MBB Preview – Rider

The University of Iowa men’s basketball team returns to Mediacom Court to host Rider at 7 p.m. (CT) on Tuesday in Iowa City, Iowa. The game will be streamed on B1G+.
• Tickets are $15-25 for adults and $5-10 for youth through the Iowa Athletics Ticket Office.

FOLLOW LIVE

Radio: Tuesday’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.
Online: Tuesday’s game will be streamed on B1G+ with Joel Kellar (play-by-play) and Jess Settles (color) on the call.

OPENING TIP

• Iowa improved to 4-0 with a 76-66 victory over Washington State on Nov. 15 in the John Deere Quad Cities Hoops Showdown in Moline. The Hawkeyes rallied from a nine-point first-half and three point halftime deficit.
• The Hawkeyes are 4-0 for the fourth time in the last five seasons.
• Iowa has won 92 of its last 98 nonconference home games, dating back to 2012.
• On his 20th birthday on Nov. 15, sophomore Owen Freeman posted a 21-point, 11-rebound double-double in the win over Washington State. It was his sixth career double-double and third career 20-point game.
• Iowa has had a different player score 20 or more points in each of its first four games.
• The D… Iowa’s defense held WAZZU to 66 points and 39.4 percent shooting — both season lows. The Cougars entered the game averaging 93.7 points.
• Freeman is averaging a team-best 17 points and 9.3 rebounds, while shooting 58.3 percent from the field.
• 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 South Dakota on Nov. 12. It was Dix’s fifth career 20 point game.
• Senior Payton Sandfort is averaging 16.8 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists during Iowa’s 4-0 start. He notched his 19th career 20-point game and sixth career double-double in the season opener.
• Splash Brothers… Payton and Pryce Sandfort have combined to make 22 3-point field goals in Iowa’s first four games. Payton has made 12-of-33 attempts, while Pryce has made 10-of-24 attempts.
• The Hawkeyes have made 10+ 3-point field goals in three of the first four games, including 18 in the win over Southern — the most since 2022. Iowa is second in the Big Ten and 10th nationally, averaging 12.3 3s per game.
• One more… Iowa has had 20+ assists in three of its four games. The Hawkeyes have assisted on 67 percent of their field goals this season and the 21 assists per game is leading the league and ranks 12th nationally.
• 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 RIDER

• The Broncs have won three straight games and bring a 3-1 record into Iowa City. Rider won at Navy, 90-79, in its last game on Nov. 12 in Annapolis.
• Rider shot a season-best 52.9 percent against Navy and made a season-high 10 3-pointers and 26 free throws.
• All four of Rider’s regular season games have been on the road, including a season-opening 85-50 loss at UCLA on Nov. 4.
• T.J. Weeks, Jr., is the only Rider player averaging in double figures. He is averaging 16 points and 5.8 rebounds, shooting 46.3 percent from the field.
• Rider, who had a pair of starters returning, was picked to finish seventh in the MAAC preseason coaches poll.

SERIES HISTORY

• Tuesday’s game will be the second all-time meeting between Iowa and Rider. The Hawkeyes won 104-71 on Dec. 22, 1987, in Iowa City.
• Iowa is 3-0 all-time against current opponents from the Metro Atlantic Conference.
• Hawkeye sophomore Seydou Traore played in the MAAC last season at Manhattan College.

 

LAST GAME: IOWA 76, WASHINGTON STATE 66

The Hawkeyes rallied from a nine-point first half deficit to down Washington State, 76-66, in the John Deere Quad Cities Hoops Showdown in Moline, Ill.
• Sophomore Owen Freeman posted a double-double, finishing with 21 points and 11 rebounds, making 9-of-15 shots. Senior Payton Sandfort finished with 18 points and six rebounds.

MORE NOTABLES

• Head coach Fran McCaffery has the most victories in Iowa history with 284, including a record 136 Big Ten wins.
• Redshirt junior Riley Mulvey and freshman Chris Tadjo missed Friday’s game against Washington State. The Hawkeyes have not played a game at full strength this season.
• The Hawkeyes have shot better than 50 percent from the floor in two of their four victories, including a season-best 54.4 percent in the win over South Dakota on Nov. 12.
• Iowa has held all four of its opponents under 50 percent shooting.
• 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. The bench scored 23 points in the neutral site win over WAZZU and all 10 players that saw action scored.
• Graduate Drew Thelwell scored seven points in a span of 92 seconds late in the game against WAZZU to give Iowa the lead for good.
• Sophomore Ladji Dembele netted a career-high 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds against South Dakota. His eight rebounds matched a career-high.
• Iowa has five players averaging in double figures — two of which play as reserves (Pryce Sandfort, 11.8; Drew Thelwell, 10.0).
• The Hawkeyes have had four players score 20 points in a game this season — Payton Sandfort, Pryce Sandfort, Josh Dix, Owen Freeman.

OWWWWEEEEN 

Sophomore Owen Freeman had a 20th birthday to remember when he returned to his hometown of Moline and produced a 21-point, 11-rebound double-double in Iowa’s neutral site victory over Washington State. Freeman made 9-of-15 field goals, which were a career-high.
• It was Freeman’s first double-double of the season and the sixth of his career.
• The 20-point game was the third of his collegiate career.

1-2 PG PUNCH

Iowa’s point guard duo of Brock Harding and Drew Thelwell are averaging 15.8 points and 8.8 assists in four games this season.
• Thelwell has landed in double figures in three games off the bench, where he is averaging 10 points. Harding has a team-high 22 assists in four 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 three of the first four games and the team averages 12.3 makes per contest, while shooting 39.2 percent. The team ranks second in the Big Ten and 10h nationally in 3-pointers per game, while the 3-point percentage is fourth in the league.