Hawkeyes Fall to Oregon

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa men’s basketball team fell to Oregon, 80-78, on Wednesday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes fall to 14-12 on the season and 5-10 in Big Ten Conference play.

The Hawkeyes fell behind to an early six-point deficit before they would come back to tie the game at 20-20 with just under 11 minutes remaining in the half. Oregon would go on to protect its lead for the remainder of the half, leading by as many as 10 points. At the half, the Hawkeyes trailed the Ducks, 45-37.

Junior Josh Dix was spectacular in the first 20 minutes, pouring in 15 points on 6-of-8 from the field, including 2-of-4 from beyond the arc. Senior Payton Sandfort added 10 points on 4-of-5 from the field. The Ducks turned their seven offensive rebounds into 12 first half points and outscored Iowa, 26-12, in the paint.

The Hawkeye defense was in full force to start the second half, forcing Oregon to start the second half 2-of-11 from the field. Iowa used a 12-4 run at the start of the second half to tie the game, 49-49, with just under 15 minutes remaining.

Iowa would go on to grab the lead, 54-53, for the first Hawkeye lead since it was 1-0. Oregon went up seven points soon after, before the Hawkeyes responded with a 7-0 run to once again tie the game with just under six minutes remaining. Sophomore Pryce Sandfort gave Iowa the lead at 73-71 with just under three minutes remaining. 

Oregon led 78-76 with a minute remaining and a 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock was waved off, giving the Hawkeyes a chance to tie or take the lead with 51 seconds left. The Hawkeyes couldn’t convert, trailing by four with 21.9 seconds left. A layup from senior Even Brauns cut the lead to two with 13 seconds remaining.

Dix’s layup with five seconds didn’t drop and went out of bounds off the Ducks. Dix's step-back jumper was blocked before Brauns’ putback attempt hit front iron at the buzzer.

The Hawkeyes shot 28-of-57 (49.1 percent) from the field and 9-of-22 (40.9 percent) from deep. Iowa knocked down 13-of-17 (76.5 percent) from the charity stripe. Payton Sandfort led the way offensively with 25 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Dix added 19 points, two steals, and two assists. Brauns added 15 points, three rebounds, and two blocks.

Oregon was led by Nate Bittle with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH FRAN MCCAFFERY
"Even is an amazing young guy, character through and through. He had every right to be frustrated with his playing time. We had some other guys ahead of him, but he just keeps plugging. He comes to practice, works as hard as he can. He’s smart, knows what we’re doing. I really encouraged him, in particular, when Owen went out, to be aggressive like that. Drive the ball, go in and dunk the ball, fly around and fly at the glass. He has tremendous athletic ability, we all know that. We saw that in high school. That kid is just another weapon moving forward.

“It’s not just how we fought tonight in this game, it’s how they’ve continued to prepare. In practice, with work ethic, scouting report information, with staying connected, staying together, staying positive with each other. As a coach, that’s all you can ask, it makes you very proud when you have character like that, on your basketball team. They want it badly, I want it badly for them. We were in a position to get one, and we didn’t. We fought all the way to the end, we executed coming down the stretch, we had some really good looks, not just the last two that we missed but before that. I thought they really executed really well.”

GAME NOTES

• The game featured seven ties and five lead changes.
• Iowa trailed 45-37 at the half before opening the second half on a 12-4 run over the first 5:20 to tie the game at 49.
• The Hawkeyes had three players finish in double figures: Payton Sandfort 25, Josh Dix 19, Even Brauns 15.
• Payton Sandfort scored 25 points, making 9-of-16 field goals with four 3-point field goals. He also had five rebounds and five assists.
• It was his third 20-point game in the last five contests and his team-leading 11th 20-point game of the season, tying a career high.
• Sandfort has scored 20+ in 29 games in his career.
• He has made 4+ triples in 10 games this season and in 28 career contests.
• Dix finished with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting, playing all 40 minutes. 
• He scored 15 points in the first half on 6-of-8 shooting with two 3-pointers. 
• Senior Even Brauns scored a season-high 15 points on 4-of-4 shooting and he went 7-of-9 from the free throw line. 
• Brauns landed in double figures for his first time as a Hawkeye (13th time in his career).
• It was his highest point total since scoring 18 points for Belmont against Illinois State on Feb. 4, 2022.
• The Hawkeyes made nine 3-point field goals in 21 attempts.  
• Iowa has made 8+ 3s in 21 games.
• Iowa had a higher field goal percentage (49.1 to 47.6) in the game. 
• The Hawkeyes committed just seven turnovers. Iowa has had 10 or fewer turnovers in 15 games.

UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes return to action Saturday, hosting Washington at 3 p.m. (CT) on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.  The game will be televised on FS1.