All Sports Schedule
Men's Basketball
Loading
Loading
Hawkeyes Handle Nebraska, 83-68Hawkeyes Handle Nebraska, 83-68
Men's Basketball

Hawkeyes Handle Nebraska, 83-68

The Iowa men’s basketball team defeated Nebraska, 83-68, on Sunday inside Pinnacle Bank Arena. Iowa clinched a spot in the 2025 Big Ten Tournament with the victory.

Opens in a new window Box Score (PDF)
by Brandt Dickey
Box Score

LINCOLN, Neb. – The University of Iowa men’s basketball team defeated Nebraska, 83-68, on Sunday afternoon inside Pinnacle Bank Arena. The Hawkeyes improve to 16-15 on the season and 7-13 in Big Ten conference play. Iowa clinched a spot in the 2025 Big Ten Tournament with the victory.

The Hawkeyes weathered an early Nebraska run, falling down 9-2 in the opening minutes of the game. After trailing by eight, the Hawkeyes behind a pair of three pointers from graduate Drew Thelwell and sophomore Pryce Sandfort went on a 11-0 run to take their first lead of the game, 21-18, at the midway point of the first half.

Iowa would lose the lead briefly, before Pryce Sandfort would respond with another three pointers to take the lead back with just over six minutes to play in the half. The Sandfort brothers scored the final 12 points of the half as senior Payton Sandfort converted on a layup at the buzzer to give the Hawkeyes a 40-35 advantage heading into the break. Iowa led for just under nine minutes of play in the first 20 minutes.

After starting the half 5-of-16 from the field, Iowa would shoot 12-of-21 the from the rest of the half. Pryce Sandfort came off the bench to lead the way with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Pryce Sandfort grabbed six rebounds and knocked down a trio of three pointers in the first 20 minutes. Payton Sandfort added 10 points while also pulling in six rebounds. The Cornhuskers missed their final 10 three-point attempts of the half.

The Hawkeyes expanded their lead to 45-38 two minutes into the second half. Nebraska would respond to cut the lead down to two before Iowa would go on a 13-2 spurt, pushing their lead to double digits. Iowa would make 8-of-10 field goals and a pair of Payton Sandfort three pointers gave Iowa a 67-54 lead with 10 minutes to play.

Iowa would protect their lead for the rest of the game, never allowing the Cornhuskers to come within seven points the rest of the way out. The Hawkeyes went on a 7-0 run to lead Nebraska, 80-66, with under a minute remaining.  The Hawkeyes defense forced Nebraska to miss six consecutive shots including just one of their last 10 field goal attempts. The Cornhuskers were held scoreless for over four minutes.

Payton Sandfort led offensively with 22 points and eight rebounds. Pryce Sandfort poured in 16 points along with four three-pointers. Pryce Sandfort grabbed a career high 11 rebounds to secure the first double-double of his career. Junior Josh Dix added 15 points on 7-of-15 from the field. Dix grabbed four rebounds, dished out four assists, and played a team high 36 minutes. Sophomore Brock Harding rounded out the Hawkeyes in double digits with 12 points. Harding shot 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, matching Dix with four assists.

Iowa shot 14-of-26 (53.8 percent) from the field in the second 20 minutes, knocking down 5-of-13 (38.5 percent) from deep. The Hawkeyes shot 10-of-17 (58.8 percent) from the charity stripe in the final half. 

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH FRAN MCCAFFERY
“I’m really proud of the guys. They way they continued to compete throughout the season. You talk about this kind of stuff all the time, team victory. We had 34 bench points, we didn’t turn it over in the second half, we outrebounded them. I think Brice Williams, arguably, is a serious player of the year candidate in our league. We did a good job on him. That was a focus of our defense. I thought we fought. You know they were going to make some runs; they always do, Fred’s teams always do. They have tough kids, but we handled everyone.”
“I’m so proud of Payton. The way he’s led this team. He didn’t shoot it well in the first half, but he has 10 [points] and six [rebounds]. Makes the last bucket of the half, executed that play perfectly. Then he hit the two big threes. But I thought Ladji Dembele in particular coming down the stretch, wow was he spectacular. I’m so happy for him.”

GAME NOTES

  • Iowa notched its second true road victory of the season.
  • The Hawkeyes swept the season series over Nebraska and have won three straight games in the series. 
    • It is the first time Iowa has had a season sweep over the Huskers since the 2014-15 season.
    • It was Iowa’s third win in eight games all-time at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
  • Iowa had four players finish in double figures: Payton Sandfort 22, Pryce Sandfort 16, Josh Dix 15, Brock Harding 12.
  • Payton Sandfort recorded his team-leading 13th 20-point game, finishing with 22 points and eight rebounds. He went 9-of-18 from the field with two 3-pointers. 
    • In two games against Nebraska this season, Sandfort has scored 52 points on 17-of-33 shooting.
    • Sandfort finished with two 3-point field goals, giving him 261 for his career – one shy of moving to No. 2 on Iowa’s all-time list.
    • He has made two or more 3s in 62 career games.
    • He also passed Dean Oliver into 13th place in school history in career scoring (1,572 points).
  • Dix finished with 15 points on 7-of-15 shooting to go along with four rebounds and four assists.
    • He has been in double figures in 25 games this season, tied for the most on the team.
    • In two games this season against Nebraska, Dix has scored a combined 46 points.
  • Pryce Sandfort scored 16 points – 11 in the first half – on 5-of-9 shooting, including four 3-pointers – the second most in a game in his career. He also had 11 rebounds to record his first career double-double.
    • His 16 points are the most he has scored in a Big Ten game.
    • Sandfort also had a career-high 11 rebounds, setting a career-best for a second consecutive game.
    • Iowa is 7-2 when he makes three or more 3-pointers.
  • The Hawkeyes made 11 3-point field goals in the game – its most since Feb. 4 vs. Purdue.
    • Iowa made 28 3-pointers in two games against Nebraska this season.
    • The Hawkeyes have made 10+ 3s in 14 games – the most since the 2021-22 season.
  • Iowa shot 53.8 percent in the second half and 49.2 percent for the game. The team is 11-2 when shooting at least 50 percent from the floor.
  • The team committed just four turnovers. It was the 19th game this season the team has committed 10 or fewer turnovers.
    • The Hawkeyes committed zero turnovers in the second half.
  • Iowa out-rebounded Nebraska, 39-38.
    • The Hawkeyes are 8-1 when out rebounding the opponent.

UP NEXT
Iowa heads to Indianapolis for the 2025 Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday. The Hawkeyes face 10th-seeded Ohio State at approximately 5 p.m. (CT) on March 12. The game will be streamed live on Peacock (subscription required).