MBB Preview \\ Black Out vs. Indiana

The University of Iowa men’s basketball team will host Indiana on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. (CT) on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.  The game will be televised on FOX.
• Tickets are $35-76 (adults) and $20-25 (youth).
• Fan are encouraged to wear black clothing to “Black Out” Carver-Hawkeye Arena.  It is also the team’s annual letterwinners game.  

FOLLOW LIVE
Radio: Saturday’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: Saturday’s game will be televised on FOX with Cory Provus (play-by-play) and LaPhonso Ellis (color) on the call.

OPENING TIP

• The Hawkeyes rallied from 15 down in the second half to force overtime en route to a 97-87 victory over Nebraska on Tuesday in Iowa City.  Iowa has come from behind to win four games this season when trailing in the second half.  
• 30x2... junior Josh Dix (31 points, 7 3s) and Payton Sandfort (30, 6 3s) combined for 61 points and 13 3s as they became the first Hawkeye duo since 2022 (Jordan Bohannon (30), Keegan Murray (30), at Maryland) to both score 30+ in a single game.
• The duo is the first Division I teammates with 30 points and six 3-pointers in the same game in five years and the first high major teammates to do it since Notre Dame’s Ben Hansborough and Tim Abromaitis in 2011.
• Dix became the first major conference player to finish with at least 31 points, six rebounds, seven assists, four steals and one block (in 44:38 minutes) since LSU’s Ben Simmons on Dec. 2, 2015.  He is only the 12th Division I player with at least that stat line in the last 20 years.
 • The Hawkeyes have shot better than 50 percent from the floor in seven victories and better than 60 percent three times, including a season-best 62.7 percent in the win over New Orleans on Dec. 15.  The team is unbeaten when shooting at least 50 percent from the field. 
• Sophomore Owen Freeman is third in the Big Ten and 12th nationally with a 63.2 field goal percentage, averaging a team-best 16.7 points per game.  He is the only Hawkeye to score in double figures in every game he has played. 
• In four Big Ten games, Josh Dix is tied for second in the league, averaging 21.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 blocks.  He is shooting 60 percent from the field, 53.8 percent from 3-point range and is 5-for-5 from the free throw line.
• Iowa is leading the Big Ten and is second nationally, averaging 89.9 points per game.  The team’s 50.7 field goal percentage is second-best in the league (eighth in country).
• The Hawkeyes have made at least eight 3-point field goals in 14 games, including 10+ in eight contests. Iowa made 18 in the win over Southern -- the most since 2022 -- and 17 in the win over Nebraska .  Iowa is tops in the Big Ten (13th nationally), averaging 10.8 per game.  
• Iowa is leading the Big Ten in assists (19.9, 4rd in NCAA) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.94, 4th in NCAA). The team has had 20+ assists in seven games.
• Graduate guard Drew Thelwell missed Tuesday’s game against Nebraska because of injury.  He is the eighth different player to miss a game this season.

SCOUTING INDIANA
• The Hoosiers have won five straight and nine of their last 10 games to improve to 13-3 overall and 4-1 in Big Ten play.  Indiana downed USC, 82-69, on Wednesday in Bloomington.  
• Indiana’s 4-1 Big Ten start is its best since the 2015-16 season.  The Hoosiers’ lone conference loss was an 85-68 road defeat at Nebraska on Dec. 13.
• Four players are averaging double digits with Arizona transfer Oumar Ballo leading the way with 14.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.  Ballo shoots 68.1 percent from the floor, but is just a 58.9 percent free throw shooter.  He also has 28 blocks, averaging 1.9 per game.
• Ballo had a game-high 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting in Indiana’s win over USC.
• Malik Reneau (14.1 points), Mackenzie Mgbako (13.2) and Myles Rice (12.4) also average in double figures.  Rice has a team-best 21 steals and has 54 assists, but has committed 40 turnovers.  
• Illinois transfer Luke Goode has started the past four games for Indiana, where he is averaging 11.3 points during the stretch.  Goode has 11 3-pointers in the four games, including four against USC on Wednesday.
• Mgbako shared the Big Ten Freshman of the Year honor a season ago with Iowa’s Owen Freeman.
• The Hoosiers shot 47.6 percent from the field, but just 32.3 percent from 3-point range. The team averages 6.3 3-pointers per game.
• Indiana is one of the top rebounding teams in the Big Ten, averaging 39.13 per game.  The Hoosiers are +6.3 on the glass this season.

SERIES HISTORY

• Saturday’s game will be the 190th game all-time between Iowa and Indiana.  The Hoosiers lead 107-82.
• Indiana snapped a four-game losing streak in the series last year in Bloomington, picking up a 74-68 victory.  
• The Hawkeyes have won the last two meetings in Iowa City with Indiana’s last victory coming during the 2020-21 season.   

LAST GAME: IOWA 97, NEBRASKA 87 (OT)

Junior Josh Dix and senior Payton Sandfort combined for 61 points to lead Iowa to a 97-87 overtime victory over Nebraska on Tuesday in Iowa City.  The Hawkeyes trailed 52-37 with 14:54 remaining before battling back to tie the game at 64 with 4:58 to play.
• After the Huskers’ Brice Williams hit a 3 at the buzzer to force overtime, Iowa scored the first nine points of the bonus frame and outscored Nebraska, 21-11, in OT to improve to 2-2 in Big Ten play.
• Dix’s 31 points were a career-high, while Sandfort’s 30 points tied a career-best.  The duo combined for 13 of Iowa’s 17 3-point field goals, which was one off a team season high.

PAYTON JOINS 1,000/500 CLUB

Senior Payton Sandfort is the 29th player in program history with 1,000+ career points and 500+ rebounds. He is the first Hawkeye since Joe Wieskamp in 2021 to join the club.

30 X 2

Junior Josh Dix scored a career-high 31 points with seven 3-pointers and senior Payton Sandfort finished with 30 points, tying a career-high, with six 3s in Iowa’s 97-87 overtime victory over Nebraska on Jan. 7 in Iowa City.
• They are the first Division I teammates each with 30 points and six 3-pointers in the same game in five years and the first high major teammates to do so since Notre Dame’s Ben Hansbrough and Tim Abromaitis in 2011.
• Dix made 10-of-14 field goals, including 7-of-10 3s, and had six rebounds, seven assists, four steals and one block, becoming the first major conference player to finish with at least that stat line since LSU’s Ben Simmons on Dec. 2, 2015.  He is only the 12th Division I player with at least that stat line in the last 20 years.
• Dix was on the court for all but 22 seconds in the 45 minute tilt against the Huskers.
• After a scoreless first half, Sandfort finished with 30 points (27 in the second half alone) on 8-of-15 shooting, making 6-of-10 3s and 8-of-9 free throws.  He also had six rebounds and four assists.  The point total matched his career-high set during last year’s NIT First Round game against Kansas State.

THELWELL APPROACHES 1K
Graduate transfer Drew Thelwell has scored 953 career points in 127 career games at Morehead State and Iowa.  He is 47 points shy of the 1,000 point milestone.