The Iowa Hawkeyes arrived at the Crisler Center looking for a win to put a stop to their two-game losing streak and to inject some life back into their NCAA Tournament hopes.
Mission accomplished.
Thanks to a big second half from junior forward Payton Sandfort and the Hawkeyes, Iowa got an 88-78 win over Michigan that it desperately needed to collect.
Sandfort scored a career-high tying 26 points, including 21 after halftime. He also knocked down a career-tying six 3-pointers on the day, shooting 6-of-8 beyond the arc.
Meanwhile, senior guard Tony Perkins was fabulous as well, scoring 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting. It was a milestone night for Perkins as he crossed the 1,000 career points threshold.
Freshman forward Owen Freeman rounded out the Hawkeyes’ double-figure scorers with 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting. The frosh from Moline, Ill., also pulled down nine rebounds to just miss out on the double-double.
Iowa (12-8, 4-5 Big Ten) shot 53.4% from the floor as a team and 50% from 3-point range. The Hawkeyes limited Michigan (7-13, 2-7 Big Ten) to 28.1% field goal shooting in the second half to turn a 44-42 halftime deficit into a much-needed victory. Iowa outscored Michigan in the second half 46-34.
After back-to-back frustrating losses, Hawkeye social media was able to take another victory lap early Saturday evening.