Hawkeyes Fall to No. 2 Purdue, 84-70

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa men’s basketball team fell to No. 2 Purdue, 84-70, on Saturday afternoon in a packed Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes drop to 11-7 on the season and 3-4 in conference play.

Senior Tony Perkins led the Hawkeyes in the scoring column with 24 points. Perkins had 15 points in the second half on 7-of-11 shooting. Perkins has four games this season scoring 20+ points. Perkins pulled in five rebounds and dished out four assists.

Junior Payton Sandfort had 16 points and a team high seven rebounds. Sandfort knocked down three shots from behind the arc. Graduate Ben Krikke rounded out the Hawkeyes in double-digits with 10 points. Sophomore Josh Dix scored all nine of his points in the second half. Dix had a career high seven assists and didn’t commit a turnover. Dix added two steals as well.

Iowa was able to cut into Purdue’s lead in the second half, but it was the rebounding that hurt the Hawkeyes the most. Iowa was out rebounded by Purdue 50-to-24. Iowa shot 27-of-59 (45%) from the field and 5-of-17 (29%) from three.

The Boilermakers were led by reigning National Player of the Year, Zach Edey. Edey finished with 30 points, 18 rebounds and 4 blocks. Purdue shot 30-of-67 (44%) from the field and 9-of-26 (34.6%) from downtown.

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH FRAN MCCAFFERY

“I thought we had pretty decent shots. We ran a play incorrectly, that was unfortunate, but I still think we got a good shot. The guys were really moving the ball I thought. I don’t think we settled. We had the right guy shooting the ball. That’s kind of how we play.”

“I thought Tony played really hard and really well. That’s kind of what we expect from him and what he expects from himself. I’m really impressed.”

GAME NOTABLES

• The Hawkeyes led 18-14 at 12:32 mark of the first half before Purdue went on a 19-2 run to build a 33-20 lead with 7:13 left in the first half.
• Iowa trailed by as many as 19 points (64-45) at the 13-minute mark of the second half.
  • The Hawkeyes cut the deficit to eight and had three chances to cut into the lead with four minutes to play.
• The loss snaps Iowa’s three-game winning streak.
• It is Iowa’s second loss inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena this season (8-2).
• Senior Tony Perkins recorded his fourth 20-point game of the season, finishing with 24 points on 10-of-19 shooting.
  • The 19 field goal attempts are a career high.
  • Perkins also had five rebounds and four assists. 
• Junior Payton Sandfort scored 16 points, making 5-of-12 field goals, including three 3-pointers.  He also had a team-high seven rebounds.
  • Sandfort has made three or more 3-point field goals in 10 games this season.
• Graduate Ben Krikke netted 10 points – his 16th game in double-digits this season
• Sophomore Josh Dix scored nine points to go along with a career-high seven assists.
• Senior forward Patrick McCaffery (ankle) missed his second straight game because of injury.
• Iowa had a higher field goal percentage (.458-.448).  It is the first time this season the Hawkeyes lost when having a higher field goal percentage (10-1).
• Purdue out-rebounded Iowa, 50-24, which included 19 offensive rebounds.
  • The Boilermakers had an 18-6 advantage in second-chance points.

UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes return to action Wednesday, hosting Maryland at 6 p.m. (CT) on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.