The Iowa men’s basketball team defeated Kansas State, 91-82, in the first round of the NIT Tuesday evening at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes will play the winner of Utah and UC Irvine this weekend.
Third-year forward Payton Sandfort led the way for the Hawkeyes with a career-high 30 points on 7-of-11 shooting from beyond the arc. Grad transfer Ben Krikke pitched with 24 points, 21 coming in the second half, as Iowa survived foul trouble and numerous comebacks to earn its first win in the NIT since 2017.
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“The energy level was there, the maturity level was there, the focus and concentration was there, the respect for the other team was there, and that’s what you have to have this time of year,” Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said postgame.
“It’s a mindset,” Krikke said of the Hawkeyes’ performance. “Coming in here, playing more basketball, we can’t be happier about that. Go out there, have fun, play together, play fast. It’s what we’ve been doing all year … It’s going to be more exciting.”
Excitement may have been the ideal adjective, as Sandfort ignited the Hawkeye offense early by hitting his first three attempts from beyond the arc as Iowa shot 50 percent from the field in the opening five minutes. While Sandfort was electric on the offensive end, Owen Freeman was the spark on the defensive end, delivering two blocks and a steal during that same time frame as Iowa jumped out to a six-point lead.
As the Wildcat offense faltered, shooting 38 percent from the floor in the opening eight minutes, Sandfort continued to heat up, drilling a fadeaway and-one and another three to bring his point total to 17 – three more than Kansas State’s total.
In his bag 💰@payton_20_ x #Hawkeyes
— Iowa Men’s Basketball (@IowaHoops) March 20, 2024
Once Sandfort subbed out, the Wildcats took advantage hitting three of three field goals to cut the lead to 27-21 before Freeman nailed a floater in the lane to stem the bleeding.
The 6-foot-10 Freeman made himself known down low, dropping in two layups as the Wildcats were held scoreless over two minutes. Kansas State never got within five points down the final stretch of the first half, as Iowa got to the double bonus with more than three minutes remaining.
The Wildcats’ Cam Carter, third on the team in scoring and first in steals, got flagged twice, forcing an early trip to the bench as the Hawkeyes connected on 7-of-8 attempts from the charity stripe. For the contest, the team shot 22-of-30.
Sandfort delivered the final bucket of the half with his sixth field goal of the evening, this time off a bounce pass from his younger brother, Pryce, to finish with 22 points at the break as the Hawkeyes held a 50-39 lead. Iowa shot 50 percent from the floor and from beyond the arc – on pace for their first 100-point performance since Dec. 29, 2023.
Things went south quickly for Iowa in the opening 90 seconds of the second half, as Kansas State broke out to a 10-0 run, complete with two triples from guard Dai Dai Ames and a breakaway dunk from Carter. Up just three points, an incensed Fran McCaffery called timeout.
McCaffery said he was “pretty direct” with his message to his players, explaining that the Hawkeye offense should’ve been running longer possessions in order to defuse the Wildcats’ momentum.
“Nobody was on the glass, it was one pass and one shot,” the head coach said of his team’s performance early in the second half. “It was one ball screen and somebody shoots. That wasn’t the game plan … It’s hard sometimes because I give my guys freedom [to shoot the ball].”
Ben Krikke finished a lefty layup immediately out of the break, and Freeman poured on with an and-one layup off a half-court pass from Tony Perkins. But on the next possession, the first-year was whistled for his third foul and was soon replaced by fellow rookie Ladji Dembele, who went scoreless before nailing a three from the top of the key to give Iowa a 69-57 lead.
After Krikke’s burst, Kansas State’s Will McNair Jr. and David N’Guessan combined for the next seven points as the Wildcats clawed back to within five with 7:40 remaining. Krikke responded quickly on the ensuing inbounds, muscling through traffic for layups on both sides of the hoop.
A 20-point night, which included his sixth triple of the season, was a long time coming for Krikke, who last breached that benchmark on Feb. 8. Since that contest, Krikke posted four single-digit point productions, but his outburst on Tuesday wasn’t a surprise to his teammates.
BENNNNNNN KIRKKEEEEEEEEE 💦#Hawkeyes
— Iowa Men’s Basketball (@IowaHoops) March 20, 2024
“He was so good earlier in the year, and he’s been really hard on himself lately, but he plays up to a standard,” Sandfort said of Krikke. “We said before the game, ‘Let’s go have fun,’ and that’s what he did. I’m proud of him for battling through it.”
Sandfort’s sixth three of the night – bringing him to a career-high 27 points – got the Hawkeye faithful on their feet.
McCaffery lauded the crowd of 4,532 in his press conference’s introductory statement.
“The players and coaches really appreciate it,” he said. “They were loud, engaged, and into the game. Clearly a difference in energy level.”
A little over two minutes later, Freeman got tagged with his fourth foul of the night. Minutes later, Krikke registered his third foul, but stayed in the game – saving a Josh Dix air-ball while falling out of bounds and firing to Sandfort for another triple to keep Iowa up 11.
Dix’s midrange jumper with under a minute to go quelled any Wildcat comeback, and the Hakweyes emerged victorious, continuing their season for at least another game.
Sandfort admitted he should’ve had a ‘just have fun’ mindset earlier in the season, but for him, it’s better late than never. He said the NIT was never the event he grew up watching, but the now 21-year-old is joyous to keep living out his basketball dream and the Hawkeyes’ season of endurance.
“Once you get here, you’ve gone through life with these guys for the last six months,” Sandfort said. “Everybody’s dealt with loss, we’ve dealt with everybody being critical of us, we’ve dealt with losses of loved ones … We’ve always stuck together and that makes us special. Every opportunity we get we’re excited.”
“You never know when your last game is going to happen,” he continued. “So every opportunity is a blessing.”
