MBB Preview – John Deere Quad Cities Hoops Showdown vs. WAZZU

The University of Iowa men’s basketball team travels to Moline for a neutral site matchup against Washington State at 7:30 p.m. (CT) in the John Deere Quad Cities Hoops Showdown at Vibrant Arena at the MARK.
• Tickets are available through the Vibrant Arena Ticket Office through Ticketmaster.

FOLLOW LIVE

Radio: Friday’s game will be 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.
Television: Friday’s game will be televised on BTN with Kevin Kugler (play-by-play) and Jess Settles (color) on the call.

OPENING TIP

• The Hawkeyes won their third straight game, downing South Dakota, 96-77, in the championship game of the Kenny Arnold Classic on Tuesday in Iowa City. Iowa has started 3-0 in four of the last five seasons.
• Iowa has won 92 of its last 98 nonconference home games, dating back to 2012.
• Friday’s game is Iowa’s first in the Quad Cities in 26 years since a 74-63 win over Western Illinois in 1998.
• The game is a homecoming for sophomores Owen Freeman and Brock Harding, who led Moline High School to a 2023 state title. Friday also happens to be Freeman’s 20th birthday.
• Junior Josh Dix scored 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting (5-of-6 from 3) to go along with four rebounds and five assists in the win over the Coyotes. It was Dix’s fifth career 20 point game.
• Iowa has had five players score in double figures in each of its first three games.
• Senior Payton Sandfort is averaging 16.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists during Iowa’s 3-0 start. He notched his 19th career 20-point game and sixth career double-double in the season opener.
• Sophomore Pryce Sandfort has notched career highs in points, field goals, 3-pointers and rebounds in consecutive games against East Texas A&M and Southern. He led all scorers with 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting with six 3-pointers and four rebounds in the win over Southern.
• Splash Brothers… Payton and Pryce Sandfort have combined to make 20 3-point field goals in Iowa’s first three games. Pryce has made 10-of-21 attempts; Payton is 10-of-23. They are tied for first in the Big Ten with the 10 3s.
• The Hawkeyes have made 10+ 3-point field goals in each of the first three games, including 18 in the win over Southern — the most since 2022. Iowa is second in the Big Ten and sixth nationally, averaging 13.7 3s per game.
• One more… Iowa has had 20+ assists in each of its three games. The Hawkeyes have assisted on 69.3 percent of their field goals this season and the 23.3 assists per game is leading the league and ranks fifth nationally.
• Sophomore Seydou Traore had a strong Hawkeye debut, finishing with 12 points, four rebounds and two blocks in Tuesday’s win over South Dakota. Traore missed the first two games with a foot injury.
• Payton Sandfort has been named the John R. Wooden Award preseason Watch List and to the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Preseason List.

SCOUTING WASHINGTON STATE

• WAZZU brings a 3-0 record into the Quad Cities with home wins over Portland State, Bradley and Idaho. The Cougars won by 23 points (90-67) over the Vandals — the team’s largest margin of victory of the season.
• The Cougars are playing as an affiliate member of the West Coast Conference in the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons.
• Washington State has seven players averaging in double figures this season with Nate Calmese leading the way at 17.7 points per game. The Cougars are shooting 49.5 percent from the floor and average 11 3-poiners per game.
• The Cougars are +11.7 on the glass with three players averaging 7+ rebounds per game. LeJuan Watts averages 13 points and 9.7 rebounds.
• Washington State has 47 assists to 42 turnovers in three games. It has assisted on 47 of 91 field goals.
• WAZZU was picked to finish fifth in the WCC, finishing with 62 points. Cedric Coward, a transfer from Eastern Washington, was a 2024-25 WCC preseason all-conference selection.
• David Riley is in his first season as the head coach at WAZZU. He went to Pullman afte13-year stint as a graduate assistant, assistant coach and head coach at Eastern Washington. He was the Big Sky Coach of the Year in 2023 and 2024.

SERIES HISTORY

• Friday’s game is the second all-time between Iowa and Washington State. The Hawkeyes lead 1-0 courtesy of a 74-66 victory in Pullman.

IN THE QUAD CITIES

• Friday’s game will be Iowa’s fourth game all-time in Moline. Iowa is undefeated in the previous three games. The victory over DePaul in 1995 was in the National Invitation Tournament.3/15/95 DePaul W, 97-86
  11/22/96 Western Illinois W, 81-66
  11/15/98 Western Illinois W, 74-63

 

LAST GAME: IOWA 96, SOUTH DAKOTA 77

Iowa had five players finish in double figures in its 96-77 victory over South Dakota in the Kenny Arnold Classic title game. The Hawkeyes shot a season-high 54.4 (37-of-68) from the floor and made 13 3-point field goals. Josh Dix led the way with 23 points on an efficient 8-of-10 shooting. He made five of the six 3-point field goals he attempted.

MORE NOTABLES

• Head coach Fran McCaffery has the most victories in Iowa history with 283, including a record 136 Big Ten wins.
• Sophomore Owen Freeman missed Tuesday’s win over South Dakota because of an illness. Iowa hasn’t played a game full strength this season.
• The Hawkeyes have shot better than 50 percent from the floor in two of the three victories, including a season-best 54.4 percent in the win over South Dakota on Nov. 12.
• Iowa’s reserves combined for 37 points in the 19-point victory over South Dakota, including an 11-point, five rebound, six assist game for graduate Drew Thelwell.
• Sophomore Ladji Dembele netted a career-high 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds against the Coyotes. His eight rebounds matched a career-high and he has led the team on the boards in consecutive games.
• Iowa has six players averaging in double figures — three of which play as reserves (Pryce Sandfort, 14.3; Seydou Traore, 12.0; Drew Thelwell, 11.0).
• The Hawkeyes have had three players score 20 points in a game this season — Payton Sandfort, Pryce Sandfort, Josh Dix.

WELCOME BACK, SEYDOU

After missing the first two games of the season with a foot injury, sophomore Seydou Traore was strong in his Hawkeye debut in the victory over South Dakota on Nov. 12. The New York native scored 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting to go along with four rebounds and two blocks in 22 minutes.

PRESEASON WATCH LISTS

Senior Payton Sandfort has been named to the prestigious John R. Wooden Preseason Watch List. He is one of 50 players named to the list and one of nine from the Big Ten Conference.
• Sandfort is also one of 20 players named to the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Preseason Watch List. It is his second straight year that he has been on the list that for an award that recognizes the best small forwards in men’s college basketball.

1-2 PG PUNCH

Iowa’s point guard duo of Brock Harding and Drew Thelwell are averaging 16.3 points and 9.3 assists in three games this season.
• Thelwell has landed in double figures in all three games off the bench, where he is averaging 11 points. Harding has 18 assists in three games.

18 FROM DISTANCE

The Hawkeyes made 18 3-point field goals in the victory over Southern on Nov. 7. They are the most for the program since the 2022 Big Ten Tournament and tied for the fifth-most under head coach Fran McCaffery at Iowa.
• Iowa has made 10+ 3-pointers in each of the first three games and the team averages 13.3 makes per contest, while shooting 41 percent. The team ranks second in the Big Ten and sixth nationally in 3-pointers per game, while the 3-point percentage is third in the league.