Hawkeyes Overwhelm Alabama St.

Iowa Improves to 2-0 with Blowout Win Friday

Iowa's Patrick McCaffery brings the ball of the court during a game against North Dakota on Nov. 7, 2023 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. (Rob Howe/HN)

BOX SCORE

Iowa has never been a team prone to a large number of turnovers.

What the Hawkeyes have done in the first week of the season has been special.

Iowa had just six turnovers in Friday’s 98-67 win over Alabama State at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

That’s a low number, but what makes that more impressive was all of those came in the first half.

“Six is probably a little too many for a half,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “Both teams played fast. Both teams were aggressive. So it wasn’t a horrible number.”

McCaffery liked the overall equation though — the Hawkeyes had 27 assists on 33 field goals.

“No turnovers in the second half, 27 assists on 33 field goals — that’s who we are,” he said.

Only four of the 10 Hawkeyes who played double-digit minutes had turnovers — Tony Perkins and Brock Harding each had two, and Owen Freeman and Ladji Dembele had one.

The Hawkeyes had just seven turnovers in Tuesday’s 110-68 win over North Dakota, but had just one in the first 23 minutes.

“That’s something we pride ourselves on, because you can’t take a shot if you turn the ball over,” said forward Patrick McCaffery, who led Iowa with 22 points. “We had six in the first half, which for us, I think, is too many.

“Obviously you’re never going to finish a game with zero turnovers. That’s not possible, but you always want to keep that number low and get a shot every time.”

“We knew this team was going to get in gaps, they were going to be all over us on defense,” said Harding, who had seven assists. “So we knew we had to take care of the ball.”

Payton Sandfort had 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Hawkeyes. Ben Krikke had 13 points, and Tony Perkins added 12.

Some other takeaways from the game:

HARDING WITH A SPARK: Freshman point guard Brock Harding provided an early first-half spark.

Harding’s layup with 8:15 to play gave the Hawkeyes a 26-25 lead, then his assist on a Ben Krikke layup less than a minute later helped Iowa to go up 30-25.

Then, in the second half, with the game in hand, Harding brought the loudest cheers of the night with a no-look pass to Owen Freeman for a dunk, followed by an assist on Ladji Dembele’s layup on the Hawkeyes’ next possession for a 92-64 lead.

Harding has had 14 assists in 25 minutes to start the season.

“When you have guys around you who can score the ball, it makes it a lot easier,” Harding said.

Both McCafferys had high praise for Harding.

“He will never be tentative,” Fran said. “He can’t spell tentative.”

“It’s what I love about Brock — his confidence, his moxie,” Patrick said. “When you go to war, it’s with guys like Brock Harding.”

SANDFORT’S ERUPTION: Iowa broke open a close game late in the first half behind Sandfort, whose first points of the game came on two free throws with 2:32 left in the half.

But those points started a personal 12-point run, including nine points in 64 seconds, that pushed Iowa’s lead from 37-32 to 49-37.

PERKINS BOUNCES BACK: Perkins struggled with his shooting in Tuesday’s season opener against North Dakota, making just 3-of-11 shots.

But Perkins made 4-of-8 shots on his way to a 12-point game. He added five rebounds and three assists, and helped provide some late energy in the first half as the Hawkeyes pulled away.

NUMBERS AND NOTES: Center Even Brauns made his first appearance of the season, entering the game in the final 3 ½ minutes. Brauns had Iowa’s final points on a dunk off an assist from Harding. Brauns, who transferred from Belmont in the offseason, did not play in Tuesday’s season opener. … Starting point guard Dasonte Bowen had just two points, but also had five assists and no turnovers.