their third straight game after losing four straight. Tyler Cook and Isaiah Moss added 16 apiece.

Cook's layup and free throw gave the Hawkeyes a 5-3 lead and Iowa never looked back. Five straight points from Jack Nunge followed a 3-pointer by Moss and the Hawkeyes were up 13-3.

The Thunderbirds (6-5) got within seven at 31-24 on a jumper by Jamal Aytes with 7:21 left in the first half, but that's the closest Southern Utah came the rest of the night.

The Hawkeyes closed out the half on a 20-7 run, using their significant height advantage to dominate around the paint and on the boards. Iowa outrebounded Southern Utah 31-16 and outscored the Thunderbirds 24-12 in the paint.

Iowa finished the game with a 48-26 rebounding advantage and outscored its Big Sky Conference opponent 52-24 in the paint.

Cook scored 10 first-half points on his way to his 16-point night.

The Thunderbirds, who came in averaging 81.7 points (61st in the nation), were led by Jadon Cohee and Brandon Better with 12 points each.

Iowa opened the second half with consecutive layups by Cook and Moss.

Nicholas Baer's layup and free throw put the Hawkeyes up 58-31. Cook's jumper with 14:41 left gave Iowa a 65-41 lead and the night just got worse for the Thunderbirds.

Moss' 3-pointer gave the Hawkeyes their largest lead at 86-56 with 3:15 left.