Iowa Basketball: Luka Garza lives up to hype in first game of season

Luka Garza is already impressing as Iowa basketball notched their first win of the 2020-21 season on Wednesday.

The No. 5 ranked Iowa basketball team defeated North Carolina Central by a final score of 97-67 on Wednesday, as standout center Luka Garza finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks, two steals and an assist in 24 minutes.

Garza shot 11-of-14 from the field (78.5 percent) and posted his 17th straight game of at least 20 points, an Iowa program record.

Iowa’s season-opening game started slow, but Garza stilled shined. He scored the Hawkeyes’ first four points, as the Hawkeyes struggled to pull away early. North Carolina Central hung with the Hawkeyes until midway through the first half when Iowa went on a 20-2 run to enter halftime with a 40-24 lead.

Garza reached a major milestone on Wednesday afternoon. His 26 points earned him a spot on Iowa’s top-10 highest scorers list. The big man passed Adam Haluska and now sits at 10th all-time for most points scored in Iowa history.

Garza led all scorers in the game, but it was two players off Iowa’s bench that finished second and third. Forward Patrick McCaffery contributed 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting, while true freshman Keegan Murray added 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting.

Garza, who’s considered the favorite to win the Naismith Player of the Year award, likely could’ve had over 30 points had coach Fran McCaffery left him in the game the entire second half. Garza and the rest of Iowa’s starting five were pulled with roughly eight minutes remaining.

So far, so good for Garza and the Hawkeyes. Iowa’s star player is already living up the the hype, which isn’t as easy as it sounds considering the expectations for both him and the team entering the season.

Iowa’s next game: home against Southern on Friday, Nov. 27 at 4:00 pm CT. The Hawkeyes should be heavy favorites once again.