MBB Preview \\ Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series vs. No. 3 Iowa State

The University of Iowa men’s basketball team will host No. 3/3 Iowa State in an Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series matchup on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. (CT) on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The game will be televised on FS1.
• Tickets are available through the Iowa Athletics Ticket Office. Prices are $35-75 for adults and $20-25 for youth.

FOLLOW LIVE

Radio: Thursday’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: Thursday’s game will be televised on FS1 with Cory Provus (play-by-play) and Bill Raftery (color) on the call.

OPENING TIP

• Iowa has won four straight over Iowa State inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena, winning by an average of 18.8 points. This includes a 28-point win in 2020 (105-77) and a 19-point victory (75-56) in 2022.
• The Hawkeyes overcame a 16-point first half and 11-point second half deficit at No. 23 Michigan before falling 85-83. Pryce Sandfort had a shot at the buzzer for a potential game-winner.
• Junior Josh Dix hit a game-winning catch-and-shoot 3-pointer from 33 feet with 0.8 seconds remaining to send Iowa to an 80-79 victory over Northwestern on Dec. 3 in Iowa City. It was Iowa’s first buzz-beater since Joe Wieskamp’s bank-in corner 3 at Rutgers in 2019.
• Iowa has held all eight of its nine 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.
• Dix scored a game-high 22 points, making 9-of-16 field goals with three 3s and six rebounds against Northwestern. It was his second 20-point game this season.
• Sophomore Brock Harding has scored in double digits in three of the last four 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 14 points, 6.8 assists and 3.7 steals over his last four games.
• Payton Sandfort has made eight 3-point field goals over his last two games, where he’s averaging 19.5 points and 5.5 rebounds.
• Sophomore Owen Freeman has posted two double-doubles and is averaging a team-best 16.8 points, seven rebounds and 1.6 blocks, while shooting 64.4 percent from the floor. He is second in the Big Ten in field goal percentage.
• The Hawkeye reserves have outscored their counterparts in eight of the team’s nine games.
• Iowa has at least one player (five different players) score 20 or more points in seven of the team’s nine games.
• The Hawkeyes have made at least eight 3-point field goals in eight games, including 10+ in four contests. Iowa made 18 in the win over Southern — the most since 2022. Iowa is second in the Big Ten (28th nationally), averaging 10.2 per game.
• Iowa is leading the Big Ten in assists (19.3) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.81). The team has had 20+ assists in four games. The team is 10th in the nation in assists and assist-to-turnover ratio. Iowa committed just four turnovers in road loss at Michigan on Dec. 7.

SCOUTING NO. 3 IOWA STATE

• The Cyclones bring a four-game winning streak into Iowa City and a 7-1 overall record. Iowa State’s lone loss came against No. 4 Auburn, 83-81, at the Maui Invitational on Nov. 25.
• Iowa State is ranked third in both the AP and Coaches’ poll. Thursday’s game is the Cyclones’ first true road game of the season.
• Iowa State has Power 5 conference victories over Dayton and Colorado in Maui and a home win over No. 5 Marquette, 81-70, on Dec. 4. Keshon Gilbert scored 24 points and had seven assists in the win over Golden Eagles.
• Gilbert leads a group of five Cyclones in double figures, averaging 17.4 points and 5.5 assists. Curtis Jones averages 16.3 points off the bench with a team-high 23 3-pointers.
• The Cyclones are eighth in the nation, averaging 87.8 points per game, while shooting 50.8 percent (11th in NCAA) from the floor.
• Iowa State commits just 9.1 turnovers per contest — seventh-fewest nationally — and forces 16.88 per game (17th). They have the fourth-best turnover margin (7.8) in the country.

SERIES HISTORY

• Thursday’s game will be the 78th meeting in the all-time series. Iowa leads, 48-29.
• The Hawkeyes have won four of the last six meetings in the series, dating back to the 2018 season.
• Iowa has won four straight meetings and eight of the last 10 in Iowa City, including a 75-56 victory in the most recent meeting in 2022.
• Each of the last six meetings have all been decided by 14 or more points. The last time an Iowa-Iowa State game was decided by single digits came in 2017 — an 84-78 ISU win in Ames.
• Iowa’s 2022 victory over Iowa State was head coach Fran McCaffery’s 500th career win.
• Thursday’s game is the highest the Cyclones have been ranked in the AP poll for a game against Iowa. Iowa State was ranked fourth in 2015-16 when the game was played in Ames.

 

LAST GAME: NO. 23 MICHIGAN 85, IOWA 83

Iowa overcame a 16-point first-half deficit and 11 with 6:30 to play to tie the game at 83 before falling 85-83 at No. 23 Michigan on Saturday in Ann Arbor.
• Iowa was whistled for a goal tend with 3.6 seconds remaining and the Hawkeyes had a look at the buzzer for a second straight game, but Pryce Sandfort’s 3-pointer caromed off the rim.
• The Hawkeyes had five players reach double figures with Payton Sandfort leading the way with 19 points (16 in the second half).
• Iowa committed just four turnovers in the game, but Michigan was +15 on the glass (45-30) and the Wolverines had a 54-32 advantage in points in the paint.

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 6-0 inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena this season.
• Iowa is fifth in the Big Ten, averaging 14.11 fast-break points per contest.
• The Hawkeyes have had three games decided by single digits (1-2 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.
• Iowa has won 94 of its last 100 nonconference home games, dating back to 2012.
• 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. Brock Harding has 13 steals in the last four games (and 23 this season) and Drew Thelwell has 13 steals over his past five contests. Iowa is fourth in the Big Ten, averaging 8.8 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 of nine games 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 five times off the bench.
• 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 54 assists to 20 turnovers in nine games. His 6.0 assists per game ranks fourth in the Big Ten and 17th nationally.
• Iowa has two players in the top seven in the Big Ten in assist-to-turnover ratio — Drew Thelwell (2nd, 4.67) and Brock Harding (7th, 2.70). As a team, Iowa is No. 1 in the Big Ten (10th nationally) with a 1.81 assist-to-turnover ratio.
• Iowa went 3-0 to win the team title at the Kenny Arnold Challenge.
• Senior Payton Sandfort is rated as the No. 47 best player in the nation by ESPN.com. He is also tabbed as the 17th-best wing in college basketball by the Field of 68.
• Sandfort is tabbed as the third-best wing in the nation by College Basketball Report, Owen Freeman is rated as the fifth-best sophomore by CBR and Josh Dix is ranked as the No. 24 shooting guard by CBR.
• Sandfort currently has an 89.0 career free throw percentage (195-of-219), which is the best mark in program history.
• Redshirt junior Carter Kingsbury was awarded a scholarship for the 2024-25 season. He was a walk-on his first three seasons.

1-2 PG PUNCH

Iowa’s point guard duo of Brock Harding and Drew Thelwell are averaging 17.6 points, 9.1 assists and 4.8 steals in nine games this season.
• Thelwell has landed in double figures in five games off the bench, where he is averaging 8.1 points and 3.1 assists. The Florida native has at least one steal in every game, including a five steal contest against Utah State.
• Harding has a team-high 54 assists, 23 steals and averages 9.4 points in nine games.

SPLASH BROTHERS 

Brothers Payton and Pryce Sandfort have been deadly from 3-point range for the Hawkeyes. The duo have combined to make 42 3-point field goals in Iowa’s first nine games.
• Payton has a team-high 23 3-pointers (third in the Big Ten), while Pryce has 19 3s (13th in B1G).

P$$$$$

Senior Payton Sandfort has reached double figures in eight of nine games this season, including posting three 20-point contests. He is second on the team in scoring (16.4) and rebounding (5.8), while averaging four 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 (73).