The Iowa men’s basketball team secured a thrilling 97-87 overtime comeback victory over the rival Nebraska Cornhuskers on Tuesday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes trailed by 15 points early in the second half, but lights-out shooting and improved defense allowed Iowa to sneak by in the extra session.
Fourth-year forward Payton Sandfort and third-year guard Josh Dix had incredible evenings, recording career-highs of 30 and 31 points, respectively. Sandfort struggled in the first half, but came out on fire in the second, collecting all 30 of his points in the second half and overtime.
Iowa entered this contest determined to get on the right foot after its beating at Wisconsin and did just that, jumping out to a 13-6 lead early thanks to a couple of three-pointers from Dix and a few buckets inside from second-year center Owen Freeman. But Nebraska wouldn’t go down quietly, disrupting Hawkeye shooters with their relentless defense and tied the game a few minutes later.
The rest of the half was defined by sloppy play from both teams. The Cornhuskers maintained their strong defense, stealing six Iowa passes and forcing the Hawkeyes into late shot clock situations. A Dix triple gave Iowa a 26-20 lead, but Nebraska took over after that, going on a 14-0 run to quickly silence the crowd. The first 12 points on this run came from behind the arc, as the Hawkeyes’ weak perimeter defense begin to show greatly.
Once Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery finally called a timeout to stop the run, the Huskers found themselves leading by eight points on the road. Despite struggles from Sandfort, the Hawkeyes battled back, closing the first half with five quick points to go into the half with some momentum of their own thanks to a three-pointer from second-year forward Pryce Sandfort.
There wasn’t a large crowd inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena on this night, and the Iowa players seemed to feed off of that limited energy to open the second half. Besides Dix, the rest of the Hawkeye squad seemed to play nervous, allowing the Huskers to build an 11-point edge before the first media timeout of the period. The media timeout didn’t help Iowa, as they continued to force bad shots and commit sloppy turnovers. A breakaway Nebraska dunk forced a Hawkeye timeout, and it looked like the Huskers would run away with the game.
But Iowa wasn’t done.
After struggling for much of the contest, Payton finally came alive, nailing a couple of big shots from downtown to inch the Hawkeyes closer. The Iowa defense also improved, forcing some wild Nebraska shot attempts and turnovers that led to transition buckets for Iowa. Suddenly, Iowa found themselves down by just one after a clutch triple from Pryce.
The tiny crowd at Carver-Hawkeye made all of the noise it possibly could, and the game turned into a war over the final four minutes. The officiating angered Huskers head coach Fred Hoiberg, as his team was met with contact on many possessions, but didn’t get the foul calls they were looking for. The frustration continued to mount for Nebraska as they watched the Hawkeyes jump in front thanks to prolific shooting from Payton, who recorded each of his 30 points in the second half.
27 second half points so far for the vet ⚡️@payton_20_ x #Hawkeyes
— Iowa Men’s Basketball (@IowaHoops) January 8, 2025
Iowa maintained a three-point edge for the remainder of the second half, but chaos ensued during the final minute of regulation. Trailing by four, Huskers guard Brice Williams hit a contested three to cut the lead to one. The Hawkeyes missed on their ensuing possession, giving Nebraska a chance to win the game.
But Iowa’s defense, which had struggled throughout most of the night, poked the ball away from Williams and into the hands of Pryce, who raced down the sideline before being fouled. Replay revealed that Pryce had in fact double-dribbled during the play, but the officials missed the call, further irritating Hoiberg and the Nebraska bench.
THE STEAL!! Did @IowaHoops seal the win here? pic.twitter.com/Fqqxo7g5Mn
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) January 8, 2025
The Hawkeyes had trouble getting the ball in bounds, but once they finally did, second-year guard Brock Harding was fouled and sent to the charity stripe. Harding has missed several clutch free throws this season, but he came through and the clutch and sank both, giving Iowa a 76-73 edge with just over five seconds to play.
Iowa had fouls to give and attempted to foul the Huskers before they could get a triple off, but Dix and Payton couldn’t sell a foul on Williams. Both players thought they fouled him, allowing Williams to get a wide-open look for the tie. He buried the perimeter jumper with ease to tie the game at 76 and send the contest to overtime.
HEADED TO OVERTIME!!! @HuskerMBB drain the 3 to tie it up! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ELU3iBe7XN
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) January 8, 2025
Nebraska had all of the momentum entering the extra session, but the Hawkeyes snatched all of it back courtesy of additional strong showings from Dix and Payton. Before the fans could catch their breath, Iowa’s lead had blossomed to 10 points. The Huskers attempted to fight back, but the Hawkeyes clinched the game at the line, missing only two of their foul shots to complete an impressive 22-of-25 performance from the charity stripe.
Once the final buzzer sounded, the Iowa players raised their arms up in relief and began celebrating a seemingly improbable comeback victory.
Injury updates
Fifth-year guard Drew Thelwell was a late scratch from the starting lineup after suffering an injury during warmups, while first-year forward Cooper Koch didn’t see any game action due to an undisclosed medical issue he has been battling throughout the season.
Up next
The Hawkeyes will return to action on Jan. 11 for a home matchup against the Indiana Hoosiers, who are 13-3 on the season. The Hoosiers have a home matchup against USC tomorrow evening before traveling to Iowa City. Indiana has won eight out of its last nine contests and owns an impressive 3-1 record in Big Ten play.
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on Fox.