(Radio Iowa) – Keegan Murray had 22 of his career high 29 points in the opening half Monday night, as Iowa rolled to a 109-61 win over Western Michigan. Murray was 10 of 14 from the field but says it was defense that set the tone.

Iowa’s half court trap was a factor in 24 Bronco turnovers.

Freshman Payton Sandfort had 19 points, including five of seven from three point range and sophomore Tony Perkins added 15. Murray says the Hawkeyes are building depth in their 5-0 start.

The Hawkeyes host Portland State Friday night.

The Atlantic girls basketball team will open up the 2021-22 season with a lot of new faces on the court. The Trojans will have four new players in the starting lineup after the graduation of Haley Rasmussen, Taylor McCreedy, Lauren Nicholas, Maycie Waters, and Tessa and Nellie Grooms. Jada Jensen will be the lone returning starter and Aspen Niklasen, Madison Huddleson, Malena Woodward, and Keira Olson return with some experience. Head Coach Dan Vargason said this group will need to get it done by committee.

Point production may come in a different way for the Trojans this season. Atlantic was a strong perimeter team last year and lost one of the most prolific shooters in program history with Rasmussen moving on to Simpson College. Coach Vargason said this team will probably lean on getting inside and driving to the basket more.

Coach Vargason said something they need to work on early in the year is taking care of the basketball and keeping the intensity high.

Atlantic opens up the season on Tuesday night with a home game against Denison-Schleswig. We’ll have coverage on KJAN with pregame at approximately 7:15 p.m. and tip-off at 7:30 p.m. Chris Parks will have the call on AM 1220, FM 101.1, kjan.com and live video on KJANTV.

2021 Class 4A District 1 All-District Awards

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa men’s basketball sophomore Keegan Murray has been named the Big Ten Co-Player of the Week, it was announced Monday by the Big Ten Conference Office. Murray shares the honor with Purdue forward Trevion Williams.

Murray (6-foot-8, 225 pounds) averaged 26.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.5 blocks in a pair of convincing victories last week. The native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was a combined 19-of-35 (.543) from the field and 13-of-15 (.867) from the foul line.

Murray had a historic stat line against N.C. Central on Nov. 16. The forward totaled 27 points, 21 rebounds, and four blocks against the Eagles. He became the fourth Hawkeye over the last five decades, and first since 1977, to score 20+ points and grab 20+ rebounds in a game. The other four players in program history to accomplish the feat are Kevin Kunnert (24-23) versus Illinois in 1972; Fred Haberecht (29-20) versus Wisconsin in 1975; Bruce King (42-20) versus Pittsburgh in 1976; Bruce King (31-21) versus Ohio State in 1977. Ironically, the last Big Ten player to have a 20-20 performance was Purdue’s Trevion Williams, who he shares this week’s honor with at Michigan on Jan. 9, 2020 (36-20). Murray is the first Hawkeye since Greg Brunner in 2006 to grab 20+ rebounds in a game; Brunner had 23 against Minnesota on Jan. 18, 2006. Murray is the first major conference player with 27+ points, 21+ rebounds, and 4+ blocks since Kansas State’s Michael Beasley versus Sacramento State on Nov. 9, 2007.

Against Alabama State on Nov. 18, Murray amassed 26 points, six rebounds, and a career-high four assists. Murray sank two of Iowa’s school-record 20 3-pointers in a 26-point win.

Murray, who leads the Big Ten in scoring (25.5 ppg), has netted 24+ points in each of the first four contests of the season. He is one of three players from a major conference to score 24+ points in each of their first four games of the season over the last 15 years. In addition to Murray, Kansas State’s Michael Beasley (2007-08) and Arizona’s Allonzo Trier (2017-18) accomplished the feat.

This is Murray’s first Player of the Week accolade of his career.

Iowa (4-0) will challenge Western Michigan (1-2) tonight at 7:33 p.m. (CT) on Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. Tickets are available for purchase at hawkeyesports.com/tickets.

IRVING, Texas – Iowa State women’s basketball’s Ashley Joens was named the Big 12 Player of the Week after leading the Cyclones to three wins in seven days, the league announced Monday.

The honor is Joens’ 10^th Big 12 weekly honor, which ranks fourth all-time in Big 12 history, passing Baylor’s Odyssey Sims and Nebraska’s Kelsey Griffin.

Joens began the week with a 17-point performance against South Dakota State, where she hauled in eight boards. Joens helped the Cyclones to a 19-point win over SDSU, who earned a No. 7 seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament.

Joens was spectacular at Drake, going 11-of-19 from the field scoring 31 points and grabbing 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the year. Joens’ performance helped push Iowa State past Drake on the road for the first time since 2013. Joens also stuffed the stat sheet against the Bulldogs, adding four assists and three steals.

Joens capped the week going 4-of-6 from the floor against Southern for 16 points.

Iowa State travels to Florida for the Gulf Coast Showcase, with three games starting on Friday with Charlotte at 4 p.m. Central Time. All the games will be streamed on FloHoops.

The Kansas City Chiefs sacked Dak Prescott 5 times and intercepted two passes to help the Chiefs come away with a 19-9 win on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. Prescott was held to just 216 yards passing and the Cowboys were held out of the end zone.

Travis Kelce ran for a touchdown to go along with his 74 yards receiving and Clyde Edwards-Helaire had 63 yards and a score in his return to the lineup.

Kansas City improved to 7-4 on the season and the Cowboys fell to 7-3. The Chiefs now head into a bye week before playing the Broncos on December 5th.

AP Top 25

Others receiving votes: Clemson 101; Mississippi State 44; Penn State 26; App State 24; Kentucky 10; Purdue 3.

The Iowa State men’s basketball team hit 13 threes and ran away from Grambling 82-47 on Sunday evening to improve to 4-0. The Cyclones the game open with a 13-0 run about 6 minutes into the game and led 49-25 by halftime. The Cyclones shot 52% from 3 point range and 46% from the field.

Aljaz Kunc led Iowa State with 21 points, including 5-5 from three point range. Tristan Enaruna dropped in 15 and Tyrese Hunter and Tre Jackson each scored 12 for the Cyclones.

Iowa State improved to 4-0 on the season and will now head to Brooklyn, New York for the NIT Season Tip-Off. The Cyclones play Xavier on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. on ESPNU.