Former Hawkeye Keegan Murray Has Career Night in the NBA [WATCH]

Former Iowa Hawkeye Keegan Murray has helped changed the fortunes of his NBA team during his rookie season. Last night, he set a new career mark.

Murray has had an up-and-down rookie campaign, as you'd expect. Going into Monday night's game against the Houston Rockets, he'd been struggling offensively. Over the previous five games, Murray had shot less than 25 percent from the field and was averaging 5.6 points per game. He was still delivering on the boards though, pulling down 7 rebounds per game for the Sacramento Kings during that stretch.

They always tell a shooter to shoot themself out of a slump, and that's exactly what Murray did Monday night.

Murray, a starting strong forward for the Kings, hit 8 of 12 from three-point range Monday night at Houston. He made 11 of his 17 shots in the game and finished with a career-high 30 points to go along with 6 rebounds, an assist, and 2 steals. He played 33 minutes, most on the team, and made just one turnover. His previous career high was 29 points, on January 20, against Oklahoma City. The 8 made 3's by Murray last night were also a career-high as the Kings beat the Rockets 140-120.

Keegan Murray has been part of a big turnaround for the Sacremento Kings this season. On February 7, 2022, the Kings were 20-35 and were in 13th place in the western conference. One year later, Sacramento is 30-23, which is good for 3rd place in the conference.

I think you could call the Kings' choice of Keegan Murray in last year's NBA draft a slam dunk.

There are about 30 games left in the NBA regular season in which Murray has averaged 12.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. The points-per-game average is good for 4th best among NBA rookies. Here's hoping we see Murray in the playoffs in April.

You can see highlights from Keegan's 30-point night below his photo.