Nearly perfect Garza scores 41, Iowa routs Southern

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Luka Garza scored 41 points, missing just one shot, and No. 5 Iowa beat Southern 103-76 on Friday.

Garza was 14 of 15 from the field, making all three of his 3-point attempts, and was 10 of 12 on free throws for the Hawkeyes (2-0). He also had nine rebounds and three blocked shots in 29 minutes.

It was 18th consecutive game of 20 or more points for Garza, the lone unanimous selection to the AP preseason All-America team.

Garza had 36 of his points in the first half, making all 12 of his field-goal attempts, and Iowa led 58-35 at halftime.

Garza’s perfect run ended when he missed a shot 28 seconds into the second half.

Ashante Shivers led Southern (0-2) with 13 points. Jayden Saddler scored 12, Lamarcus Lee had 11 and DJ Burns had 10.

The Hawkeyes scored 15 of the game’s first 17 points. Southern got to within 17-13 before Iowa pulled away behind Garza.

Garza opened the game with a 3-pointer and had 11 of Iowa’s first 17 points.

Garza’s game ranked seventh on Iowa’s single-game scoring list. His career high was 44 against Michigan on Dec. 6, 2019.

Joe Wieskamp added 16 points and seven rebounds for Iowa.

PROGRAM HISTORY

Iowa’s single-game scoring record is 49 points, set by John Johnson in a 1970 game against Northwestern. Garza and Johnson are the only two Hawkeyes players with two 40-point games.

NUNGE ABSENT

Iowa played its second game without forward Jack Nunge, who is out indefinitely after the death of his father on Saturday. Nunge missed almost all of last season with a knee injury.

BIG PICTURE

It was a good opening weekend for the Hawkeyes, who won 97-67 over North Carolina Central on Wednesday night in what was a three-team multi-team event. Southern lost to North Carolina Central 85-78 in overtime on Thursday.

UP NEXT

Southern’s schedule doesn’t get any easier — the Jaguars play at top-ranked Gonzaga on Thursday.

Iowa gets a third consecutive home game on Thursday, when the Hawkeyes face Western Illinois.