Hawkeyes seek to continue climbing as 3-game homestand starts

IOWA CITY — The new year had started in the same way 2022 ended for Payton Sandfort and the Iowa men’s basketball team: Unhappily.

After a 66-50 loss at Nebraska on Dec. 29, the Hawkeyes fell behind by 18 points at Penn State on Jan. 1 before losing 83-79.

Sophomore wing Sandfort missed all nine of his shots in just nine minutes of playing time at Nebraska, and was 0-for-3 at Penn State. That left him at 0-for-19 in Big Ten games as his team was 0-for-3 in winning them.

“It was a weird stretch,” Sandfort said Wednesday. “It was something I’d never gone through before. I’m kind of thankful for it. It opened my eyes to some things that kind of needed some work.”

He credited coaches, teammates, sports psychologists and family members for supporting him.

“I was listening to a lot of different people,” Sandfort said. “Most of the battle was just personal, a lot of internal thoughts that were just kind of weighing on my shoulders every time I’d catch the ball in rhythm. Getting rid of those is an ongoing battle, but I’m starting to win it.”

He came off the bench to score 11 points in Iowa’s rally from a 21-point deficit to defeat Indiana, 91-89, last Thursday, then sank 6 of 8 shots and 4 of 5 3-point tries for a game-high 22 points in the Hawkeyes’ 76-65 win at Rutgers on Sunday.

When Sandfort is good — and he’s good at many more things besides shooting — the Hawkeyes are good.

Iowa could use more of the same from Sandfort on Thursday night when it starts a three-game homestand by playing Michigan at 6 p.m. Thursday. Instead of digging themselves a home in the basement of the Big Ten, the Hawkeyes’ recent play has given them a chance to climb into the league’s first division by the time this stretch at home is over.

But first, Michigan. At 3-1, the Wolverines are tied with three other teams for fewest Big Ten losses. Their most-recent game was a 59-53 defeat at Michigan State in which they were 3-of-20 from 3-point. It happens to everyone sometimes.

Michigan has a dynamic freshman guard in Jett Howard, the son of coach Juwan Howard. “One of the premier players in our league,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said.

But the center of this team is the center of this team, 7-foot-1, 260-pound junior Hunter Dickinson. He got the better of Iowa’s Luka Garza two years ago, and was an imposing challenge for the Hawkeyes’ Filip Rebraca in the two games the teams split.

“He’s a really good player and you can’t give him any angles,” Rebraca said. “What’s really hard is he’s going to find those angles. You’ve got to limit it. You’ve always got to play him tough, physical. He’s an amazing player with amazing touch at that size.“

“It all starts with Dickinson,” McCaffery said. “He's one of the best players in the game right now.”

Iowa is coming off wins against teams that both have one of the conference’s best post players, Indiana with Trayce Jackson-Davis and Rutgers with Clifford Omoruyi.

“Kris (Murray) and I were talking about the gauntlet of bigs,” Rebraca said. “This is the last guy in the gauntlet of Trayce, Omoruyi and Hunter.”

Rebraca has averaged 39 minutes, 17.5 points and 11 rebounds in Iowa’s last two games, so Dickinson may have a challenge of his own.

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