(Moline, IL) — The Iowa men’s basketball team remained unbeaten with a 76-66 win over Washington St. on Friday night. It was a back and forth game especially in the 2nd half but Iowa started to pull away with 3 minutes left in the game.
Washington St. used a 6-0 run to establish a 15-9 lead, Hawks answered with a 6-0 run to tie it at 15. Hawks down 22-20, Cougars built a 9 point lead on a 7-0 run. Hawks would chip away and only trail 36-33 at the half.
Cougars would lead 42-35 after the first 4 minutes of the 2nd half and Paton Sandfort hit a 3, Owen Freeman got a dunk, and Sandfort hit another 3 to give Iowa a 43-42 lead. The lead would change 12 times over the next 8 minutes. Drew Thelwell would hit a huge three pointer at the 3:03 mark to make it 63-62 Hawkeyes. After an Iowa free throw, Owen Freeman got a lay-up to make it 66-62 and the Hawkeyes hit their free throws down the stretch to put the game away.
Freeman led with a double-double — 21 points, 11 rebounds. Sandfort had 18 points despite only going 2-10 from three point land. The rest of the team was 6-15 on their threes. Iowa forced 18 turnovers from Washington St. and 13. Nate Calmese led the Cougars with 27 points but they suffered their first loss of the season, now 3-1. Iowa goes to 4-0 and the Hawkeyes will host Rider this coming Tuesday.
