A pair of Hawkeyes won’t be available on Tuesday night when Iowa basketball hosts South Carolina Upstate.
According to its Big Ten availability report, Iowa (5-1) will be without senior forward Even Brauns and freshman forward Cooper Koch. Brauns and Koch were both listed out against USC Upstate.
Koch is averaging 4.0 points and 2.2 rebounds per game while shooting 50.0% from the field and 44.4% from 3-point range.
Brauns is averaging 1.2 points in 4.0 minutes per game. The 6-foot-9 forward is shooting 50.0% from the field and 42.9% from the free throw line.
The Hawkeyes are looking to bounce back from their first loss of the season. Iowa fell against Utah State, 77-69, last Friday, Nov. 22, in the Hall of Fame Classic from the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo.
Despite the loss, sophomore point guard Brock Harding had his finest game of the season. The 6-foot, 165 pound guard knocked down 8-of-15 shots, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range to register a team-high 19 points.
Harding also added five assists, four steals and one rebound.
“Brock was terrific tonight. He really attacked the zone, played great defense, shot it well and loaded up his teammates. If we shot it better tonight, he likely would have been in double digits for assists.
“I am really proud of him. We went small a couple times tonight, but we have to do a better job on the glass. It’s going to be hard to win when being outrebounded by 16,” Iowa head men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery said of Harding.
Sophomore forward Owen Freeman and senior forward Payton Sandfort were Iowa’s other double-figure scorers in the loss. Freeman added 18 points and 11 rebounds to tally the seventh double-double of his career.
Sandfort finished with 14 points as well, but he struggled to shoot he basketball. Sandfort was an icy 1-for-13 from beyond the arc and just 4-of-18 overall.
Tipoff against USC Upstate is set for 7 p.m. CT and the game will air on the Big Ten Network.
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