Hawkeyes Snag Road Win at Michigan
Payton Sandfort was distraught after Wednesday's home loss to Maryland. The Iowa junior let those emotions flow during the postgame press conference. Then, he made sure that deep disappointment didn't strike again Saturday at Michigan.
Sandfort matched a career-high with 26 points. He first reached that number last season against the Wolverines.
The junior from Waukee cranked up his noticeably quicker release for 6 of 8 shooting from behind the three-point arc. He knocked down multiple treys in key parts of Saturday's game.
Senior Tony Perkins continued his torrid stretch by reaching the 20-point mark for a third consecutive contest. The senior from Indianapolis racked up 24 points Saturday, canning 9 of 12 field-goal attempts, including 2 of 4 triples.
The Hawkeyes (12-8 overall, 4-5 Big Ten) trailed by two points at halftime. They came out of the locker room with a 10-0 run, led by as many as 13 and were in front the rest of the way.
Iowa avenged a home setback to the Wolverines (7-13, 2-7) last month. The Hawkeyes halted a two-game skid in getting back into the win column.
Some more takeaways:
-It always helps to sink your free throws, especially away from home. Iowa did just that Saturday, converting all 18 of its attempts. Freshman big man Owen Freeman led the way with five, while Perkins kicked in four.
-Freeman delivered another strong performance with a game-high nine rebounds to go with 15 points and three blocks. That muscle was needed against a long Michigan front line. He reached double figures in scoring for the seventh time in the last eight games and for the 12th time this season.
-Improved defense greatly aided in the Hawkeyes closing out this victory. After allowing Michigan to shoot 58 percent in the first half, the Wolverines were limited to 28.1 after the intermission. The visitors played more zone than they usually do.
-The three 20+-point performances by Perkins don't tell the whole story about how well he's been performing. He played a large role in the aforementioned, second-half defensive improvement. He also contributed game-highs in assists (5) and steals (3). He reached the 1,000 career points in this one, too.
-Josh Dix scored seven points and handled the ball a lot in pressure situations. He blocked a pair of shots, as well, and continued to be a steady starter.
-Ben Krikke, Iowa's leading scorer, was held to less than half his season-average with seven points on 2 of 8 shooting. The Wolverines defended him well and he missed some attempts he normally makes.
-Not sure of the actual attendance number at Crisler Arena but the crowd didn't provide much of a home-court advantage. The biggest noise came at halftime, when new football coach Sherrone Moore spoke to the audience.
