Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights (11-4) and Iowa Hawkeyes (9-6) will battle Sunday in Big Ten action. Last year these two teams split their games both straight up and against the spread with the home team taking care of business each time.
The Iowa Hawkeyes started the season 8-3 but dropped three straight games, both straight up and against the spread, before beating Indiana 91-89 on Thursday as a one-point favorite. The win over Indiana improved the Hawkeyes' Big Ten record to 1-3.
What. A. Game.#Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/yPjsebdVan
— Iowa Men's Basketball (@IowaHoops) January 6, 2023
Iowa is 52nd in the nation according to KenPom. They are 17th in adjusted offensive efficiency and 126th defensively. The Hawkeyes' high offensive efficiency rating is even more remarkable with them only 164th shooting 44.9% from the floor and 273rd knocking down 32.1% of their threes. Leading the Hawkeyes is Kris Murray with 21.3 ppg and 9.8 rebounds. Murray has missed four games this season, but the team is 7-4 with hm in the line-up and 2-2 without him. Murray is on a roll after dropping 32 points with nine boards in a four-point New Year's Day loss to Penn State, and 32 points with 10 boards in the win over Indiana.