IOWA CITY — The University of Iowa men’s basketball team defeated UMBC, 103-81, on Wednesday night on Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes move to 7-5 on the season.
A 12-2 run late in the first half allowed the Hawkeyes to gain a 10-point advantage, knocking down 9-of-10 field goals. Iowa finished the half shooting 20-of-42 from the field with 15 assists and just one turnover. Iowa built an advantage on the glass early, grabbing 27 rebounds in the first half compared to UMBC’s 12. At the end of the first half, Iowa led 50-36.
The Hawkeyes were able to pull away in the second half behind a balanced scoring attack. 10 different Hawkeyes scored points in the second half while they shot 22-of-42 from the field and knocked down four threes. Iowa finished the game with just four turnovers.
Senior Tony Perkins stuffed the stat sheet. In the first 20-minutes of action the Indianapolis, Indiana, native poured in 12 points, grabbed four rebounds, and dished out four assists. Perkins went on to finish the game as the leading scorer, finishing with 23 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists. Junior Payton Sandfort nearly had a double-double in the first half, finishing with eight points and eight rebounds. Sandfort finished the game scoring 18 points and pulling in 10 rebounds. It is Sandfort’s second double-double of the year.
Freshman Brock Harding finished the game with 10 points and 12 assists while committing just one turnover. It’s the first points and assists double-double since Joe Toussaint against Alabama State in 2021. Harding now has an assist to turnover ratio of 2.9 on the season. Graduate Ben Krikke finished with 17 points on an efficient 7-of-11 shooting. Junior Patrick McCaffery rounded out the Hawkeyes in double-digits finishing the game with 14 points.
HEAR FROM HEAD COACH FRAN MCCAFFERY
“I think it’s more who [Brock] is. He’s an incredible competitor and has a tremendous mind for the game. He truly understands what is needed at any given time. He knew we needed to get some stops, get some run outs, hit some cutters, get some layups, and get to the free throw line. We were in the double bonus pretty early because he was driving the ball. We were back cutting. He was finding people. You look down and see we had a bunch of guys in double figures, because of him.”
“We wanted to push it. We took 84 shots. That’s a lot of shots. We wanted to push it and attack. Like I said, I wish we would’ve guarded the 3-point line better. 13-for-25 is usually a recipe for defeat.”
