Wolves Split Weekend Series with OKC Blue

DES MOINES, Iowa – The Iowa Wolves earned a 127-122 win over the Oklahoma City Blue on Sunday, Jan. 29 afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena.

Iowa (4-9), which lost a close back-and-forth game Friday to Oklahoma City (5-9), snapped a three-game losing streak with Sunday’s victory. 

Five Wolves led by two-way Luka Garza, who scored a game-high 34 points, scored in double figures. Garza pulled down a season-high 18 rebounds and just missed a triple-double with eight assists. Fellow two-way Matt Ryan finished with 24 points behind five three-pointers.

The Blue were led in scoring by their two-way Eugene Omoruyi who tallied a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Fellow two-way Lindy Waters finished with 21 while Jaden Shackelford, who made the game winning three with less than five seconds on Friday, had 19 points. 

Minnesota assignment players, Josh Minott and Wendell Moore Jr., had 22 and 18 points, respectively. Minott pulled down eight rebounds while Moore Jr. handed out six assists. Emmanuel Mudiay rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12 points off the bench. Mudiay recorded seven assists.

Down by 15 points at one point in the second quarter, the Wolves outscored the Blue, 34-24, in the quarter fueled by the duo of Moore Jr. and Mudiay. Moore Jr. scored 10 points in the second while Mudiay had eight, including burying a three-quarters court heave at the buzzer before halftime giving Iowa a 66-64 lead.

Oklahoma City came back to lead late in the third and early in the fourth before Iowa stretched its lead back. Late in the final quarter, Iowa went up by seven with 4:30 left but Oklahoma City ripped off seven-straight points to tie the game. 

Mudiay finished a driving layup and Garza made one free with two points to push it back to a two-possession lead. Abdul Gaddy pulled the Blue within two points with a three with 41.5 seconds but PJ Dozier, who returned to the Wolves Sunday after a pair of 10-day contracts in the NBA with the Sacramento Kings buried a three. Minott then iced the game with two free throws with less than 10 seconds in the game. Dozier finished with 12 points in the win. The second half featured 12 lead changes.

Iowa enjoys a break before the Austin Spurs visit Wells Fargo Arena for a back-to-back next Saturday and Sunday. Tipoff Saturday is 7 p.m. CT and Sunday is 3 p.m. CT.