Hawkeyes Overcome Michigan, 93-84, in Overtime

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa men’s basketball team picked up its third straight Big Ten victory with a, 93-84, overtime win against Michigan on Thursday night on Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa improves to 3-3 in the conference and 11-6 on the season.

The Hawkeyes trailed Michigan for 34 minutes of game time, were down three points at halftime, and saw the deficit reach as high as 10 points in the second period prior to the comeback that forced overtime.

The Wolverines had answers for each Iowa run; the Hawkeyes saw a three-point gap swell back to seven points from 9:27 to 8:23 in the second half, and again watched a two-point margin at the four minute mark return to a seven-point Michigan lead with just over two minutes left to play.

The Wolverines finished with 14 3-pointers on the contest at 45 percent clip from behind the arc, with seven triples coming from Michigan’s Jett Howard on 13 attempts (54 percent).

Iowa’s final run, however, flipped the script. Sophomore Payton Sandfort drilled a trey off an assist from graduate student Connor McCaffery to bring the Hawkeyes to within two points with just over a minute to play.

Michigan converted two points on the other end, but with under 30 seconds to go and the clock ticking the ball again made its way to Sandfort. The Waukee, Iowa, native let heave a deep three from the top of the key; the ball went down, and so did Sandfort, who was sent to the line on a Wolverine foul with a chance to tie the game.

“I knew the shot clock was low, so I just kind of cut it and threw it up there and got my legs taken out,” said Sandfort. “We’ll take the points.”

Sandfort’s free throw was true, and an Iowa defensive stand sent the game to overtime.

The Hawkeye run wasn’t over; Sandfort hit a sideline jumper on the opening possession to give Iowa its first lead in over 15 minutes of game action, and junior Kris Murray went 1-of-2 from the free throw line to make the score, 82-79, with four minutes left in the overtime.

Another Iowa stop led to a Sandfort and-one putback on the other end, and the Hawkeyes were in the driver’s seat.

The largest Iowa lead was nine points with less than a minute to play in overtime, and two more Sandfort free throws made the final score, 93-84, to seal the comeback.

Murray was Iowa’s leading scorer with 27 points, eight rebounds, three assists, three blocks and a steal through 45 minutes of play. Murray matched a career-high four 3-pointers on the way to his seventh 20-point scoring outing through 11 games played this season.

Sandfort finished with a career-high four triples of his own the way to a career-best 26 points against Michigan. He also hauled in seven rebounds and finished 4-of-4 from the free throw line with three assists and a steal, to boot. Sandfort posted 24 of his points after the halftime break.

“I was kind of mad at myself at halftime,” says Sandfort. “I wasn’t aggressive enough. I have been shooting it really well, and I turned down a couple semi-open ones early. In the second half, I just wanted to be aggressive and make plays. I am just really happy we got the win.”

Iowa combined for 12-of-30 (40 percent) 3-point shooting, matching a season-high from behind the arc last time out against Rutgers. Freshman Josh Dix drilled 3-of-5 on 3-point attempts, finishing with a pair of personal bests in points (10) and assists (5).

Fifth-year Filip Rebraca was good for his seventh double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 boards. The Hawkeye big also went 7-of-10 from the free throw line, including 3-of-4 in overtime.

The Hawkeyes won the rebounding battle, 40-37, including a 14-10 margin on the offensive glass. 42 of Iowa’s points came off the bench, compared to 12 Michigan bench points and 51 points from the Hawkeye starting five.

Iowa assisted on 18-of-32 field goals (56 percent).