The Iowa men’s basketball team suffered its first loss of the season Tuesday night on the road against No. 8 Creighton, falling to the Bluejays, 92-84, in Omaha, Nebraska. Hitting 48.6 percent of their field goals in the opening 20 minutes, the Hawkeyes took a tie game into halftime, but couldn’t overcome a 20-8 Bluejay run to open the second half.
With 12:19 to go in the first half, grad transfer forward Ben Krikke hit a jumper to put Iowa ahead, 22-15. The seven-point advantage was the best the Hawkeyes’ had all night, as they were outrebounded, 38-30, and took a beating in the paint, being outscored, 42-24, in the lane.
Tied at 43 heading out of the break, Iowa let up a dunk to Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner. Following back-to-back threes from the Bluejays, the 7-footer notched a fast break layup. This cycle then repeated: two more triples and another Kalkbrenner layup. With 15:14 to go in the second half, Iowa found itself down, 61-49.
Creighton made its first 10 field goals to open the second half and in a span of 11 minutes, scored on 15 of its 17 field goals, including five three-pointers. After Bluejay guard Francisco Farabello splashed from behind the arc, the Hawkeyes found themselves in a 17-point hole with 9:17 to play.
Then, lightning struck for Iowa, as it hit nine of its next 11 shots to make the game a five-point affair with 1:26 to play. Iowa first-year forward Owen Freeman contributed six points during that span while senior forward Patrick McCaffery produced four of his own. After McCaffery’s dunk, the Hawkeyes found themselves down, 89-84.
After a block from Hawkeye guard Tony Perkins, Kalkbrenner handled the offensive rebound but was fouled by Iowa’s Dasonte Bowen to put Creighton in the bonus. Missing the front end of the one-and-one, Iowa got the rebound and had a chance to make it a one-possession game.
On the Hawkeyes’ ensuing possession, forward Payton Sandfort fired a shot from the corner, but his attempt was off the mark. After the play, he signaled to the referees, gesturing to his right arm in an attempt to say he was fouled. The play was not reviewed.
Earlier in that half, Sandfort took a hard fall and visited the locker room before returning to action. Per @ChadLeistikow, the forward was seen with an ice pack wrapped around his left shoulder as he walked off the court at the end of the game.
Kalkbrenner, who led the Bluejays in scoring last season, finished with just 13 for the contest. The first-team All-Big East member in 2022-23 got into foul trouble in the second half and played just 27 minutes. Picking up the slack were starting guards Trey Alexander and Baylor Scheierman, who combined for 40 points on 15-of-31 shooting while also dishing out 13 assists and snagging 15 rebounds.
Alexander, an honorable mention for All-Big East last season, had a near triple-double, putting up 23 points, 11 dimes, and nine rebounds in 38 minutes on the floor.
Iowa’s leading scorer was Krikke with 24 on 11-of-18 shooting. The outburst was his first 20-point performance in the Black and Gold and his third straight contest scoring in double digits. Trailing behind Krikke Perkins with 16 and McCaffery with 13.
Playing the most minutes for Iowa’s four first years were Freeman and fellow forward Ladji Dembele, each clocking 14 minutes. The duo combined for 16 points on 7-of-11 from the field, including two Dembele threes, but grabbed just three boards.
While technically having a better percentage from behind the arc than their Bluejay counterparts, the Hawkeyes only cashed on six threes compared to the Bluejays’ 10.
Iowa still shot 50 percent overall from the field and finished with 20 assists, the third time the Hawkeyes have finished with at least 20 dimes this season. Head coach Fran McCaffery now has 17 losses at Iowa when his team converts on at least half of its shots from the field.
