Filip Rebraca scored a game-high 30 points on just 13 shot attempts Saturday night as Iowa rolled to a 106-75 nonconference win over Southeast Missouri State in Iowa City.
Rebraca missed only one shot from the floor and also dished out a career-high six assists in addition to grabbing nine rebounds for the Hawkeyes (8-3). Payton Sandfort came off the bench to add 24 points, and Patrick McCaffery chipped in 20 points and eight rebounds.
Iowa’s offensive efficiency simply overpowered the RedHawks (5-7). The Hawkeyes converted 57.6 percent of their field goal tries, doing so without leading scorer Kris Murray, who missed his third straight game with a foot injury.
Four players scored in double figures for Southeast Missouri State, led by Chris Harris with 19 points. Phillip Russell added 12, Kobe Clark 11 and Josh Earley 10. But the RedHawks made only 42.3 percent of their shots and were outrebounded 47-30.
Up by 17 at halftime, Iowa wasted little time quashing any thoughts of a Southeast Missouri State rally. The margin reached 25 just over four minutes into the second half on a pair of foul shots by Ahron Ulis and grew to 31 with 10:29 left in the game.
The first five minutes of the game were defense-optional, the Hawkeyes racing out to a 17-13 lead at the first TV timeout. When they started mixing in stops, they began pulling away from their Ohio Valley Conference foe.
Sandfort canned a 3-pointer in transition with 7:38 remaining in the half to up the advantage to 36-22, prompting a timeout from RedHawks coach Brad Korn. Ulis converted a transition layup at the 3:21 mark to get Iowa to the 50-point mark.
Rebraca capped a 19-point half by canning a jump hook with 1:01 left that gave the Hawkeyes a 58-39 lead. It also polished off a half that saw Iowa sink 22 of 33 attempts from the field and earn a 22-14 rebounding advantage.
It was Southeast Missouri State’s sixth straight loss.
–Field Level Media
