Down 15 in second half, Iowa men rally for 97-87 overtime win over Nebraska

IOWA CITY -- Iowa defeated Nebraska 97-87 in overtime in men’s basketball Tuesday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Brice Williams of the Huskers made a last-second 3-pointer to send the game to overtime, but the Hawkeyes scored the first nine points of the extra period and proceeded to victory.

Iowa improved to 2-2 in the Big Ten, 11-4 overall. Nebraska is 2-2, 12-3. Junior guard Josh Dix scored a career-high 31 points and senior forward Payton Sandfort matched his career-best of 30.

Sandfort scored all his points after halftime.

Iowa trailed 52-37 with 14:53 left. That was shortly before the first of Sandfort’s six 3-pointers.

Bryce Harding made two free throws with 5.2 seconds in regulation to give Iowa a 76-73 lead, but Williams forced five more minutes. Williams scored 28 points

Iowa was 17-of-35 from 3-point distance, 10-of-19 after halftime. The Hawkeyes also were 21-of-24 in free throws.

Nebraska went on a 14-0 run to take a 34-26 lead with 3:05 left in the first half. Iowa went 5:54 without a point in that stretch, but scored the final five points of the half to pull within 34-31.

Dix was involved in all but two of Iowa’s first-half scores, with 16 points and 4 assists.

Iowa played without guard Drew Thelwell, who tweaked something in his lower body during pregame warmups. Thelwell scored 25 points in the Hawkeyes’ loss at Wisconsin last Friday.

Iowa’s next game is against Indiana in Iowa City Saturday at 7 p.m.

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