Rutgers unable to slow Iowa in 93-82 loss: Rapid Reaction Video & Recap

Rutgers men’s basketball lost to Iowa for a second time this season by an 11 point margin in suffering a 93-82 defeat on the road on Sunday. The Hawkeyes were 12 of 24 from three-point range (50%) and 29 of 34 from the foul line (85%). While RU shot 51% from the floor and dominated points in the paint, it wasn’t enough to keep up.

The Scarlet Knights put themselves in a huge hole due to turnovers. After committing five in the first three minutes of the game, they went on to commit 13 turnovers in the first half and 18 overall. While Iowa only held a 14-10 advantage with points off of turnovers, it also took Rutgers out of the flow at times and put a lot of pressure to get stops on the defensive end.

While Rutgers fell behind as much as 13 points in the second half, they made it a one possession game trailing Iowa 68-67 with 8:05 remaining. However, the Hawkeyes rattled off a 10-2 run to extend the lead by to nine points. The closest RU got was 80-75 with 2:49 to play but Iowa closed out the game on a 13-7 run mostly from the foul line.

Iowa had a +18 point differential from the three-point line and +19 point differential from the foul line. While Rutgers held a +24 point differential with points in the paint, it wasn’t enough to keep pace.

Overall, I think Iowa (13-8; 5-5)  is one of the few teams that can match Rutgers with their size and versatility. Along with having half a dozen shooters and good ball movement, they’re able to dictate the pace of play against RU in a way most teams cannot. They sped up play and made Rutgers try to win playing Iowa’s tempo.

Aundre Hyatt scored a team high 16 points, all in the second half on 4 of 7 shooting from three-point range. Cliff Omoruyi finished with 15 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks. Mawot Mag had 12 points and 7 rebounds. Paul Mulcahy had 11 points and a career high 13 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals. Cam Spencer had 10 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Dean Reiber had his best game of the season off the bench with 8 points and 3 rebounds.

Rutgers is now 6-4 in Big Ten play and 14-7 overall. The Scarlet Knights are still No. 17 in KenPom and No. 2 nationally in defensive efficiency following Sunday’s loss.

They’ll host last place Minnesota on Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. at the RAC.

Here is my rapid reaction video discussing the loss as well as some positives and things to watch out for moving forward this season.

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