Hawkeyes cruise past USC Upstate, Brock Harding records a double-double

Brock Harding called this one a ‘trap game’. Coming off of a loss to Utah State and with Thanksgiving in just a couple of days, the Hawkeyes entered the night as 29.5-point favorites against visiting USC Upstate. It would have been easy for them to sleepwalk through the game, but Iowa didn’t anything but that.

“Games like this are kind of a trap game for teams all across the country,” said Brock Harding. “It would be easy say alright let’s relax for this one…I think we really locked in once we had our practice Sunday and guys were locked in on Upstate. They played Wake Forest close, so we knew we were going to have to set the tone early.”

The tone was set by the Hawkeyes within the first few minutes of the game. They jumped out to a 14-0 lead, behind ten points from Owen Freeman. USC Upstate was able to settle in, hitting four out of five shots to get the deficit to 21-11 at the under 12 media timeout. Iowa answered with a 7-0 run to extend the advantage to 30-11 and led 55-28 at the half.

“We knew that they didn’t have anybody that could guard Owen, and I think we did a great job of finding him early,” said Harding. “They started sending the double (team), it was a little later than we expected, but he did a great job of handling it. Getting the ball to open guys, guys cutting to the hoop, everything was working tonight.”

“I felt like that was something we wanted to do, establish the low post early,” said head coach Fran McCaffery. “He was running, he was flying around and we he’s doing that, we’re just way better.”

After putting up a career-high 19 points in the loss to Utah State, Brock Harding came out of the gates with a lot of energy on Tuesday night. He had seven points, three rebounds and six assists in the first half, but really turned it up in the second half. Harding knocked down a pair of threes and got the bucket on several occasions, en route to a 20-point, 10-assist double-double night.

“Ever since the beginning of the summer, the coaches and all of the guys on the team have been telling me to be confident in what I do. They know I’m a point guard that’s gets people the ball in open spots, can find shooters, can find myself when I need to. As the season has gone on, I feel like I’ve gotten more comfortable out there.”

“He was terrific,” said McCaffery. “Got downhill, he made great decisions, didn’t turn it over, pushed the ball on the break, stole it, shot it. He was spectacular…He’s just a confident guy in what he does.”

Swish!@hardingbrock2 x #Hawkeyes

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— Iowa Men’s Basketball (@IowaHoops) November 27, 2024

Another guy that stood out in the 33-point win was redshirt junior center Riley Mulvey. With Even Brauns out, and in street clothes on the bench, Mulvey got the opportunity to play early in the game. He finished with a career-high 11 points and three rebounds. Riley said that Fran let him know that he was going to play on Monday at practice, which is much different than how he normally has to operate.

“It’s one of the hardest skills to have. If you’re right on the border of playing and not playing, you never know when you are going to play, so you always have to psych yourself up like you’re about to play,” said Mulvey. “It was definitely easier to stay ready (tonight). Teammates were patting me on the back telling me I might go in and to stay ready. Payton (Sandfort) does that really well…I had a blast today.”

“He just keeps getting better,” said McCaffery. “If he stays healthy, he’s a veteran guy, he’s got great feel for how to play, great pair of hands, he runs, he can guard ball screens and he can score. I’m just really happy for him. He’s a worker and he’s as good a teammate as you’re ever going to find.”

For the night, Iowa shot 43 of 71 (60.6%) from the floor and 12 of 26 (46.2%) from three-point range. They turned it over just seven times and outscored USC Upstate 31-9 in points off turnovers. Brock Harding (20), Owen Freeman (17), Drew Thelwell (15) and Riley Mulvey (11) all scored in double figures.

Seydou Traore left the game with a right ankle injury in the first half and did not return. Fran McCaffery called it a bad right ankle sprain.

Up Next: The Hawkeyes will open Big Ten play on December 3rd when they host the Northwestern Wildcats. Tipoff is set for 6:00pm CT on Peacock.