MBB Preview \\ at Rutgers

OPPONENT	Iowa (13-10, 4-8) at Rutgers (12-12, 5-8)
LOCATION	Piscataway, N.J.
DATE	Wednesday, Feb. 12
TIP-OFF	5:30 p.m. (CT)
RADIO	Hawkeye Radio Network
TV	BTN

 

The University of Iowa men’s basketball team begins a two-game East Coast road trip in Piscataway, facing Rutgers on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. (CT) at Jersey Mike’s Arena.  The game will be televised on BTN.

FOLLOW LIVE
Radio: Wednesday’s game will be broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network with Rob Brooks (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.
TV: Wednesday’s game will be televised on BTN with Jason Horowitz (play-by-play), Robbie Hummel (color) and Andy Katz (sideline) on the call.

OPENING TIP

• The Hawkeyes begin a two-game East Coast road trip Wednesday at Rutgers.  Iowa has won four straight and seven of the last eight meetings against the Scarlet Knights.
• Leading scorer, rebounder and shot blocker sophomore Owen Freeman underwent season-ending finger surgery on Feb. 3.  
• In the two games since Freeman was sidelined, junior Josh Dix is Iowa’s leading scorer, averaging 20 points and 4.5 rebounds, while shooting 53.6 percent from the floor and 42.9 percent from 3-point range.
• Senior Payton Sandfort and Dix combined for 50 points in Iowa’s nine-point loss to No. 7 Purdue on Feb. 4.  Dix scored 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting, while Sandfort netted 23 on 9-of-17 shooting with five 3-pointers.
• Sandfort was named to the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Midseason top 10 on Feb. 5. He is one of two players from the Big Ten Conference on the list along with Rutgers’ Ace Bailey.  
• Sandfort has 246 career 3-point field goals, 16 behind Jeff Horner for second place on Iowa’s all-time list.  
• Redshirt junior Riley Mulvey and sophomore Seydou Traore made their first starts as Hawkeyes against Purdue.  It was Iowa’s sixth different starting lineup this season.
• Iowa is second in the Big Ten and ninth nationally, averaging 84.5 points per game.  The Hawkeyes have the second-best field goal (.496) and top effective field goal percentage (.576) in the Big Ten, ranking fourth and seventh nationally in both categories. 
• Sandfort has scored 20+ five times in the last nine games, giving him a team-best nine 20+ point games this season.  
 • Iowa has shot better than 50 percent from the floor 11 times 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 9-2 when shooting at least 50 percent from the field.
• The Hawkeyes have made at least eight 3-point field goals in 19 games, including 10+ in 12 contests -- the most in a season since 2022-23 (13 games). Iowa is second in the Big Ten (21st nationally), averaging 10.1 per game.  
• Iowa is leading the Big Ten in assists (18.8, 3rd in NCAA) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.84, 3rd in NCAA). The team has had 20+ assists in nine games.

SCOUTING RUTGERS
• The Scarlet Knights have split their last four games, pushing their record to 12-12 overall and 5-8 in Big Ten play.  Rutgers beat Illinois, 82-73, in its last home game on Feb. 5 before falling, 90-81, at Maryland on Sunday.
• Rutgers’ freshmen Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper are fourth and fifth in the Big Ten in scoring, averaging 19.4 and 19.1 points, respectively.  Bailey also leads the team in rebounding (7.7), 3-pointers (40) and blocks (30), while Harper averages a team-best 4.1 assists to go along with 24 steals and 34 3s.
• Harper posted a triple double, finishing with 16 points, 11 rebounds, 12 assists, three steals and one block in Rutgers’ win over Columbia in December.  It was the first triple-double by a Scarlet Knight player since 1983 and one of two nationally this season.
• Freshman Lathan Sommerville, whose father Marcellus spent one season at Iowa in 2001-02, averages 7.4 points and 4.4 rebounds.
• Rutgers averages 11.63 offensive rebounds and 36.71 total rebounds, third and sixth-best in the Big Ten.

SERIES HISTORY

• Wednesday’s game is the 17th meeting in the all-time series dating back to 1989.  Iowa leads the series, 13-3.
• The Hawkeyes have won four straight games in the series and seven of the last eight.  
• Iowa won the last meeting in Piscataway, 76-65, on Jan. 8, 2023.  The Hawkeyes are 5-2 at Rutgers all-time.
• The Scarlet Knights’ last win over the Hawkeyes came in Piscataway on Jan. 19, 2022, winning 48-46.

LAST GAME: NO. 21 WISCONSIN 74, IOWA 63

No. 21 Wisconsin rallied from a two-point halftime deficit to down Iowa, 74-63, on Feb. 8 in Iowa City.  The Badgers held the Hawkeyes to two points over the final 4:29 in the game.  
• Wisconsin held Iowa to a season-low 63 points in the victory.
• Sophomore Pryce Sandfort paced the team with 14 points off the bench, scoring 11 of his 14 in the first half.  

IOWA IS...

• 6-0 when scoring 90+ points this season.
• 5-0 when winning the rebounding battle.
• 10-0 when shooting more free throws than its opponents.
• 10-2 when leading at the half.

HIGH FLYING HAWKS

Iowa is the ninth-highest scoring offense in the nation, averaging 84.5 points.  It would be the team’s highest scoring average since 1988-89 (89.6 points).
• The Hawkeyes scored 80+ points in 11 consecutive games from Nov. 26-Jan. 17.  It was the longest stretch of the McCaffery era and the longest for the program since the 1988-89 season (13 straight).
• Iowa has scored 90+ points six times this season and the team has eclipsed the 100-point mark three times.
• The Hawkeyes have averaged 80+ points in each of the last four seasons.

JULIUS ERVING SMALL FORWARD OF THE YEAR MIDSEASON TOP 10

Senior Payton Sandfort is one of 10 players named to the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Midseason Top 10.  He is one of two players in the Big Ten on the list along with Rutgers’ Ace Bailey.

CENTER BY COMMITTEE

When Iowa lost sophomore Owen Freeman to season-ending surgery, it lost its top scorer (16.7 points), rebounder (6.7) and shot blocker (35).  The Hawkeyes have gone to a center-by-committee of Riley Mulvey, Ladji Dembele and Even Brauns.
• The trio is averaging 6.5 points and five rebounds on 60 percent shooting in the two games Freeman has been sidelined.
• Mulvey has started both games -- the first two starts of his career -- while Dembele scored seven points and had four rebounds in 24 minutes against Wisconsin.