Fran McCaffery reacts to Payton Sandfort getting first triple-double in program history

In a year chock full of history for its basketball programs, it was men’s player Payton Sandfort who made some on Tuesday night by recording the program’s first-ever triple-double.

Sandfort racked up 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists to achieve the feat, which is fairly rare in college basketball.

Still, it caught many by surprise that Sandfort’s triple-double was actually the first in program history, including long-time coach Fran McCaffery.

“Yeah I mean I was shocked, (play-by-play announcer Gary Dolphin) said it to me when I was standing there by the bench,” McCaffery said after the game. “You think about the great ones that played here. The fact that that was the first one, I think that probably surprised everybody. Even in this room, even.”

Sandfort finally logged his triple-double in the second half, flashing an exuberant grin, knowing full well what he had accomplished.

He even tipped his cap to women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark, who puts up those kind of assist numbers on a semi-routine basis.

“Pretty good,” Payton Sandfort said of how he was feeling. “I’m glad to be able to do something; it’s crazy no other Hawkeye has done it. I mean I see Caitlin do it every day, but it takes some of the legitimacy of it. But yeah, I’m pretty proud. Being from the state it’s a pretty special thing to be the first one.”

In addition to the triple-double, Sandfort’s 26 points matched a career high that he had hit three other times, twice this season and once a year ago. Sandfort reached that scoring total by being aggressive and getting to the free-throw stripe.

“Honestly I’ve never shot more than probably 10 free throws in a game in my life,” Payton Sandfort said. “But I think I shot 19. That was pretty cool. But I mean the assists, that was just Josh Dix, that was easy. I just was throwing him the ball and he made everything.”

Dix poured in 18 points in the first half as Sandfort chipped in his eight first-half assists. Iowa led pretty much from start to finish on Penn State, eventually closing out a 90-81 win.

And for the fans in Iowa City, they got to see a little bit of history on Tuesday night.

“I think it’s, for it to be Payton, such a terrific human being and great leader, I’m thrilled for him,” McCaffery said.