Hawkeyes Hammer New Orleans

By John Bohnenkamp 

BOX SCORE

Iowa’s 104-57 win over New Orleans on Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena was a chance to get playing time up and down the Hawkeyes’ roster.

For Pryce Sandfort, the 21 minutes he got helped after he didn’t get much time in Thursday’s 89-80 loss to Iowa State.

For Cooper Koch, his 21 ½ minutes were important since he had missed the last four games with a medical issue.

For all of the Hawkeyes, it was a chance to wash away the frustration of the defeat to the Cyclones.

Iowa (8-3) was expected to dominate this game, and the Hawkeyes did just that. They made 17 of their first 21 shots and 11 first-half 3-pointers on the way to a 57-29 halftime lead.

Bouncing back was what coach Fran McCaffery expected.

“I would say it's a professional group,” McCaffery said. “You know, we lost a tough one. If we had won it, you got to do the same thing. You’ve got to lock in for the next one. Everything is important — the last one is important, so is the next one.

“They were locked in on Friday. They were locked in on Saturday.”

They were locked in for this one. The Hawkeyes had 28 assists on 42 field goals, and committed just six turnovers.

“That’s just who we are,” Sandfort said. “Moving the ball, getting the right shots, getting wide-open shots, and then we obviously have the guys that can knock it down.”

Iowa shot 62.7 percent for the game, 48.3 percent in 3-pointers.

Sandfort was one of five Hawkeyes who scored in double figures, finishing with 10 points. Owen Freeman led Iowa with 22 points. Payton Sandfort had 15. Brock Harding and Josh Dix each had 13.

Pryce Sandfort played just 3 minutes, 57 seconds in Thursday’s loss, none in the second half, and McCaffery noted after the game he should have played more.

He made sure to reach out to Sandfort to let him know his role would be bigger in this game.

“He said, ‘Stay ready,’” Sandfort said.

“I said, ‘Look, I needed to get you in there more,’” McCaffery said. “We had a lineup that was cooking (in the second half), and we stuck with it. Sometimes that happens, it's not a reflection of him. He was great at Michigan (when Sandfort had 16 points in 28 ½ minutes). I told him to stay ready. He said, ‘Coach, I'm good.’ And he was terrific today, I thought.”

So was Koch, who had six points and five rebounds with his extended playing time.

“I didn't notice him being tired,” McCaffery said. “I asked him at halftime, ‘How are you feeling?’ He goes, ‘I'm a little tired, but I'm OK.’ So you know he's going to give you everything he's got. He's going to give you effort, and he's going to push through. We just listen to the trainers and the doctors at that point if there's a reason to take them out. But I didn't see one.”

“You could probably see I was a little gassed in the first half, but it felt really good to be back out there,” Koch said.

Koch hadn’t played since the November 22 game against Utah State.

“After sitting out and watching practice, you really miss it, and appreciate when you're actually out there,” Koch said.