Iowa men’s basketball completes 3-0 foreign tour with big 2nd half against Barcelona All-Stars

BARCELONA, Spain — The Iowa men’s basketball team scored a sweep on its overseas tour.

The Hawkeyes trailed by four at halftime, but went on a 10-2 run in the third quarter en route to a 106-79 win over the Barcelona All-Stars.

Barcelona got out to a 32-24 lead after the first quarter behind multiple 3-point baskets and early Hawkeye foul trouble. After a back-and-forth second quarter, the Hawkeyes trailed, 56-52, at the break.

The third quarter featured a 10-2 run to start, with junior Payton Sandfort knocking down a pair of 3-pointers. Fifth-year senior Ben Krikke then took control, scoring nine points in the frame.

The Hawkeyes outscored Barcelona, 28-11, in the third and built an 80-63 lead heading into the fourth.

“In the second half, in particular, we stopped fouling,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. “We want to play defense, get stops and run outs.”

He said it was a “great job by the guys” in the second half.

“We really competed ... and won going away,” he said.

Seven Iowa players reached double-figures. The trio of Sandfort, Krikke and sophomore Dasonte Bowen scored 16 points. Sandfort registered another double-double with 14 rebounds. Sophomore Josh Dix and senior Tony Perkins had identical lines of 14 points and five assists.

The freshman duo of Brock Harding and Owen Freeman rounded out the Hawkeyes in double-figure scoring with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Iowa shot 48.1 percent from the floor and hit 13 shots from behind the 3-point line.

The Hawkeyes finished the overseas trip outscoring opponents by an average of 116-79.