Joe Wieskamp scored a season-high 26 points, Luka Garza added 22 points and both players snagged 10 rebounds as No. 15 Iowa defeated No. 25 Rutgers 79-66 on Wednesday night in Iowa City to snap a two-game losing streak.
Iowa (14-6, 8-5 Big Ten) led by as many as 14 points in the second half. The Scarlet Knights rallied to within six points with 9:16 to go before the Hawkeyes quickly regained control with a 7-2 run over the next 1:52.
Despite shooting 51.4 percent in the second half, Rutgers (11-7, 7-7) saw its four-game winning streak end. The Scarlet Knights started 1-for-16 from 3-point range en route to a 6-for-28 effort from deep.
Geo Baker (11 points) and Jacob Young (10) scored in double figures for Rutgers. Caleb McConnell grabbed a team-best seven rebounds while Baker dished five assists.
Wieskamp's scoring output including 9-for-14 shooting, highlighted by a 5-for-7 showing from long range.
Jordan Bohannon had 12 points and seven assists, while Keegan Murray scored 10 points for the Hawkeyes, who won the rebounding battle 42-31.
Iowa shot just 31.3 percent from the field in the first half but rebounded from a slow start, making 9 of 22 attempts after going 1 of 10 to begin the game. Wieskamp paced the Hawkeyes to a 34-25 lead at the break with 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting, including a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.
Baker scored seven points in the first half to pace Rutgers, which committed seven turnovers in the first 20 minutes while shooting 1-for-11 from 3-point range.
The Hawkeyes earned a season sweep of the Scarlet Knights. In a meeting of then-Top 15 teams on Jan. 2, Iowa edged Rutgers 77-75 in Piscataway, N.J.
Iowa boasts a 9-2 edge against Rutgers in the all-time series and has won four of five matchups played in Iowa City.
--Field Level Media
Rutgers | Iowa | |
Geo Baker 11 | Scoring | Joe Wieskamp 26 |
Geo Baker 5 | Assists | Jordan Bohannon 7 |
Caleb McConnell 7 | Rebounds | Luka Garza 10 |
Montez Mathis 2 | Free Throws Made | Luka Garza 5 |
Paul Mulcahy 2 | Steals | Patrick McCaffery 2 |
Geo Baker 1 | Blocks | Luka Garza 2 |