Luka Garza, No. 3 Iowa Beat No. 16 UNC 93-80 in 2020 ACC/Big Ten Challenge

Point, Big Ten.

The No. 3 Iowa Hawkeyes earned a victory for their conference in Tuesday's ACC/Big Ten Challenge with a 93-80 win over the No. 16 North Carolina Tar Heels at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Luka Garza, CJ Fredrick, Jordan Bohannon and Joe Wieskamp led the way for the Hawkeyes, who improved to 4-0 on the campaign by passing their first real challenge.

A solid showing from Garrison Brooks was not enough for the Tar Heels, who fell to 3-2 with their second consecutive loss.

Notable Player Stats

• Luka Garza, C, Iowa: 16 PTS, 14 REB, 4 BLK
• CJ Frederick, G, Iowa: 21 PTS, 5-of-7 3PT
• Jordan Bohannon, G, Iowa: 24 PTS, 6 AST, 7-of-16 3PT
• Joe Wieskamp, G, Iowa: 19 PTS, 9 REB, 5 AST, 5-of-7 3PT
• Garrison Brooks, F, UNC: 17 PTS, 8 REB
• Day'Ron Sharpe, F, UNC: 13 PTS, 6 REB, 2 STL

Iowa's Offense Overwhelms Tar Heels

The formula is fairly simple for Iowa: The Hawkeyes try to overwhelm their opponents on offense so their suspect defense ultimately won't matter.

Entering play, the Big Ten representative was No. 3 in offense and No. 72 in defense in Ken Pomeroy's pace-adjusted rankings. After all, scoring comes rather easily when Garza dominates any team that tries to stop him with single coverage down low and finds open shooters against any team that attempts to double him.

That scoring was on full display out of the gates when the home team poured in the opening eight points and drilled 11-of-22 three-pointers in the first half. Frederick and Wieskamp caught fire and made four triples each in the opening 20 minutes while carrying the dominant offense without Garza's usual production.

The fact Iowa went into halftime with a 12-point lead even though Garza had just six points was a terrifying thought for North Carolina and the rest of the Big Ten. 

Unfortunately for the Hawkeyes, the problem with a defense that experiences lapses in every game means the offense has to keep rolling. All it took was a few empty trips for North Carolina to climb right back into the game, and it took the lead with less than 10 minutes remaining.

It was just a matter of time before Garza broke through, though, and he took over for a stretch with multiple and-1s with a relentlessness down low that was nearly impossible to match. The threes started to fall again as well, and Bohannon connected from deep twice in a 14-0 run that helped Iowa seize control for good.

North Carolina learned a lesson many teams will this season. Keeping up with Iowa for a full 40 minutes is going to be extremely difficult.

North Carolina's Comeback Efforts Fall Short

The NCAA tournament was canceled last season, but blue-blood North Carolina was not going to qualify for it even if it wasn't.

The Tar Heels were an ugly 14-19 on the campaign and didn't have many quality wins to point to when looking for reasons for optimism. They are nationally ranked based much more on their illustrious history than anything they have accomplished of late and needed marquee victories in the early going more than most to answer any lingering questions.

UNC already missed a chance at one with a loss to Texas and came out flat during another opportunity on Tuesday.

Despite keeping Garza in relative check in the early going, the visitors fell behind by double digits within the opening six minutes and were fighting an uphill battle throughout. Keeping up with Iowa's firepower made that quite the imposing task.

Whatever Roy Williams said at halftime must have worked, as his team was a different bunch in the second half and got out in transition while creating easy looks for Brooks. Leaky Black in particular started attacking, and the entire team had a notable sense of urgency.

However, Brooks, Black and Day'Ron Sharpe, who provided a key boost off the bench, all picked up their fourth foul early in the second half. Everything had to be perfect down the stretch to complete the comeback, and the foul trouble—as well as Iowa's shooting—was just too much.

While the Tar Heels have not done anything of note to put last season in the rearview mirror, they showed more fight even while overmatched than they did for much of 2019-20. That bodes well for their chances in ACC play.

What's Next?

Iowa faces rival Iowa State on Friday, while North Carolina does not play until its matchup with Ohio State on Dec. 19.