When Iowa star Luka Garza announced this summer that he was returning for his senior season, he made his ambitions clear. “I’m very excited to be with my teammates again and looking forward to winning a national championship and winning a Big Ten championship,” Garza said. “We have big goals in mind, and once we’re back in court we’re going to start working and hopefully we can make some history this year.”
But after a 95-80 loss to Oregon Monday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, it appears that Garza’s historic career is over. The school’s leading scorer did everything in his power to push his team to the goals he set when he decided to return, but in the end the Hawkeyes could not overcome their own weak defense.
The no. 7 selected ducks shot 55.9% and scored 56 points in the first half. Even an excellent 36-point effort from Garza could not save Iowa, as the Hawkeyes flared up again on the first weekend of the Big Dance.
Although Iowa enjoyed its best Big Ten winning percentage since 1987, with Garza as the Big Ten Player and as a first All-American AP team, it had to be the program that became the first Sweet 16 series since 1999 and possibly even further. . Defense has always been a source of concern for this group after it was only 97th nationally in KenPom last season.
Perhaps the Hawkeyes improved slightly this season – they finished 60th in the same benchmark that entered Monday’s game – but Oregon exposed the limitations of Iowa and put an end to the career of an everyday college basketball player.
Nothing about the early retirement of the Hawkeyes will diminish Garza’s collegiate performance, but Monday’s loss could potentially recalibrate the program as it moves forward without Garza.
The loss of Iowa also allows the Big Ten. Of the nine teams from the league that made it to the NCAA Tournament, only 1-seeded Michigan and 10-seeded Maryland remain, and one will have to win on Monday if the conference is to have a representative in the Sweet 16. He seems to have established himself as the country’s best throughout the regular season, but the post-season battle is surprising.
On the other hand, Oregon’s progress to the Sweet 16 is the latest feather in the Pac-12’s cap. The Ducks and rival Oregon State, Oregon, each advanced, and the league’s other three NCAA Tournament teams all had a chance to advance during the rest of Monday’s second round of action.