Hawkeye men get back over .500 with 88-52 romp over Florida A&M

DES MOINES — There’s nothing like playing the nation’s No. 322 team to get you back on the right track.

Iowa faced Florida A&M, ranked No. 322 in the KenPom men’s basketball rankings, Saturday afternoon in Wells Fargo Arena. The Hawkeyes did what they were supposed to do. They won, 88-52, to end their 3-game losing streak which came against Purdue, Iowa State and Michigan.

Iowa (6-5) took a 2-0 lead 16 seconds into the game, and to use the weary sports line, never looked back. It soon was 7-0, then 15-2, then 28-8. The Hawkeyes’ halftime lead was 43-20.

“Coming off a tough stretch, we wanted to come out with a lot of energy,” Iowa freshman guard Brock Harding said. “I felt like our team did a great job of that.”

The half ended happily for the Hawkeyes when they inbounded the ball under their own basket with a half-second left. Tony Perkins got it to center Owen Freeman, who quickly put it in the basket before time expired.

It was the fifth of Perkins’ seven assists, and gave Freeman two of his 14 points. He also had a career-high 11 rebounds and overwhelmed the Rattlers in 19 minutes of duty.

“He’s not really playing like a freshman,” said Harding. “He’s getting better every single time out there.”

Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery pulled his starters for good with 13:04 left and the Hawkeyes ahead 65-30. Payton Sandfort had 13 points in his 13th game in this arena. He was with Waukee High for the first 12, the last being a win in the 2021 Class 4A state-championship game.

“The sights, the smells, everything,” Sandfort said about returning here. “It was fun being back, for sure.”

Hawkeye freshman forward Ladji Dembele scored seven first-half points, equaling his total over his previous seven games. He finished with a career-high nine. Harding had a career-high 10.

It was Career Day here. Iowa walk-on Luk Laketa had a career-high four points.

Iowa shot 54 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Rattlers, 47-33.

Iowa’s next game is at home Wednesday at 7 p.m. against Maryland Baltimore County.

Florida A&M (2-6) has to go back to work Sunday at 5 p.m. when it plays at Iowa State. It almost surely will go home with two losses.

It also will go home with two checks. More importantly, its football team beat Howard 30-26 in Saturday’s Celebration Bowl in Atlanta.

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