No. 5 seed Iowa trails No. 12 seed Richmond by a point at halftime of NCAA Tournament first round matchup

The Spiders lead, 29-28, at the break.

Gabby Drees

Iowa forward Patrick McCaffery attempts to get the ball past Richmond forward Matt Grace during the first round of the NCAA Men’s Championship between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Richmond Spiders at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y., on Thursday, March 17, 2022. McCaffery earned 18 points. The Spiders beat the Hawkeyes, 67-63.

Robert Read, Pregame Editor
March 17, 2022

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The No. 5 seed Iowa men’s basketball team trails No. 12 seed Richmond, 29-28, at halftime of the first round NCAA Tournament game between the two teams.

Richmond forward Tyler Burton converted three free-throws with seven seconds remaining in the first half to push the Spiders into the lead at the break. Both teams led by as many as four points in the first half.

The Hawkeyes are only shooting 30 percent from the field in the first half and are 1-of-13 from 3-point range. The Spiders haven’t shot much better, hitting 34 percent of their field goals and two of their nine 3-point attempts. This is Iowa’s lowest-scoring half since Jan. 19 against Rutgers (27 points).

Iowa forward Keegan Murray leads the Hawkeyes with 10 points and is tied with Filip Rebraca with six rebounds at the break. The Hawkeyes are winning the rebounding battle, 26-18, but have three more turnovers than the Spiders. Burton leads Richmond with 14 points so far.

The winner of this game will play No. 4 seed Providence, who beat South Dakota State before Iowa and Richmond tipped off, on Saturday.