The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan
Donate
The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan
The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

Iowa men’s basketball rides dominant second half to defeat South Dakota, 96-77

Guard Josh Dix led the Hawkeyes with 23 points, four rebounds, and five assists, while forward Seydou Traore chipped in 12 points in his first career game in an Iowa uniform.
Brad Schultz, Assistant Sports Editor
November 12, 2024
Emma Calabro for The Daily Iowan
Hawkeyes defend against the Coyotes during a men’s basketball game between Iowa and South Dakota at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. The Hawkeyes defeated the Coyotes 96-77.

The Iowa men’s basketball team rode a dominant second half to defeat South Dakota, 96-77 on Tuesday evening at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. 

Third-year guard Josh Dix led the Hawkeyes in scoring with 23 points, four rebounds, and five assists on 8-of-10 shooting. Second-year forward Seydou Traore also had a solid game, finishing with 12 points and four rebounds on 5-of-9 shooting. The Iowa bench also chipped in 37 points, something that could pay huge dividends later on in the season. 

“Just really proud of our bench,” head coach Fran McCaffery said. “With 37 points off the bench, we had a great play. Not only was Owen not here, Peyton was in foul trouble, Ladji was in foul trouble, and that’s what the real good teams do. Somebody else steps up and plays well.” 

Second-year center Owen Freeman missed the game due to an illness, but is expected to be ready for Friday’s contest against Washington State in Moline, Illinois. Replacing Freeman was fellow second-year Pryce Sandfort, who earned his first career start on the heels of a 22-point performance against Southern on Nov. 7. 

South Dakota struck first on a free throw, but the Hawkeyes responded with five consecutive points on a Dix three-pointer and a tough scooping layup from Brock Harding. Dix continued his hot start with a tough bucket at the rim and a wide-open triple on the wing shortly thereafter. 

It wasn’t obvious to the casual observers in the arena, but Dix and his Hawkeye teammates knew he would have a special night after these two early buckets. 

“My teammates were really just finding me when I was open,” Dix said. “It makes it easy for me. I’ll just shoot and catch and shoot wide open threes. It’s easy for me.” 

“He gets going early, and he’s a handful,” McCaffery added. “We start going a little bit, but typically we get it to him, you know, sort of organically with our offense, and he’s such a complete player that he never rattles, plays well on both ends.” 

Second-year Manhattan transfer Traore checked in for the first time in an Iowa uniform after the first missed timeout. The forward allowed a couple of Coyote long-range baskets, but added one of his own a few possessions later off a pretty feed from Dix. 

Traore entered Iowa City as a highly anticipated piece on this Iowa team, but missed the first two games of the regular season due to a leg injury, something McCaffery called a “busted wheel.” Traore is thankful to be back in uniform and to play for the Hawkeyes. 

“The way Iowa plays basketball is perfect for me,” Traore said. “Just be able to get the rebound and push the play at a fast pace.” 

The Hawkeyes began the game with some sloppy passing that resulted in several turnovers, triggering angry reactions from McCaffery and the coaching staff. It briefly woke Iowa up, as Drew Thelwell scored a layup, followed by a transition trey from Pryce. 

But the sloppy play persisted, allowing South Dakota to keep the Iowa lead to  points with under six minutes to play in the first half. 

The tide seemed to shift in favor of the Hawkeyes when second-year forward Ladji Dembele made a nice hustle play. The sophomore grabbed a missed triple from freshmen Cooper Koch and missed the putback, but stayed with the play and tipped in his own miss for an easy bucket, forcing a Coyote timeout. 

An Iowa three-point onslaught followed, with Dembele, Harding, and Traore connecting from distance to give the Hawkeyes an 11-point edge, their largest of the game. But South Dakota wouldn’t give up, and followed with two triples of their own to cut the Iowa lead down to four, causing many of the fans at Carver-Hawkeye Arena to shake their heads in disgust. 

Dix got the crowd back on its feet with a dunk in the final seconds, and the Hawkeyes led 42-36 at the break. 

Second half surge 

Iowa came out with much more poise in the second half, as did Dix. The sophomore picked up right where he left off in the first half, nailing two tough shots from beyond the arc to raise the Hawkeye lead to 54-41 early in the period. Dembele also chipped in four of his own, compiling a 9-0 scoring run for Iowa. 

The Hawkeyes kept their foot on the gas with another Dix three after the timeout, and Harding collected a steal on the next possession, which led to an open trey from senior Payton Sandfort in transition. The frame was capped off by a dunk by third-year Riley Mulvey, sending a loud roar through the rafters of Carver-Hawkeye. 

Moments later, Traore joined the party with an emphatic jam off an alley-oop from Harding, also generating plenty of buzz from the Hawkeye faithful. 

https://x.com/IowaHoops/status/1856538901105521046 

“Me and Brock made eye contact,” said Traore, reflecting on the play. “So I went up and got it.” 

Dix continued his big day with one of his trademark midrange jumpers, and Traore scored a pretty turnaround floater to extend the Iowa lead to 67-47 with just over 12 minutes to play. The Hawkeyes continued to pull away from there, aided by two tough buckets from Thelwell, including a driving slam dunk of his own.  

And just when the crowd thought the dunk party was over, Koch punctuated the victory with a thunderous put back jam off a miss from Payton. 

“He’s quiet, but he’s also really confident on the court,” Dix said. “He does it in practice all the time. And if he misses a cup he’s going to keep shooting, and everyone on our team trusts him to make the right plays and make shots.”

Iowa maintained its dominance from there, cruising to an easy home victory to improve to 3-0 on the young season. 

“In the first half, we just felt like it was kind of tentative and a little sloppy at times,” Dix said. “We knew that we just kind of had to come out [in the second half] and dominate the game, kind of try and put it away in the first five minutes. And I felt like we did a good job of that.”

Up Next 

The Hawkeyes will return to action on Nov. 15 for a neutral site matchup against Washington State, who is 3-0 on the season. The contest will be held in Moline, Illinois as part of the John Deere Quad Cities Hoops Showdown and will tip off at 7:30 p.m. and will be televised on Big Ten Network.

Print this Story