Behind a strong performance from center Luka Garza, Iowa defeated Northwestern 75-62 on Tuesday in Evanston, Ill., for its second straight Big Ten victory.

Garza finished the game with 27 points on 10-of-14 shooting, including 2-of-3 success from beyond the arc and 5-for-6 for the free-throw line. He amassed his stats in 24 minutes after dealing with foul trouble that kept him out for long stretches.

CJ Fredrick contributed 11 points and five assists for the Hawkeyes (12-5, 3-3 Big Ten). Joe Wieskamp scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds, and Ryan Kriener dropped in 10 points and snagged five rebounds.

Miller Kopp finished the game with 15 points on 5-of-17 shooting for Northwestern (6-10, 1-5), and Pete Nance had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Garza scored the first 10 points of the game for Iowa, nailing a pair of 3-pointers in addition to a layup and a transition bucket. However, the Wildcats kept pace and took a four-point lead about midway through the first half.

The Hawkeyes ended the half on a 12-7 run to take a 41-35 lead into the locker room.

Being down only six points at the end of the first half wasn't as bad as it could have been for Northwestern, especially considering the team shot 36.4 percent from the field for the first 20 minutes. The Wildcats were paced in the half by Kopp, who scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds. But the forward would not score for the next 14-plus minutes.

After Northwestern cut the deficit to five points, Garza went off. He took over the game, scoring the Hawkeyes' next 14 points as Iowa opened up a 15-point lead. Northwestern's Robbie Beran hit two jumpers in the middle of Garza's run, but it wasn't enough.

Iowa ended up outshooting Northwestern 47.3 percent to 36.2 percent from the floor.

--Field Level Media