Four Iowa players scored in double figures Tuesday night and the Hawkeyes improved to 5-0 with an 83-58 nonconference rout of Rider in Iowa City, Iowa.
Payton Sandfort led the way for Iowa with a game-high 22 points, canning 9 of 16 shots from the field. Owen Freeman added 19 points in just 25 minutes, while reserve Seydou Traore scored 12 and Pryce Sandfort kicked in 11. The Hawkeyes connected on nearly 47 percent of their field goal attempts and drew assists on 18 of their 30 made field goals.
Tariq Ingraham scored 14 points for Rider (3-2) and Jay Alvarez added 13. But the Broncs, who scored 90 points in their previous game, a win at Navy, made only 42.6 percent of their field goal attempts and committed 20 turnovers that led to 20 points.
Iowa outscored Rider 19-3 in fast-break points and held it to 1 of 16 shooting from the 3-point line. The Hawkeyes also made more free throws (15) than the Broncs shot (13) despite taking six more 3-point attempts.
Payton Sandfort hit a layup at the 16:19 mark of the second half to cap a 10-2 run that upped Iowa’s lead to 50-28. The margin reached as high as 27 points down the stretch.
Rider came in looking for its first four-game road winning streak in seven years, but Iowa established a 9-2 lead just over three minutes into the game on a 3-pointer by Pryce Sandfort. The Broncs never got closer than 13-10 after Zion Cruz’s 3-pointer at the 12:37 mark.
A dunk by Traore gave the Hawkeyes a 23-12 advantage, their first double-figure lead, at the 8:33 mark. The margin never dipped below 10 for the night’s remainder as Iowa was consistently able to string together multiple stops.
Freeman gave the Hawkeyes a boost late in the half with a 3-point play and a putback, the latter coming with 11 seconds remaining. That got them to the locker room with a comfortable 40-26 advantage.
–Field Level Media
