Iowa-Quincy Basketball Takeaways

Hawkeyes Win Monday's Exhibition Going Away

Iowa's Patrick McCaffery goes up for a shot during an exhibition game against Quincy University on Oct. 30, 2023 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. (Brian Ray/hawkeyesports.com)

Fran McCaffery used two groups of lineups in Monday’s 103-76 exhibition win over Quincy at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and each did its job.

There were the experienced starters — Dasonte Bowen, Tony Perkins and Payton Sandfort at guard, and Ben Krikke and Patrick McCaffery at the two forward spots.

Then there was the second group — sophomore Josh Dix and freshmen Ladji Dembele, Owen Freeman, Brock Harding and Pryce Sandfort.

At the end of the night, seven players scored in double figures. Patrick McCaffery had 16 points, Krikke had 14, Payton Sandfort had 13, Pryce Sandfort had 12, Freeman had 12, Perkins and Dix each had 10.

It’s an experiment that worked well, and could be something that is used during the regular season.

“I don’t know if we’ll do that going forward,” Krikke said. “Or maybe we will.”

The Hawkeyes got off to a slow start, missing six of their first eight shots. But Iowa closed the half making 16-of-25 shots, including four of its last six 3-pointers.

Quincy stayed close to the Hawkeyes early in the second half, getting to within 59-48 five minutes into the half. But that second group played together for almost nine minutes as Iowa pulled away.

Some of the other takeaways:

PRYCE IS RIGHT: Pryce Sandfort broke the early shooting slump for the Hawkeyes, hitting his first two 3-pointers.

‘I was hoping I wouldn’t have any struggles in a new arena the first time I got in here (for a game),” Sandfort said. “I was confident in my stroke.”

Sandfort ended the game 4-of-5 in 3-point shots, and added an assist and a rebound.

“He’s a sharp shooter,” Dix said. “He might pull a couple from deep.”

PAYTON’S PLACE: Payton Sandfort struggled early, missing four of his first five shots. But he made his last three shots of the first half, and finished the game 5-of-10 from the field while adding four rebounds.

The Sandfort combination may be fascinating to watch this season.

“When they cross half-court,” Dix said, “anything is a good shot.”

KRIKKE CLICKS: Krikke, a fifth-year senior, looked like he has fit with his team right away.

Krikke was 4-of-8 from the field, and added seven rebounds.

Krikke, though, wants to be more than just an inside threat. He took one face-up jumper from mid-range and one 3-point attempt.

“In practice, I’ve been hitting the mid-range shot,” he said. “I would like to hit a few more of those.”

BOWEN AT THE POINT: Bowen got the start at point guard, but Fran McCaffery said he and Dix will see almost equal time early in the season.

The two players have been roommates since arriving on campus last season, and McCaffery made sure to sit down with them last week to let them know that, although Bowen was starting, both would play a key role.

“I don’t want to pit them against each other,” McCaffery said. “There will be games when one plays better than the other, but there’s going to be games where they both play great.”