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Hawkeyes rolled by Iowa State at Hilton Coliseum

On3 imageby:Kyle Huesmann•12/07/23•

HuesmannKyle

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The Hawkeyes fell to Iowa State on Thursday night. (Photo by Dennis Scheidt)

For the Iowa men’s basketball team, Hilton Coliseum has been a house of horrors for them over the last 20 years. Coming into tonight’s contest, the Hawkeyes had won in just one of their last ten trips to Ames, including a 73-53 loss last time here in 2021. Fran McCaffery’s team endured much of the same suffering as previous Iowa teams have, as they were handed a 90-65 loss on Thursday night. The 25-point margin of defeat is the largest ever in the series for Iowa State.

“It started right from the jump, they went inside, got a couple and-1’s early and we kind of fell in love with the three ball at that point because we got a little bit behind,” said head coach Fran McCaffery. “We have to do a better job collectively to limit that type of discrepancy, points in the paint.”

The Hawkeyes were able to stay in the game early behind three three-pointers from Payton Sandfort, but a 13-2 run from Iowa State, including five baskets in the paint made it 29-14 Cyclones. Ben Krikke would score a bucket to stop the run, but the Hawkeyes would go on a nearly three minute stretch without a field goal thereafter. Iowa State was able to extend their lead to 36-18 with 4:19 before the break.

“It was kind of like the other night (against Purdue). We didn’t get enough movement, whether it was ball movement, people moving,” said McCaffery. “Have to do more screening, more cutting, more penetration. We just moved it side to side and somebody shot it at the end of the clock and we need more activity to challenge the defense.”

Iowa State built a 47-29 halftime lead and the halftime stats were eye popping. 15 of the 18 made baskets for the Cyclones came in the paint and they led 30-2 in paint points after 20 minutes. ISU also led 15-1 in points off turnovers and 9-3 in second chance points. In every category that the Cyclones could lead, they did lead. Things did not improve in the second half.

Seperate 10-0 and 9-2 runs kept the game from really getting ugly, but Iowa State built their lead as large as 32 points with 3:53 remaining in the game. On they night, they finished with 46 paint points, 17 second chance points and 25 points off turnovers. Iowa turned the ball over a season-high 19 times.

Payton Sandfort finished with a team-high 14 points on 4/9 shooting, including four three-pointers, while Dasonte Bowen (13) and Owen Freeman (11) also scored in double figures. The Hawkeyes shot 22/57 (38.6%) from the floor for the game.

Fran McCaffery was asked about bouncing back from a loss in the Cy-Hawk game to have a good season. In 2021, Iowa rebounded from the 20-point defeat to win 26 games, including the Big Ten Tournament. Last season, Iowa State bounced back from a 19-point loss in Iowa City and made the Sweet 16. A loss in the Cy-Hawk game the last couple of years has not meant a poor season overall. In fact, it has ended up the exact opposite.

“I think that’s true for both teams. That’s how were both going to approach it. Obviously, were the losing team this year and we’re going to approach it that way. They certainly did last year…We’ll stay positive with our group. We believe in them and we’ll keep grinding.”

Up Next, the Hawkeyes return home to Carver-Hawkeye Arena for the their Big Ten opener against the Michigan Wolverines on Sunday. Tipoff is set for 3:30pm CT and the game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.

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