(Iowa City) The University of Iowa men’s basketball team secured a victory over Penn State on Tuesday night, with a final score of 90-81, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. With this win, the Hawkeyes improved their record to 17-12 for the season and 9-9 in Big Ten conference play.
Junior Payton Sandfort had an exceptional night, making history by becoming the first Iowa men’s basketball player to achieve a triple-double. Sandfort scored 26 points, made ten assists, and grabbed ten rebounds. He tied his career high in points and set a new career high in assists. Additionally, he also set new career bests for free throw attempts and makes, shooting 18-of-19 (94.7%) from the free-throw line.
Sophomore Josh Dix had a great start to the game, scoring 7-of-7 from the field, including 2-of-2 from three. Dix finished the game with 20 points, just one short of his career-high. Freshman Owen Freeman also contributed well, scoring 11 points and grabbing eight rebounds. Freeman shot 5-of-9 (55.5%) from the field.
Senior Tony Perkins finished the game with 10 points, despite having to sit the first half due to foul trouble. Perkins pulled in five rebounds, dished out five assists, blocked a shot, and had two steals.
The Hawkeyes dominated the Nittany Lions in the opening minutes of the game, starting with a 16-4 run in the first five minutes of the game. The Hawkeyes led by as much as 17 points (29-12) before Penn State had an 8-0 run of their own. Iowa shot 5-of-9 (55.6%) from deep in the first half, compared to the Nittany Lions 1-of-9 (11.1%) on 3-point shots in the first half. Penn State cut the lead to as few as six points, but Iowa managed to maintain their lead and ended the first half 47-39.
Penn State started the second half strong, with an 8-2 run in the opening three minutes, cutting the Iowa lead down to just two points. However, the Hawkeyes answered back. Sandfort caught fire, finishing the half with 21 points. Much of that production came at the free-throw line, where the Waukee, Iowa, native was a perfect 13-of-13 down the stretch.
Perkins scored 10 points in the second half on 3-of-4 shooting, combining with Sandfort for 31 of Iowa’s 43 points in the final 20 minutes.
Iowa shot 25 of 53 (47.2%) from the field and 8 of 16 (50.0%) from deep. The Hawkeyes improved to 5-0 on the season when shooting at least 50 percent from three. Iowa shot 32 of 37 (86.5%) from the free-throw line.
