Rutgers @ Iowa preview
Carver-Hawkeye Arena
Last Meeting ( Mar 2, 2019 ) Rutgers 86, Iowa 72
No. 19 Iowa looks to continue its winning ways when it hosts 25th-ranked Rutgers in Big Ten play on Wednesday. The Hawkeyes have won three straight games, including a 90-83 victory over Michigan on Friday, to climb back into the Top 25 after a disappointing loss to Nebraska on Jan. 7, and they hope to extend their home winning streak to eight games by avenging an 86-72 loss against Rutgers in Iowa City last season.
“This team has really excited our fan base and hopefully that will continue on Wednesday,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery told reporters. “Everywhere you go is an atmosphere like this and it’s a grind it out tough, physical game.” Rutgers moved into the national rankings for the first time since 1979 following wins against Indiana (59-50) and Minnesota (64-56) last week. The Scarlet Knights held the Golden Gophers to 35.8 percent shooting on Sunday en route to handing Steve Pikiell his 250th career head-coaching win while improving to 13-0 at home, and they hope to continue trending upward by notching their third win over a Top 25 opponent. “This team sacrifices, they play together, they play the right way and they were rewarded,” Pikiell told reporters. “We have the toughest schedule left in the league so it doesn’t get any easier and we got to keep getting better.”
TIME: 9 p.m. ET. TV: Big Ten Network
ABOUT RUTGERS (14-4, 5-2 Big Ten): Montez Mathis and Ron Harper Jr. each scored 11 points as the Scarlet Knights held Minnesota to 18 points below its season average while going three games over .500 in Big Ten play for the first time since joining the conference in 2014. Jacob Young also added 11 points while Caleb McConnell finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds, including seven on the offensive glass, to notch the first double-double of his career. “They worked their tails off and they were locked in,” Pikiell said. “We can’t just depend on one guy because when you’re playing good teams you better be doing some things well.”
ABOUT IOWA (13-5, 4-3): Luka Garza was named the Big Ten Player of the Week after averaging 30 points, five rebounds and 1.5 blocked shots in wins over Northwestern and Michigan. Garza made a career-best 11 free throws en route to a game-high 33 points to go along with seven rebounds while CJ Fredrick, who earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors, added 21 points on 6-of-9 shooting against the Wolverines. Joe Wieskamp produced 20 points and five rebounds while Ryan Kriener tallied 14 points, as the Hawkeyes finished 27-of-30 from the charity stripe.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Garza has scored over 30 points in four games this season.
2. Rutgers has held its last nine opponents to 65 points or fewer.
3. Iowa leads the Big Ten in points per game (79.9).
PREDICTION: Iowa 87, Rutgers 76