It just wasn’t Iowa’s Turkey Day. And, at times to those watching, it felt like Iowa didn’t care very much whether or not it was Iowa’s Turkey Day.
The Hawkeyes couldn’t buy a bucket against an improved Oklahoma basketball team in the Rady Children’s Invitational as the Sooners rolled away from Iowa, 79-67.
Iowa (3-2) didn’t make its first 3-pointer until freshman guard Brock Harding finally knocked one down with 12:44 remaining to bring the Hawkeyes within 13, 50-37. Unfortunately, that Harding bucket wasn’t an indication that Iowa was about to make this game interesting in the second half.
Oklahoma (5-0) ballooned the lead to 74-52 with 4:11 remaining as four Sooners found their way into double-figure scoring. OU was led by Georgia Tech transfer guard Jalon Moore, who poured in 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting.
Oklahoma’s Javian McCollum added 14 points, Otega Oweh scored 13 and forward Sam Godwin chipped in with 11 to lead an OU team that shot 48.4% from the field despite shooting only 20% from 3-point range.
Meanwhile, Iowa shot 35.8% from the field and 17.4% from 3-point range. The Hawkeyes were led by junior forward Payton Sandfort’s 12 points and 5-for-10 shooting performance. Sandfort was 0-for-5 from downtown, though.
Graduate transfer forward Ben Krikke scored 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting, but Iowa’s other real bright spot was freshman forward Owen Freeman. The Big Ten’s back-to-back Freshman of the Week recipient, Freeman finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.
It’s a game that Iowa fans will not want to hang in the Louvre. All the same, here was how Hawkeye fans took in the action on social media on Thanksgiving Day.