Keegan Murray productive in Iowa’s blowout victory
The true freshman stuffed the stat sheet in the 106-53 Hawkeye win on Sunday.
Sunday, Dec. 13, 2020; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Iowa forward Keegan Murray (15) and Northern Illinois center Adong Makuoi (13) watch the ball during the basketball game against Northern Illinois at Carver Hawkeye Arena. Mandatory Credit: Hannah Kinson/Daily Iowan via USA TODAY Network
December 13, 2020
From the first game of the season, Keegan Murray has cracked the rotation for a deep Iowa team that features seven players with starting experience. That’s because the true freshman does it all on the court.
Iowa’s 106-53 victory over Northern Illinois on Sunday was the latest example of why head coach Fran McCaffery can’t keep Murray off the court.
“We have a lot of great players on our team,” Murray said. “A lot of players who can score really well, and that’s just something I’m not right now. But if I do the little things on the court, Fran will build more trust in me.
“Being active on the court is just something I feel I have to be day in and day out. And that translates into blocks and steals.”
Luka Garza and Joe Wieskamp both hit the 20-point mark against the Huskies, but Murray was active in other ways. The 6-foot-8 forward from Cedar Rapids scored 10 points and tallied five rebounds, two assists, three blocks, and two steals in 15 minutes of action.
That packed stat sheet reflects how active Murray was when he was near the ball.
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Murray checked into Iowa’s lineup at the 10:28 mark in the first half. Fifty-five seconds into his seven-minute stretch on the court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in the first half, Murray drained a 3-pointer.
Toward the end of Murray’s first-half playing time, he tried to lob a deep outlet pass down the court in the fast break, which ended up going out of bounds for a turnover.
But instead of hanging his head, Murray forced a turnover after he committed one, swooping in to grab a Northern Illinois pass that was lobbed across the court, and proceeded to feed Wieskamp for an and-one layup in transition.
By the time Murray had subbed out, Iowa led by more than 20 points, and the freshman had stuffed Northern Illinois shot attempts near the rim, grabbed offensive rebounds off the glass, and served as a threat to hit a shot from deep.
Sunday was Murray’s most productive game since he scored 12 in the season opener in November. Since then, he’s become more comfortable on the court by playing games against Power Five teams North Carolina and Iowa State.
“Being able to play great teams, that experience really helped me in this game,” Murray said. “And hopefully it will in the rest of the games.”
McCaffery announced ahead of the first game of the season that Murray had earned his way into the rotation.
The freshman’s play through six games has forced McCaffery — who won his 200th game as Iowa’s head coach Sunday — to keep him there. Murray’s emergence provides an already deep Hawkeye team with an extra option.
Not an extra option that will get the attention that Garza, Wieskamp, and some of Iowa’s other top players receive. But an extra option McCaffery can count on.
“Some guys get on lists, and some guys produce,” McCaffery said. “That kid produces every time we put him on the floor, I don’t care who he plays against.”
