IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Sometimes, Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said, teams can come back from Christmas break and not be focused. He knew that wasn’t going to happen with the Hawkeyes in Sunday’s game against Kennesaw State. The No. 25 Hawkeyes were sharp in a 93-51 home win to close the non-conference portion of their schedule.

Luka Garza scored 23 points and Ryan Kriener added a career-high 20 for the Hawkeyes (10-3). Kriener made all nine of his shots, while Garza was 9-of-11. Getting them the ball was a big part of Iowa’s game plan, and McCaffery knew his team understood. “I thought our guys recognized when Luka was hot early,” McCaffery said. “We recognized when Kriener was going.”

“We knew we had to get out here and take care of business,” Garza said. “I thought we did a good job of that, executing (the game plan). We all came back in shape. We really pushed each other every day in practice. For this game, we were focused, taking care of this.”

“This is probably the best shape this team has been in as a whole since I’ve been here coming off the winter break,” Kriener said. “That speaks a lot to our commitment. As a senior, that’s one of those little things that means a lot to me.”

The Hawkeyes had season highs with 14 steals and 27 assists. Iowa had 34 points off 24 Kennesaw State turnovers, and had 64 points in the paint, compared to just 22 for the Owls.
It was a season-high in points for the Hawkeyes, who shot 60% (39-of-65) for the game.

The Hawkeyes played their first home game in 20 days, and after a stretch of seven games that included three neutral-court games and three road games, needed an easy one. That is why McCaffery gave them three days off after a Dec. 21 win over Cincinnati in Chicago.

POLL IMPLICATIONS
The Hawkeyes got into the rankings last week and should stay with this win, although the Owls weren’t much of a challenge.
UP NEXT
Iowa: The Hawkeyes get back into the Big Ten schedule with a game against Penn State at the Palestra in Philadelphia on Jan. 4. Iowa went 1-1 in two conference games in early December, losing at Michigan and defeating Minnesota at home.