Hawkeyes Storm Back, Top Nebraska, 97-87, in OT

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH FRAN MCCAFFERY
"There was plenty of time [when trailing by 15], so there was no need to panic. We got a group with great character, they were locked in during the timeout. Obviously, we scored the next five [points]. That changes everything.”

“[Josh] was exhausted. He played as hard as he could, every possession, at both ends of the floor. He made phenomenal decisions, made big shots, made big plays. I mean he was really, really special. What he play, 44 minutes? Almost 45. Steals, assists, rebounds, that’s who he is.”

GAME NOTES

• The Hawkeyes scored the first nine points of overtime and outscored the Huskers, 21-11, in the bonus frame to down Nebraska, 97-87, on Tuesday inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. 
  • Iowa trailed 52-37 with 14:54 remaining before outscoring Nebraska, 27-12, to tie the game at 64 with 4:58 remaining.
  • It is tied for the 10th largest comeback in program history.
• Nebraska’s Brice Williams hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime tied at 76. 
• The Hawkeyes had four players finish in double figures: Josh Dix 31, Payton Sandfort 30, Owen Freeman 15, Pryce Sandfort 11
• They are the first set of Hawkeye teammates to score 30+ in a game since Keegan Murray (30) and Jordan Bohannon (30) at Maryland in 2022.
• Dix finished with a career-high 31 points, making 10-of-14 field goals, including a career-high seven 3-pointers. He also had six rebounds and tied a career-high with seven assists. 
  • Dix scored 16 of Iowa’s 31 points in the first half.
  • It is his third 20-point game of the season and the seventh of his career.
• After being held scoreless in the first half, Payton Sandfort tied a career-high 30 points in the second half and overtime, making 8-of-15 field goals with a season-best six 3-pointers and he went 8-for-9 at the free throw stripe and had six rebounds and four assists.   
  • Sandfort has a team-high five 20-point games this season and 23 in his career.
  • It is his second career 30-point game (30 vs. Kansas State in NIT)
  • Sandfort has made five or more 3-pointers seven times in his career.  
• Freeman scored 15 points and had a team-high eight rebounds.
• Brock Harding finished with eight points and seven assists – his seventh game with 6+ assists.
• Iowa made 17 3-point field goals – its eighth game with 10+ 3s and the second-most this season.  
  • The Hawkeyes have made 14 or more 3s three times this season.
• The Hawkeyes went 22-of-25 from the free throw stripe – a season-best.
• Iowa had 23 assists on 29 field goals. 
• Graduate Drew Thelwell missed the game due to a lower body injury sustained during pregame warmups. 
• Dix and Sandfort are the first Division I teammates each with 30 points and 6 3-pointers in the same game in 5 years and the first high major teammates to do it since Notre Dame's Ben Hansbrough and Tim Abromaitis in 2011.

UP NEXT
Iowa returns to action Saturday, hosting Indiana at 7 p.m. (CT) on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The game will be televised live on FOX.