The game didn’t get on air until about 5 minutes had elapsed and it felt like neither team could really get in the groove all game. The Iowa Hawkeyes (14-5, 4-4) got to .500 in conference play in a 68-62 slog over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (9-10, 2-6).
Bennett Stirtz led the Hawks with 20 points on 8/21 shooting with 13 coming in the second half. Tate Sage had a career high 17-points, 4/6 from deep, and hit a pair of clutch free throws to ice the game away.
After Rutgers got to a 18-13 lead about
midway through the first half, Iowa’s offense was sparked by Sage hitting the parquet floor. He drained a pair of 3s to spark an 8-0 run which turned into a 13-3 run. Sage added an assist on a cross-court pass to Cooper Koch to give the Hawks a 5-point lead.
That’s when Stirtz started to insert himself more, he hit two straight baskets, including an and-one to bring Iowa’s lead to 8 points, the high point of the game, with 1:47 remaining in the half. Despite it feeling like a corner got turned, the Hawks couldn’t add to the lead and a Rutgers FT sent the game to intermission at 31-24, Iowa.
Coming out of half, Iowa looked even more sluggish than they did at the start of the game. A 9-0 Rutgers run got them the lead. Sage entered and got the game tied back up but it did little to deter the Scarlet Knights. After he hit a free throw, the Hawks only hit 2 field goals over the course the next six minutes – a Stirtz dunk and a Tavion Banks 3 (he’s 5 of his last 6 from deep) – before Sage canned another one from range after Rutgers had taken a 4-point lead.
The Hawks finally caught a groove with 4 straight makes – a couple baskets from Stirtz, a layup from Cam Manyawu, and a final 3 from Sage – to push the lead back to 6 with 5:31 remaining.
From there, Iowa was able to keep Rutgers at bay as the Hawks seemed to have an answer every time their lead was cut into. The only time it was cut to 2 was with 22 seconds left when Sage fouled Tariq Francis, though the freshman promptly hit a pair of free throws to push it back to 4.
All in all, it looked like a team at the end of a tough stretch of basketball games looking a little too ahead to the 8-day break between games. Yet they dug deep and got the W.
Tate Sage continues to look like an ultimate diamond in the rough as someone who can hit open shots and has already gained the trust of Ben McCollum to handle the ball in critical situations. Bennett Stirtz brought it home with some clutch shooting down the stretch and was never deterred despite some really gnarly non-calls.
Enjoy the break, boys.
Next up: 11/28 v USC at 6:00p CST (Big Ten Network)
Post Script: Thank goodness Iowa won otherwise I’d have to use this as the photo…
