Iowa basketball suffers first loss of the season to No. 1 Gonzaga

Iowa’s brief bid at an undefeated season is officially over.

The No. 3 Hawkeyes (6-1) fell 99-88 to No. 1 Gonzaga on Saturday afternoon. Luka Garza scored 30 points on 13-of-18 shooting, but it wasn’t enough to keep the game close.

The Bulldogs kept Iowa at arms length — or longer — for almost the entire game. The Hawkeyes led 14-12 early in the first half, but Gonzaga took the lead shortly afterwards and never looked back.

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Potential lottery pick Jalen Suggs was the main reason Gonzaga won this game. The freshman guard scored 27 points and made 7-of-10 three-point attempts.

Here’s a highlight clip of some of the shots he made:

Amazing display of shotmaking from future top-5 pick Jalen Suggs in today's win over Iowa. Creating space with step-backs, made Iowa pay for going under PnR, hit a pair of catch-and-shoot 3s. Has almost zero holes in his game when he's shooting it like this. Hell of a prospect. pic.twitter.com/P7OuX4IZSk

— Mike Schmitz (@Mike_Schmitz) December 19, 2020

Aside from Garza, Iowa also got help from junior guard Joe Wieskamp. After a rough first half, he rallied to score 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting.

Garza entered this game averaging 29.2 points per game, which leads the nation.

Iowa opens up its Big Ten slate against Purdue on Dec. 22.