For Iowa men’s basketball, perfection deformed into frustration Thursday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Tied at 74 apiece with No. 3 Iowa State, Hawkeye forward Owen Freeman found himself at the free-throw line with less than four minutes remaining. Iowa hadn’t missed from the stripe but Freeman’s attempts were off the mark.
The following Hawkeye possession, a turnover led to a Cyclone basket for the visitors’ first lead since the opening tip. Iowa State never relented and cruised to an 89-80 victory – its first at Carver in 10 years.
The Hawkeyes were led in scoring by second-year center Owen Freeman with 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Freeman was joined by five other double-digit scorers for Iowa, but the home team couldn’t find the basket down the stretch, failing to score a field goal for more than six minutes.
Second-year guard Brock Harding’s layup with 12 second remaining finally ended the drought, but by then it was too little, too late. Iowa made just two of its final 12 shots.
“They just didn’t go in, they were great shots,” Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said in his postgame press conference.
The Hawkeyes fell to 7-3 on the season while the Cyclones improved to 8-1 and 3-1 over their last four against their intra-state rivals. Iowa’s trio of defeats have come by an average of 6.3 points.
Similar to its last lost against Michigan, Iowa failed to win the rebound battle, getting outperformed on the glass, 46-34, including an 18-8 disadvantage in offensive rebounds. McCaffery attributed the deficiency to playing a smaller lineup. Six-foot-three guard Drew Thelwell started in place of 6-foot-8 forward Ladji Dembele and finished as the team’s leading rebounder with six boards.
“You run the risk of that happening,” McCaffery said. “I thought our small lineup did really good. Gave up only two turnovers in the second half. We had plenty of shot opportunities to win the game. Made a bunch, but then didn’t make them.”
Iowa State’s Joshua Jackson contributed a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds while guard Curtis Jones chipped in 23 points and six rebounds.
Holding a seven-point lead heading into the second half, the Hawkeyes picked up right where they left off, connecting on 4-of-7 triples, this time from Josh Dix and Payton Sandfort. Yet Iowa’s eight-point advantage dissipated after a 9-2 Cyclone run capped by a driving layup from Gilbert in traffic.
Packed throughout the sea of black, the red-donning Iowa State fans roared their approval. Chants of “Let’s go State” rang through Carver as if it were the Hilton Coliseum two hours west in Ames.
Gilbert’s next layup attempt fell short, but forward Nate Heise earned the putback. For the first time since the opening tipoff, Iowa had itself in a tie ballgame. From that point neither squad could muster an edge. The Hawkeyes would splash a pair of free throws, but the Cyclones answered in kind – mostly from guard Tamin Lipsey, who finished the second half with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
“We were right there with them,” senior forward Payton Sandfort said. “We had a ton of energy, got the crowd into it. They kept hitting us with runs but we kept getting them back, which I was proud of us for. There were a lot of times where it felt like they would tip over the game, but we stuck with it and made a lot of plays.”
“Just needed three more minutes of those plays,” he continued.
To open the contest, the Hawkeyes nailed six of their first seven attempts from beyond the arc – half of which came from Freeman and Dembele – and pulled ahead by as much as 13 before an 8-0 Cyclone run put the visitors back in contention.
Upon checking into the game, Iowa forward Seydou Traore, who had missed the past three contests due to an ankle injury showed no signs of rust, converting two buckets and forcing Gilbert out of bounds for a turnover. He finished the contest with six points and three rebounds over 14 minutes of action.
“He gave us a lift at both ends,” McCaffery said of Traore. “He’ll have to figure a few things out, but that comes with time and experience.”
After getting beat on the glass in its previous game against Michigan, Iowa found itself trailing by one in the rebound count at the break as the frontcourt of Freeman and Dembele combined for five boards and 18 points. Iowa’s hot shooting start continued for the rest of the half as the Hawkeyes entered the break shooting 59 percent from the floor and holding a 44-37 lead.
Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger praised the Hawkeyes, lauding their ability to spread the Cyclone defense thin.
“Iowa, they came out and they were ready to play,” he said. “They were focused, they were locked in, they made shots. They backed us up time and time again. As much as I wish we would’ve dictated with our defense, we didn’t guard the basketball well during the first half or most of the second half … For us, you’ve got to find ways to win in different ways.”
Outside of guard Josh Dix’s buzzer-beater against Northwestern on Dec. 2, Iowa has struggled to find success amid adversity this season. For Sandfort, he knows the hypothetical wins, also the tangible strides that need to occur for those “ifs” to become “dids.”
“We have a lot to build on,” Sandfort said. “If we make a few plays here and there, we’re probably 10-0.”
Minutes Notes
Iowa forward Cooper Koch wasn’t listed on Iowa’s injury report prior to tip-off, but did not see action. The first-year missed the past two games due to an unknown injury. McCaffery said he was available to play, but couldn’t find any minutes for him considering the success of Iowa’s on-court lineup.
After scoring 16 points against the Wolverines, second-year forward Pryce Sandfort saw only four minutes against the Cyclones. McCaffery admitted Sandfort should’ve received more action and could’ve been subbed in for Payton Sandfort.
Up Next
Iowa hosts New Orleans on Sunday, Dec. 15, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Tip is set for 1 p.m. The Privateers are 2-6 on the season and rank ninth in the Southland Conference. Senior guard James White leads the squad in scoring and rebounding, averaging 18.5 points and 7.5 rebounds.