MBB Preview \\ New Orleans

The University of Iowa men’s basketball team will host New Orleans in a Sunday matinee on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The game will tipoff at 1 p.m. (CT) and be televised live on BTN.
• Tickets are available through the Iowa Athletics Ticket Office for $15-25 for adults and $5-10 for youth.

FOLLOW LIVE

Radio: Sunday’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: Sunday’s game will be televised on BTN with Cory Provus (play-by-play) and Jess Settles (color) on the call.

OPENING TIP

• Iowa led for more than 33 minutes and by as many as 13 points before No. 3 Iowa State rallied for an 89-80 road victory in Iowa City on Dec. 12. It was the Cyclones’ first win in Carver-Hawkeye Arena since 2014.
• The Hawkeyes are now 6-1 at home this season and the program has won 94 of its last 101 nonconference home games, dating back to 2012.
• Iowa used its fourth different starting lineup of the season against Iowa State. Graduate Drew Thelwell made his first start as a Hawkeye.
• Iowa has held nine of its 10 opponents under 50 percent shooting, has forced at least 18 turnovers in five games and has held three opponents under 70 points. The Hawkeyes are 96-3 when holding opponents to fewer than 61 points over the past 14+ seasons.
• Junior Josh Dix is averaging 16.5 points and six rebounds, while shooting 50 percent from the field (26-of-52) with nine 3-point field goals over his last four games. He scored 22 points and had a buzzer-beating 3 in the win over Northwestern on Dec. 3.
• Dix has made all 14 of his free throw attempts this season.
• Sophomore Brock Harding has scored in double digits in four of the last five games. He had a 20-point, 10-assist, four-steal double-double in the win over USC Upstate. He is the only player in the nation with a 20-point, 10-assist, 4-steal game this season.
• Harding is averaging 13.2 points, seven assists and 2.8 steals over his last five games.
• Payton Sandfort has made 11 3-point field goals over his last three games, where he’s averaging 17.3 points and 5.3 rebounds.
• Sophomore Owen Freeman has posted two double-doubles and is averaging a team-best 16.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks, while shooting 64.3 percent from the floor. He is leading the Big Ten in field goal percentage.
• The Hawkeye reserves have outscored their counterparts in eight of the team’s 10 games.
• Iowa has at least one player (five different players) score 20 or more points in seven of the team’s 10 games.
• The Hawkeyes have made at least eight 3-point field goals in nine games, including 10+ in five contests. Iowa made 18 in the win over Southern — the most since 2022. Iowa is second in the Big Ten (26th nationally), averaging 10.3 per game.
• Iowa is leading the Big Ten in assists (19.2) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.83). The team has had 20+ assists in four games. The team is ninth in the nation in assists and 11th in assist-to-turnover ratio. Iowa committed just four turnovers in road loss at Michigan on Dec. 7 and nine against Iowa State’s swarming defense.

LAST GAME: NO. 3 IOWA STATE 89, IOWA 80

No. 3 Iowa State rallied from a 13-point first-half and nine-point second half deficit to down the Hawkeyes, 89-80, in an Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series matchup inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Cyclones limited Iowa to two field goals over the final 5:22 and outscored the Hawkeyes, 52-36, in the second half.
• Iowa made seven 3-pointers in the first half and 11 in the game, shooting 39.3 percent from long range. After shooting 58.6 percent in the first half, the Hawkeyes shot 32.4 percent over the final 20 minutes.
• A season-best six Hawkeyes landed in double figures with Owen Freeman leading the way with 16 points. Sophomore Ladji Dembele tied a career-high with 11 points, going 4-for-4 from the field with three 3-pointers.

MORE NOTABLES

• Head coach Fran McCaffery has the most victories in Iowa history with 287, including a record 137 Big Ten wins.
• The Hawkeyes are 6-1 inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena this season.
• Iowa is fourth in the Big Ten, averaging 14.11 fast-break points per contest.
• The Hawkeyes have had four games decided by single digits (1-3 record) and two games decided by a single possession (1-1 record).
• The Hawkeyes hit the century mark for the first time this season when they scored 110 points in a victory over USC Upstate.
• The Hawkeyes have shot better than 50 percent from the floor in four victories, including a season-best 60.6 percent (43-of-71) in the win over USC Upstate. The 43 field goals are tied for the most makes in a game under McCaffery.
• Graduate Drew Thelwell won the 100th game of his collegiate career in Iowa’s victory over USC Upstate.
• Iowa limited Rider to a single 3-point field goal on Nov. 19 in Iowa City — the fewest 3-pointers the program has allowed in nearly a decade (0 vs. Alcorn State on Dec. 9, 2014).
• The Hawkeyes have had 10 or more steals in five contests this season. Iowa is fourth in the Big Ten, averaging 8.4 steals per game.
• The Hawkeye reserves combined for a season-high 48 points in the Hawkeyes’ home win over USC Upstate on Nov. 26. Iowa had 12 players score in the game. Iowa’s reserves have outscored its counterparts in eight times this season.
• Thelwell finished with 15 points — his Hawkeye high — and had four steals and three assists in the win over USC Upstate. He has been in double figure six times.
• The Hawkeyes have had five players hit the 20-point mark in a game this season — Payton Sandfort (3), Josh Dix (2), Pryce Sandfort (1), Owen Freeman (1), Brock Harding (1).
• Harding has 62 assists to 24 turnovers in 10 games. His 6.2 assists per game ranks third in the Big Ten and 13th nationally. He has had five or more assists in eight games and 8+ in three contests.
• Iowa has two players in the top six in the Big Ten in assist-to-turnover ratio — Drew Thelwell (2nd, 4.57) and Brock Harding (6th, 2.58). As a team, Iowa is No. 1 in the Big Ten (11th nationally) with a 1.83 assist-to-turnover ratio.

ONE MORE PASS

The Hawkeyes have had 20+ assists in four games this season, including a season-high 26 in the Nov. 7 victory over Southern.
• Iowa has assisted on 60.6 percent of its field goals this season (192-of-317). Four Hawkeyes have 25 or more assists this season.
• The Hawkeyes are leading the Big Ten and rank ninth nationally, averaging 19.2 assists per game. Iowa is also leading the Big Ten and rank 11th nationally with a 1.83 assist-to-turnover ratio.

OWWWWWEN

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.
• Freeman notched his second double-double, finishing with 18 points and 11 rebounds against Utah State on Nov. 22. He made 9-of-12 field goals and had three blocks.
• The Moline, Illinois, native has two double-doubles this season — ranking 11th in the Big Ten — and seven in his career. He also has three career 20-point games.
• In nine games (he missed the South Dakota game because of illness), Freeman is leading the team in scoring (16.7), rebounds (6.8) and blocks (16). He is the only Hawkeye to reach double figures in every game he has played.
• Freeman ranks ninth in the Big Ten in scoring (16.7) and 12th in rebounding (6.8). He is leading the league in field goal percentage (.643), sixth in field goals (63) and fifth in blocks (16).
• Freeman has shot 60 percent or better from the field in eight of his nine games, including 75 percent (9-of-12) against Utah State on Nov. 22 in Kansas City.

P$$$$$

Senior Payton Sandfort has reached double figures in nine of 10 games this season, including posting three 20-point contests. He is second on the team in scoring (16.1) and rebounding (5.7), while averaging 3.7 assists per game.
• The Waukee, Iowa, native finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in the season opening win over East Texas A&M and he scored 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting with six rebounds in the win over Rider. Sandfort had 20 points with four 3s, seven rebounds and four assists in the Big Ten-opening victory over Northwestern on Dec. 3.
• He scored 16 of his team-high 19 points with four 3-pointers in the second half at Michigan on Dec. 7.
• Sandfort has 21 career 20-point games and six career double-doubles.
• He has the most 3-point attempts in the Big Ten this season (83).