The Iowa men’s basketball team suffered its second defeat of the season in a 74-62 loss to No. 15 Duke on Tuesday evening. The contest was part of the Jimmy V Classic, organized to raise money for cancer research, hosted at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Despite a late scoring run to soften the final margin, the Hawkeyes struggled on the offensive end throughout the contest. Iowa was held to 25-for-63 shooting, good for a sub-40 percent clip, by a lengthy Duke frontcourt sporting a pair of 5-star-recruit 7-footers.

Iowa junior forward Patrick McCaffery led the way offensively for the Hawkeyes, converting four of his eight field goal attempts for 12 points. 

Fifth-year big man Filip Rebraca pitched in with 10 points and a team-best eight boards, but he failed to convert consistently in the paint in the first half, missing three lightly-contested layups.

The Hawkeyes were unable to defend the 3-point line in the first half, allowing the Blue Devils to convert six of their 11 attempts from behind the arc before the break. The Hawkeyes trailed at the half, 37-31. 

Junior guard Jeremy Roach carried the load offensively for Duke, scoring a career-high 22 points on 8-for-18 shooting.

Five-star freshman Kyle Filipowski added a double-double for the Blue Devils, scoring 15 points and adding 10 boards.

Hawkeyes’ top scorers struggle

The Blue Devils held two of Iowa’s top three scorers to a combined 13 points on 5-for-19 shooting in the contest. Junior forward Kris Murray mustered eight points on 3-for-9 shooting, including a couple of airballs. His poor performance dropped his season average from 21 points per game to 19.4.

Junior guard Tony Perkins had five points on 2-for-10 shooting. The Indianapolis native was third on the team in scoring average heading into the contest with 12.8 points per game.

Hawkeyes’ shooting pains continue

Dating back to their 74-71 victory over Clemson on Nov. 25, the Hawkeyes are just 19-for-78 — 24.4 percent — from the 3-point line. 

Iowa’s woes from behind the arc extended into Tuesday’s contest, as the Hawkeyes shot just 3-for-16, including just 1-for-7 in the first half. Junior guard Ahron Uls,  Perkins, and McCaffery pitched in one triple apiece, while sophomore guard Payton Sandfort went 0-for-4 behind the arc in 14 minutes of play. 

The Hawkeyes had similar difficulties at the free throw line from some of their top scoring threats. Over the past two contests, Iowa has shot 58.7 percent from the charity stripe.

Rebraca has converted just five of his 13 free throw opportunities in the past two games, while Murray is 50 percent from the line in that span, knocking down five of 10.

Up next

The Hawkeyes will host in-state rival Iowa State at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City on Thursday at 7 p.m. as part of the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series.

The No. 20 Cyclones stand 7-1 on the season, including a 70-65 win over then-No. 1 North Carolina. The ‘Clones won last year’s Cy-Hawk contest, 73-53, against a then-No. 16 ranked Iowa squad.