Hawkeyes Fall at Northwestern

EVANSTON, Illinois -- The University of Iowa men’s basketball team fell to Northwestern, 68-57, on Friday night at Welsh Ryan Arena. 

Both teams got off to a slow start offensively with the Wildcats leading the Hawkeyes, 8-4, seven minutes into the game. After trailing by as many as 10 at the 12-minute mark of the first half, the Hawkeyes made four consecutive field goals to close to within two, 28-26, with two minutes remaining in the first half. 

Iowa (15-14, 6-12) trailed the Wildcats, 30-26, after the first 20 minutes. The Hawkeyes were held to 10-of-29 (34.5 percent) shooting from the field and 4-of-11 (36.4) from beyond the arc in the first half.

Graduate Drew Thelwell and sophomore Pryce Sandfort led the way with eight points apiece. The Hawkeye duo combined to shoot 6-of-9 from the field and 4-of-5 from 3-point range in the first half. Sophomore Brock Harding dished out four assists with zero turnovers. Northwestern was able to turn six offensive rebounds into 10 second-chance points in the first 20 minutes.

A triple from Thelwell brought the Hawkeyes within one, 37-36, with just over 16 minutes left in the game. Northwestern responded with back-to-back 3-pointers to expand its lead to seven. 

Senior Even Brauns would then provide a spark off the bench, throwing down a dunk and converting on an and-one layup a few possessions later to bring the Hawkeyes back within four with just under nine minutes remaining. Iowa was unable to cut the deficit within four points the rest of the game.

The Hawkeyes finished the contest shooting 21-of-58 (36.2 percent) from the field and 8-of-25 (32.0 percent) from beyond the arc. Iowa shot 7-of-10 from the charity stripe. Thelwell led the team with 14 points to go along with three assists. Junior Josh Dix added 10 points and four rebounds. Senior Payton Sandfort grabbed a team-best nine rebounds. 

K.J. Windham came off the bench to lead Northwestern (16-13, 7-11) scoring a game-high 20 points.

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH FRAN MCCAFFERY
"Drew was phenomenal. We need him for a number of different reasons. Obviusly he shot it well, but he penetrates. He enables us to sub when we’re working hard on defense and not have guys who are exhausted in the last couple minutes. We’re able to rotate Pryce, Drew, Brock, Josh, and Payton. I thought that was important.”

“Payton wants it bad. He wants to lead the team. He wants to play hard and play well. He played really hard, game me everything he has. I mean I love that kid. You know he’s going to come back into the next one and be ready. He’s going to come back ready for practice. He’ll be a great leader in that locker room. I’m really proud of him.”

GAME NOTES

• Northwestern never trailed, handing Iowa a 68-57 loss on Friday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
• Iowa had two players finish in double figures: Drew Thelwell 14, Josh Dix 10
• Thelwell finished with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting and went 4-for-4 from 3-point range. The four 3-pointers were a season-high. 
  • It was his 14th game in double figures this season and the 51st of his career.
• The Hawkeyes shot a season-low 36.2 percent from the floor, making 21-of-58 field goals.
  • Iowa’s 57 points were also a season low.
• Iowa made 8-of-25 3-point field goals. The team has made eight or more 3s in 23 games.
• The Hawkeyes committed just seven turnovers.
• Senior Even Brauns went 2-for-2 from the field. He is 11-for-11 from the field over his last four games.

UP NEXT
Iowa returns to Iowa City for its regular season home finale Thursday, hosting No. 8 Michigan State on Senior Night at 7 p.m. (CT). The game will be televised on FS1.