Iowa Hawkeyes vs Rutgers Scarlet Knights Box Score on Jan 02, 2021

Freshman Keegan Murray gave No. 10 Iowa the lead on two free throws with 16.4 seconds left to play, and the visitors hung on for a 77-75 win over 14th-ranked Rutgers in a Big Ten thriller on Saturday in Piscataway, N.J.

Luka Garza scored 15 of his game-high 25 points in the second half for the Hawkeyes (9-2, 3-1 Big Ten), who handed the Scarlet Knights (7-2, 3-2) their first home defeat of the season. Murray scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half for Iowa, which got 13 from Jordan Bohannon.

Jacob Young had 17 points for Rutgers, which got 13 each from Ron Harper Jr., who returned from missing one game with an ankle injury, Geo Baker, Montez Mathis and Myles Johnson (10 rebounds).

Young's 3-pointer with 5:13 to play gave Rutgers a 64-61 lead, but Iowa went ahead 66-65 on a successful three-point play from Garza with 3:31 to go. However, the lead went back-and-forth down the stretch. Baker's bucket put Rutgers up 75-74 with 35 seconds left in regulation, but Murray was fouled and sank both free throws to put the Hawkeyes ahead 76-75.

After Joe Wieskamp made one of two free throws with 3 seconds left, Rutgers had one last chance. But Young's heave from just beyond the half-court line fell short.

Tied at halftime, Rutgers used a dunk from Johnson to take a 54-47 lead with 9:37 left in the game. However, the Hawkeyes clawed their way back. Back-to-back buckets from Wieskamp and Garza's first points of the second half got the visitors within two, then Bohannon knocked down a three with 7:54 left that put them up 55-54. Iowa led 57-54 to cap a 10-0 run before Young's 3 tied the game at 57.

Neither team shot particularly well through the first 10 minutes of the first half, going a combined 2 of 8 from 3-point range to start. Rutgers shot 35.9 percent in the first half, but used a 7-0 run with less than 10 minutes to play before the break.

Iowa, though, scored 10 straight points to lead 28-23, and was ahead 32-26 with 2:48 left in the first half before Harper hit two of his stretch of three consecutive 3-point shots to tie the game. A Garza layup for Iowa tied the contest at 35-35 going into halftime.

--Field Level Media