Hawkeye men get first Big Ten win, shredding defense-minded Rutgers, 86-77

IOWA CITY — Iowa played its game, Rutgers did not, and the Hawkeyes earned their first Big Ten men’s basketball win of the season.

The Scarlet Knights began Saturday as the Big Ten’s leader in scoring defense at 62.5 points per game while Iowa was tops in scoring offense at 86.7 ppg.

The Hawkeyes got their points and earned an 86-77 triumph before a crowd of 9,273 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, 86-77. Iowa improved to 1-3 in the Big Ten, 9-6 overall. Rutgers is 0-3, 8-6.

Iowa simply didn’t leave the door open for a Rutgers comeback in the second half. The Hawkeyes never led by less than seven points after halftime, and were ahead by as much as 18.

“Everybody stepped up,” Iowa forward Payton Sandfort said.

Especially Sandfort himself, who scored a season-high 24 points. Eight came in a span of 1:25 early in the second half.

Ben Krikke had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Tony Perkins and Owen Freeman 15. It was a career-high for freshman center Freeman after he had three points at hafltime.

Iowa played without starting forward Patrick McCaffery, who didn’t play because of an illness. Sophomore Josh Dix started in his place. McCaffery rejoined the team at the end of its bench after halftime. Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said Patrick should be fine for the next game.

Iowa used a 17-2 run to open a 19-5 lead eight minutes into the game. Rutgers made just one of its first 15 field goal tries.

“They got it going early,” said Rutgers Coach Steve Pikiell. “They jumped on us. I thought after that it was a game, but you can’t spot a good team on the road.”

Rutgers scored 11 of the half’s final 13 points to cut its halftime gap to 41-34. Scarlet Knight forward Mawot Mag made two 3-pointers in the last 22 seconds of the half. Mag had a career-high 24 points.

Sandfort denied the Scarlet Knights from bringing that momentum into the second half with a pair of 3-pointers and a fall-away jumper in the first 2:09 of the half. Freeman heated up a little later. He had three 3-point plays in the final 13:35.

The win was Fran McCaffery’s 127th in the Big Ten, passing Tom Davis for the most by an Iowa head coach.

The Hawkeyes’ next game is against Nebraska in Carver Friday at 8:30 p.m.

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