IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa men’s basketball team dropped its non-conference finale, 92-83, to Eastern Illinois on Wednesday afternoon on Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Fifth-year Filip Rebraca was the game’s leading scorer with 24 points on 9-of-13 production from the floor. Rebraca was also good for eight rebounds, one block and a game-high five steals.
Redshirt junior Patrick McCaffery finished with his first career double-double, posting a personal-best 13 rebounds to go along with 12 points and four assists.
Sophomore Payton Sandfort scored 18 points for Iowa, including a game-high three triples. Junior Tony Perkins rounded out Iowa’s four double-figures scorers with 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Iowa shot 39 percent (28-of-72) from the floor, 21 percent (7-of-33) from behind the arc and 63 percent (20-of-32) from the free throw line. The Hawkeyes were outrebounded, 42-38, and outscored, 52-38, in the paint.
HEAR FROM HEAD COACH FRAN MCCAFFERY
“We struggled on offense at the beginning of the second half. We got pretty decent shots, I thought. Didn’t make any of them. They went on a, 9-2, run… I thought they got comfortable in their offense. They got some really good one-on-one players. We started going a little too much one-on-one. We had two assists in the second half, with one assist at the two-minute mark. We were trying to do it on our own a little bit. We had some good luck, so I am not complaining about the threes that Patrick [McCaffery], or Payton [Sandfort], or [Tyler] Ulis took. I thought they took pretty good shots…
Our turnovers led to points. They were live-ball turnovers, and they’re a good team scoring off of live-ball turnovers. So, if you are going to turn it over, you don’t want to turn it over that way. Then, they were able to run because we missed a lot of shots. That makes it a little bit easier to run.”
HAWKEYE NOTABLES
- Forward Kris Murray (19.4 ppg & 10.1 rpg) missed his fourth straight game due to injury, while G/F Connor McCaffery (7.5 ppg & 4.0 rpg) did not play today due to injury.
- Patrick McCaffery posted his first career double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing a game and career-high 13 rebounds.
- Filip Rebraca scored a game and team-best 24 points, recording 20 points or more for the third time in four games.
- Payton Sandfort netted 18 points, reaching double figures for the fourth time this season and second straight game.
- Today was just Iowa’s sixth nonconference home loss in 89 games, dating back to 2012.
- Eastern Illinois shot 72 percent from the field in the second half to erase an eight-point halftime deficit.
UP NEXT
Iowa (8-4, 0-1) will resume conference play on Thursday, Dec. 29, at Nebraska (7-6, 0-2). Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. (CT) at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska.
