Duke holds Kris Murray to eight points in 74-62 win over Iowa in Jimmy V Classic
By Adam Zagoria
NEW YORK — Kris Murray picked a bad night to have his worst game of the season.
The Iowa star shot 3-of-9 for eight points with seven rebounds against a stingy defense as the Hawkeyes lost for the second time in three games, 74-62, against No. 15 Duke in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden. It was Iowa’s first appearance in the Jimmy V, and they fell to 1-8 all-time against Duke, now led by first-year coach Jon Scheyer. Murray entered the game averaging 21.0 points and 10.6 rebounds.
“Oh yeah, it was definitely tough, credit to them,” Murray said. “They just kind of stuck with me the whole entire night. Every time I drove in, they showed multiple defenders so it’s just something I have to adjust to in the future, just be able to make plays off that.”
“They’re definitely a really good defensive team.
Patrick McCaffery and Dasonte Bowen led Iowa (6-2) with 12 points and Filip Rebraca added 10 points and eight rebounds.
Jeremy Roach led Duke (9-2) with 22 points, Mark Mitchell had 17 with five rebounds and Kyle Filipowski, a 6-foot-10 projected lottery pick, had a double-double of 12 points with 10 boards.
“I think we just had a game plan to come in and try to stop him,” Duke’s 6-foot-8 Mitchell said of being the primary defender on Murray.
“We knew he was a talented player. I tried to keep him off the glass as much as I could, I know he averages a lot of offensive rebounds. We just tried to defend him as a team and not let him get any easy looks and just pressure him all night and make it hard for him.”
Mitchell and 6-7 freshman Dariq Whitehead also helped funnel Murray and the other Iowa players toward Duke’s huge interior front line.
“You have Mark and Dariq, that’s some pretty good length to put on Murray,” Scheyer said. “For freshmen first time in the Garden against somebody like Murray, I think they showed a lot about their character tonight.”
The schedule won’t get any easier for coach Fran McCaffery’s club, who next face No. 20 Iowa State on Thursday before hosting Wisconsin on Sunday. Wisconsin handed No. 13 Maryland its first loss of the season, 64-59, Tuesday night.
“We’re going to play Iowa State, our in-state rival, so we’re definitely going to be excited for that,” Rebraca said. “Just get some rest, get some rest [Wednesday].”
Duke seized a 37-31 halftime lead while making 6-of-11 from beyond the arc. Murray was 2-of-6 at the half for just four points.
Roach had 11 at the break for Duke.
Iowa trailed by six at the half and got within 46-39 on a basket by Patrick McCaffery but Duke reeled off 5-0 mini-run to push it to 51-39.
Five straight points by Patrick McCaffery cut it to 61-50 but Duke used a 6-0 mini-spurt to push it to 67-50.
“I thought we moved the ball well and it didn’t go in,” Fran McCaffery said of his team, which shot 25-of-63 from the field.
Iowa used a 10-1 run to get within 68-60 on a jumper by Peyton Sandfort with 1:08 remaining.
A breakaway dunk by Mitchell made it 72-60 in favor of Duke and iced the night.
Duke fans chanted “Our house, our house” in the final seconds.
In the first game of the Jimmy V doubleheader, No. 17 Illinois handed No. 2 Texas its first loss of the season, 85-78 in overtime, after outscoring the Longhorns 17-10 in the extra period.