(Iowa City, IA) – On Saturday afternoon, the Iowa Hawkeyes clinched their first Big Ten win of the season as they defeated Rutgers 86-77. The Hawkeyes are not 9-6 on the season while they sit at 1-3 in Big Ten action.
The Iowa Hawkeyes were led by Payton Sandfort with 24 total points on the night as he went 8-13 from the field and 5-8 from the perimeter. Ben Krikke came up behind Sandfort with 18 points and also pulled in 10 rebounds for his second double-double in a Hawkeye uniform. That double-double also put the graduate student at five in his career. Owen Freeman was just three points behind Krikke with 15 which tied his career-high on the night. The freshman went 5-7 from the field while he went 5-6 from the charity stripe. Tony Perkins also got in on the double-digit scoring game with 15 points on the night while getting a season-high four steals. Perkins has now scored 10+ points in his last 13 of 15 games.
On the opposite end, Rutgers was led by Mawot Mag as he knocked in a game-high 24 points and pulled down 10 boards for a double-double. Austin Williams also came up with 14 points and pulled in four rebounds. Jamichael Davis also put down 10 points and pulled in five boards.
Iowa’s victory marked the 127th career Big Ten win for head coach Fran McCaffery as he passed Tom Davis for the most program wins in Iowa basketball history. He is just two wins away from becoming the all-time winningest coach for Iowa. In the press conference after the game, Coach McCaffery said, “I think the most important thing was getting the team ready to play today. Be a really good team and getting our first Big Ten win this year. You know Rutgers is going to keep making runs back at you. You guys know me, I don’t think that much about wins. I find it interesting they talk about; I have this many wins. I didn’t play anybody. Iowa won those games.”
The Hawkeyes return to the hardwood on Friday when they host Nebraska in a Big Ten matchup at 8:30 p.m.
