Hawkeyes 2/3 Defense Smothers Hoosiers 85-60

The Indiana Hoosiers saw its five-game win streak come to an end Saturday Night with an 85-60 to the Iowa Hawkeyes in Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. The Hoosiers are 13-4 Overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten while Iowa improves to 12-4 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten. Indiana has lost all four games by double digits and is 2-4 in games away from Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall and 0-2 in true road games and 2-2 in neutral sites games going 1-2 in the Bahamas and winning against Penn State in Philadelphia.

    Iowa used a 2-3 zone to smother the Hoosiers as Indiana had season high 12 first half turnovers. The Hawkeyes connected on 11 three pointers to pull away from the Hoosiers. Owen Freeman had 16 points and 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. All five Iowa starters scored in double figures with Payton Sandfort scoring 23 points, Josh Dix and Drew Thelwell added 12 points apiece and Brock Harding had 10 points and 10 assists for his second double-double of the season. Thelwell recorded six (6) steals in the game.

Iowa finished 32-59 from the field for 54%, 11-24 from three-point range for 45% and 10-18 from the free throw line for 56%. The Hawkeyes pulled down 37 rebounds, dished out 18 assists, 11 steals, 6 blocks and committed 13 turnovers.

    Myles Rice led Indiana with 12 points and Oumar Ballo got his fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Bryson Tucker and Kannan Caryle added 9 points each as Langdon Hatton scored 8 points all off the bench. Mackenize Mgbako scored 6 points after a scoreless outing against USC. Luke Goode and Anthony Leal scored 3 points apiece and Trey Galloway was held scoreless. Indiana went 24-59 from the field for 40%, 4-16 from three-point range for 25% and 8-13 from the free throw line for 61%. The Hoosiers pulled down 31 rebounds, dished 15 assists, 4 steals, 1 block and committed 16 turnovers.

    Iowa outscored Indiana 43-33 in the first half as it was a game of runs as Indiana jumped to a 4-0 lead as the Hawkeyes scored the next 15 points to lead 15-4 with 15:21 left in the first half. Iowa led 23-13 with 11:05 left when the Hoosiers scored the next 11 points to lead 24-23 with 8:03 left in the first half. The Hoosiers led 28-25 with 6:38 left in the half when the Hawkeyes outscored the Hoosiers 18-5 including a 12-0 run.

   Iowa put the game away in the second half as the Hawkeyes went inside to Freeman and continued to knock down the outside shot and disruptive Indiana’s offense holding the Hoosiers to 27 second half points while scoring 42. Iowa increased the lead to 30 points 85-55 with 1:39 left in the game as Hawkeyes are 49-43 all-time against the Hoosiers in Iowa City and Mike Woodson is winless against Iowa in Iowa City as the Hoosiers last beat the Hawkeyes 81-69 on January 21, 2021. Indiana leads the all-time series 106-82.

  Indiana returns to home on Tuesday to face Illinois and the Hoosiers are 11-0 at home this season but it’s the four losses away from home that concern Hoosiers fans losing to Louisville by 28, Iowa by 25, Nebraska by 17 and Gonzaga by 16. Indiana still has 7 conference road games left and need to be able to steal some of these road wins, so they do not miss out on the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row.

The following is courtesy of University of Iowa Athletics

GAME NOTES

• The Hawkeyes improved to 12-4 overall and 3-2 in Big Ten play with a 85-60 victory over Indiana on Saturday night inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
  • Iowa has won three straight over Indiana in Iowa City.
  • The Hawkeyes snapped the Hoosiers five game winning streak and handed IU just its second loss in its last 11 games.
• Iowa’s 25 point victory over the Hoosiers is the largest in the series since 1996 (76-50).
• The Hawkeyes have scored 80 or more points in 10 consecutive games dating back to Nov. 26. It is the longest stretch for the program since scoring 80+ in 13 straight games during the 1988-89 season.
• Iowa had five players finish in double figures: Payton Sandfort 23, Owen Freeman 16, Josh Dix 12, Drew Thelwell 12, Brock Harding 10.
• Freeman notched his third double-double of the season, finishing with 16 points, 12 rebounds, four blocks and three steals. He was 8-of-13 from the field.
  • It is Freeman’s eighth career double-double.
  • Freeman has had 3+ blocks in eight games and 18 over his last six contests.
• Payton Sandfort scored 23 points, making 7-of-12 field goals, including four 3-pointers.
  • He scored 21 points in the second half a game after scoring 27 in the final 20 minutes (30 in second half and OT) in the win over Nebraska on Jan. 7.
  • It is Sandfort’s second straight 20-point contest and his team-best sixth of the season. He has 24 career 20-point games.
  • Sandfort has made four or more 3-pointers in 24 career games.
• Thelwell had 12 points, making 4-of-7 field goals.  He finished with a career-high six steals, including five in the first half.
  • His six steals are the most by a Hawkeye since Joe Toussaint in 2021 and are tied for the second-most in a game under Fran McCaffery.
  • It was Thelwell’s second game with five or more steals.
• Harding notched his second double-double of the season, finishing with 10 points and 10 assists.
  • It is his third career game with 10 or more assists.
• Iowa finished with a 26-2 advantage in fastbreak points.
• The Hawkeyes made 11 3-pointers, finishing 11-of-24.  Iowa has made 10+ 3s in nine games this season.
• Iowa shot 54.2 percent from the floor (32-of-59). The Hawkeyes are undefeated (8-0) when shooting at least 50 percent.
• Iowa improves to 10-1 at home this season.
• Iowa had a 15-0 run early in first half and a 16-0 run late; the Hawkeyes led 43-33 at the break.
  • Iowa shot 58.1 percent in the first half (18-of-31) with five 3-pointers.
• The Hawkeyes out rebounded the Hoosiers 37-31.
  • This is the first time this season Iowa has won the rebounding battle in Big Ten play.

UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes return to action Tuesday, traveling to Los Angeles to face USC.  The game will begin at 9:30 p.m. (CT) and be televised on FS1.