The Iowa Hawkeyes secured another much-needed win, downing the Nebraska Cornhuskers inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Friday night, 94-76.
With the win, Iowa improves to 10-6 (2-3 Big Ten) on the season. Combined with their 86-77 win over Rutgers last Saturday, the Hawkeyes have suddenly captured back-to-back Big Ten games.
Iowa jumped all over Nebraska (13-4, 3-3 Big Ten) early, leaping out to a 17-2 lead in the game’s first six minutes as junior forward Payton Sandfort and redshirt senior forward Patrick McCaffery combined for a trio of 3-pointers.
It looked like it might get lopsided at that point—and ultimately it did—but Nebraska came back swinging thanks to 19 bench points and 30 points in the paint in the first half. A quick 12-6 surge to start the second half suddenly gave the Huskers their first lead of the evening.
But, Iowa outscored Nebraska 45-26 in the game’s final 16:50 to score their second league win.
Along the way, Iowa got a number of nice performances. Six Hawkeyes finished in double figures, led by freshman forward Owen Freeman’s career-high 22 points. The 6-foot-10 forward connected on 11-of-13 shots and registered a double-double with his 10 rebounds.
Sandfort and senior guard Tony Perkins each had double-doubles as well. Sandfort knocked down five 3-pointers en route to 19 points. He added 10 rebounds and five assists. Meanwhile, Perkins finished with 11 points and a career-high 15 assists.
Sophomore guard Josh Dix had a great shooting night, too. The 6-foot-5 guard from Council Bluffs drained 5-of-7 3-pointers.
McCaffery and graduate forward Ben Krikke each finished with 12 points apiece to round out the Hawkeyes’ double-figure scorers.
Meanwhile, Iowa head men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery tied Tom Davis for the most wins in Hawkeye basketball history with his 271st.
It wound up as a great night all around and Hawkeye social media enjoyed it as this Iowa team inched closer to .500 in Big Ten play.