MBB Preview – Texas A&M-Commerce

The University of Iowa men’s basketball team opens the 2024-25 season by hosting Texas A&M Commerce as part of the Kenny Arnold Classic on Monday at 7 p.m. (CT) on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The game will be streamed live on B1G+.
• Tickets are $15-25 for adults and $5-10 for youth through the Iowa Athletics Ticket Office.

FOLLOW LIVE

Radio: Games are broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network with Gary Dolphin (play-by-play) and Bobby Hansen (color) on the call. The network includes more than 40 stations that blanket the state of Iowa and include portions of Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin. The Hawkeye Radio Network includes a 60-minute pregame show.
Stream: Monday’s game will be streamed live on B1G+ — a paid subscription service. Collin Carrithers (play-by-play) and Jess Settles (color) will be on the call.

OPENING TIP

• The Hawkeyes open the regular season Monday, hosting Texas A&M-Commerce in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa has won its last 13 regular season openers and are 13-1 in season openers under Fran McCaffery.
• Iowa has won 89 of its last 95 conconference home games, dating back to 2012.
• The Hawkeyes posted a 102-81 victory over Minnesota Duluth on Oct. 25 in its lone exhibition game. The Hawkeyes shot 59.4 percent from the floor and made seven 3-pointers in the game.
• Iowa’s big three of Payton Sandfort (23), Josh Dix (22) and Owen Freeman (21) combined for 66 of the team’s 102 points and the trio combined to make 28-of-40 field goals, shooting 70 percent in the game.
• The Hawkeyes’ first three games against Texas A&M Commerce, Southern and South Dakota are part of the Kenny Arnold Classic.
• The 2024-25 squad returns three starters and 10 letterwinners from a team that went 19-15 overall and advanced to the second round of the National Invitation Tournament.
• Dix (honorable mention), Freeman (honorable mention, Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Year) and Sandfort (third team) all earned All-Big Ten honors last season. Sandfort is a preseason first-team All-Big Ten selection in 2024-25.
• Sandfort is also one of 20 players named to the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Preseason List. It is the second straight year he has been included on the watch list.
• Iowa has placed fifth place or better in the Big Ten standings seven of the last 10 years.
• Iowa added two transfers — Drew Thelwell (Morehead State) and Seydou Traore (Manhattan College) — and four freshmen — Trey Buchanan, Cooper Koch, Jacob Koch and Chris Tadjo.
• Senior Payton Sandfort led the team in scoring (16.4) and 3-point field goals (94), while ranking second in assists (91) and rebounds (224) during his junior season. His 94 3-pointers were the third-most in a single season in program history.
• Sophomore Owen Freeman was a nine-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week selection in 2023-24, averaging 10.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks. He had five double-doubles, the most among Big Ten freshman.
• Junior Josh Dix was one of the most efficient offensive players in the country, averaging 8.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists. He shot .552/.421/.860 as a sophomore.

SCOUTING TEXAS A&M-COMMERCE

• The Lions have been picked to finish 10th out of 12 teams in the Southland Conference. Texas A&M Commerce finished seventh with a 6-12 record last season and went 13-20 overall.
• The Lions are led by eighth-year head coach Jaret von Rosenberg.
• TAMU-Commerce has four players returning from the 2023-24 season with guard Khaliq Abdul-Mateen being the team’s leading scorer at 4.9 points per game. The team has 12 newcomers on the roster.
• TAMU-Commerce reclassified from Division II to Division I on July 1, 2022. The Lions are in the third year of a four-year transition process to garnering full-time Division I status.

SERIES HISTORY

• Monday’s game is the first in the all-time series. The Hawkeyes are 9-1 against current members of the Southland Conference.

 

LAST GAME: IOWA 102, MINNESOTA-DULUTH 81

• Iowa posted a 102-81 victory over Minnesota-Duluth in its lone exhibition game on Oct. 25 in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
• The Hawkeyes shot 59.4 percent from the field in the game and had four players reach double figures. Payton Sandfort (23), Josh Dix (22) and Owen Freeman (21) combined for 66 points and shot 70 percent from the floor.
• Iowa had 19 assists on its 41 field goals. Ten different players scored in the victory.

SANDFORT: PRESEASON FIRST-TEAM ALL-BIG TEN

Senior Payton Sandfort was one of 10 players named to the preseason All-Big Ten team. It is the fifth time in the last six seasons a Hawkeye has been named to the list. Sandfort is also a preseason all-league selection by Blue Ribbon and he is tabbed as one of the top sharp shooters and seniors in college basketball by Andy Katz at NCAA.com.
• Sandfort put up career-best numbers across the board during the 2023-24 season, averaging 16.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists, while shooting 44.6 percent from the floor, 37.9 percent from distance and 91.1 percent from the free throw stripe. His 94 3-pointers led the Big Ten.

3-HEADED MONSTER

• The Hawkeyes return three starters in Payton Sandfort, Owen Freeman and Josh Dix. All three players earned All-Big Ten recognition a season ago. Sandfort was a third-team All-Big Ten selection, while Freeman and Dix both were honorable mention all-league selections. Freeman was also the Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Year.
• Sandfort averaged a team-best 16.4 points and 6.6 rebounds, reaching double figures in 27 games with 11 20-point contests.
• Freeman averaged 10.6 points and 6.6 rebounds, while shooting 61.4 percent from the floor. He had five double-doubles and had an Iowa freshman record 61 blocks.
• Dix averaged 8.9 points and 2.2 rebounds, while ranking third on the team with 59 assists. He was one of the most efficient players in the Big Ten, shooting 55.2 percent from the floor, 42.1 percent from 3-point range and 86 percent from the free throw stripe.

A VERSATILE ADDITION

Sophomore forward Seydou Traore gives Hawkeyes a versatile piece in 2024-25. The New York native was an All-Metro Atlantic Conference Rookie Team selection a season ago, averaging 11.9 points and 8.1 rebounds to go along with 62 assists and 34 blocks. He was the only player in the MAAC with 300+ points, 200+ rebounds, 60+ assists, 40+ steals and 30+ blocks.

WINNINGEST PLAYER IN MOREHEAD HISTORY

Graduate transfer Drew Thelwell won 94 games during his four-year career at Morehead State, making him the winningest player in program history. Thelwell helped the Eagles to two OVC regular season and two OVC tournament titles and to three postseason appearances (two NCAA, one NIT).
• The Florida native averaged 10 points and 6.2 assists as a senior. He led the OVC in assists (15th nationally) and assist-to-turnover ration (2.71).

FRESHMAN-TO-SOPHOMORE

Iowa’s current sophomore class combined to play in 132 games during their freshman season in 2023-24. Owen Freeman and Brock Harding played in all 34 contests, while Ladji Dembele and Pryce Sandfort saw action in 32 games apiece.
• Seydou Traore started 27-of-28 games at Manhattan College.