The Iowa Hawkeyes are on the board in Big Ten play.
Behind a big day from junior forward Payton Sandfort, Iowa pulled away from Rutgers in an 86-77 win inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The 6-foot-7, 215 pound forward scored 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including 5-of-8 from downtown. Sandfort’s quick eight points to start the second half was one of the key turning points in the game.
Sandfort also added eight rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block.
Three other Hawkeyes finished in double figures. Graduate forward Ben Krikke registered a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, freshman forward Owen Freeman added 15 points and four rebounds and senior guard Tony Perkins chipped in with 15 points and four steals.
Iowa limited Rutgers to just 39.4% field goal shooting and only 31.6% 3-point shooting.
Social media loved what it saw as the Hawkeyes picked up that all-important first Big Ten win.
Fran’s rocking another elite pullover.
— Andrew Downs (@AndrewCDowns) January 6, 2024
Excellent start. Very active defensively.
— Irrational Hawkeye (@IrrationalHawk2) January 6, 2024
Rutgers is awful offensively. Just don’t allow easy drives….
— Bennie Mac – Single Dad Era (@BenMcC1908) January 6, 2024
That’s the start we needed.
— Hawkeye Nation (@hawkeyenation) January 6, 2024
Rutgers is 1-of-12 from the field. It’s why Iowa has a 19-5 lead.
— John Bohnenkamp (@johnbohnenkamp) January 6, 2024
Going to try to put this as kindly as I can: Rutgers is not very good. Currently 1-of-15 from the field. Iowa leads, 19-5.
— Tyler Tachman (@Tyler_T15) January 6, 2024
Rutgers is shooting 6.7%.
— Kelly (@hawkelly) January 6, 2024
Rutgers is not good.
— Irrational Hawkeye (@IrrationalHawk2) January 6, 2024
Shots come and go. Effort doesn’t. Really like how Iowa’s playing right now.
— Lifelong Kings Fan Harrison (@HD_starr) January 6, 2024
Mag beats the buzzer. 🚨@RutgersMBB closes the half on a 13-4 run to cut the halftime deficit to seven points.
📺: @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/RrULE3S62d
— Big Ten Men’s Basketball (@B1GMBBall) January 6, 2024
Another putrid end to the half. Defend your butt off for 16 mins and then just let up.
— Quadrant 1 Felts (PAIN) (@Zhawk44) January 6, 2024
Welp. Was looking…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Basketball | Hawkeyes Wire…