Iowa Hawkeyes vs Syracuse Orange Match Player Stats On Dec 03, 2019

Luka Garza collected 23 points and nine rebounds as visiting Iowa pulled away in the second half for a 68-54 victory over Syracuse in the Big 10/ACC Challenge Tuesday night.

The Hawkeyes (6-2) bounced back nicely from blowing a 16-point first half lead in a 10-point loss against San Diego State Friday in Las Vegas.

After shooting 34.4 percent and holding a one-point lead at halftime, Iowa outscored Syracuse 38-25 in the second half by shooting 51.7 percent and hitting six 3-pointers in the final 20 minutes.

Garza rebounded from scoring a season-low nine points Friday and finished with at least 20 points for the fourth time. He shot 9-of-15 from the floor as Iowa shot 42.6 percent overall.

Jordan Bohannon added 17 and hit five of Iowa's 11 3-pointers while Joe Wieskamp contributed 13 points and nine rebounds.

Syracuse (4-4) lost its third straight game and second straight to a Big 10 opponent. After shooting 33.3 percent Friday in New York against Penn State in the NIT Season Tip-Off, the Orange shot a dreadful 36.5 percent and committed 16 turnovers.

Marek Dolezaj led Syracuse with 12 points but leading scorer Elijah Hughes was held to 10 on 3-of-13 shooting. Hughes hit 3 of 5 3-pointers but was 0-for-8 inside the arc.

Despite its poor early shooting, Iowa held a 30-29 lead at intermission in a first half that featured nine lead changes. The Hawkeyes went ahead for good on Wieskamp's third 3-pointer with 2:36 remaining of the half but were unable to expand their lead by missing three 3-pointers in the final 2 1/2 minutes.

Iowa pulled away in the opening minutes of the second half, using a 16-2 run to surge ahead. Garza's layup with 15:52 remaining started the run and the Hawkeyes took their first double-digit lead at 49-38 with 12:10 remaining on a short jumper by Connor McCaffery.

Syracuse went a little over seven minutes without a field goal until Hughes hit a 3-pointer that cut the deficit to 56-41 but Iowa continued to pull away and took a 66-47 lead on a 3-pointer by Bohannon with 4:14 to go.

--Field Level Media