Iowa men’s basketball team pounds North Carolina A&T 112-71 to improve to 2-0
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – After just two games, it would be premature and silly to make any bold statements or predictions about the Iowa men’s basketball team.
But they are an interesting group of players that still are learning to play together, and with that will come some up-and-down moments as was the case in Friday’s 112-71 victory over North Carolina A&T at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Iowa won the game convincingly, but head coach Fran McCaffery will have some teaching moments as there were breakdowns on both ends of the floor, especially in the first half.
Junior forward Kris Murray led four Iowa players in double figures with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. He also made three 3-point baskets, all five of his free throws, and he led Iowa with eight rebounds.
Iowa finished with 25 assists and just four turnovers and eight players for Iowa had at least two assists, led by junior guard Tony Perkins.
“That team is putting pressure on the ball,” Fran McCaffery said of the Aggies. “They had quickness. They had speed. They were putting heat on the dribbler.
“But I thought our running game was really good tonight. When we did get stops in particular, we were able to get out and run and find people.”
The Aggies shot an air ball on their first possession of the game that Iowa turned into a breakaway dunk by junior forward Patrick McCaffery.
The Aggies on their next possession missed badly on a drive to the basket that Iowa turned into a fastbreak layup for Patrick McCaffery.
Kris Murray and Patrick McCaffery then made back-to-back 3-point baskets to expand the lead to 10-3 with 17 minutes, 30 seconds left in the first half.
Patrick McCaffery made a fadeaway jumper near the free throw line to give Iowa a 12-3 lead less than five minutes into the game and it would’ve been easy to assume the rout was on.
But that wasn’t case as the Aggies trimmed the lead to 26-22, causing Fran McCaffery to call a timeout with 8:09 left in the first half.
Fran McCaffery wasn’t pleased with his team’s performance on the boards during that stretch and he let the players know it.
Iowa then closed the first half on 24-7 scoring run and led 52-32 at halftime.
“We didn’t do good on the glass in that one stretch, actually, for the whole beginning of the game they outrebounded us in the first half,” Fran McCaffery said. “Give them credit they came to play. They were physical.”
North Carolina A&T trailed by 20 points at halftime despite having a 25-20 advantage on the boards.
Iowa then started the second half on a 16-2 scoring run to pull away.
“I think it just started with defensive rebounding because we were kind of leaking out a little bit and we were only sending a few guys to the glass,” Kris Murray said. “And they were getting easy tip-ins at the rim. That’s how they were scoring mostly. So we put and emphasis on that and that’s when we just turned it up on the defensive end and we got easy looks in transition.”
The level of competition will improve significantly in the next game as Iowa will play Seton Hall next Wednesday in Newark, New Jersey as part of the Gavitt Games.
“It’s what you sign up for when you come play at Iowa, playing in those marquee games, those big matchups” said Patrick McCaffery, who finished with 21 points and five rebounds. “I’m excited. I love going out east. I’ve got a lot of family and friends out there.”
Four of Iowa’s five starters scored in double figures in Friday’s game after having all five starters score in double figures in the 89-58 victory over Bethune-Cookman in the season opener this past Monday.
Sophomore forward Payton Sandfort finished with 17 points in Friday’s game, but he also shockingly missed a free throw.
Sandfort only missed one free throw last season, and one free throw as a high school senior.
Sandfort was on the bench when the Aggies were called for a technical foul in the first half. He was then inserted in the game to shoot the free throw.
“I was down there with the trainer and they just started yelling at me to go shoot the free throw,” Sandfort said. “So, it sucks. That’s as many as I missed last year already. It felt good. I just wasn’t ready.”
Iowa’s bench players were held scoreless in the first half, but then they combined to score 34 points in the second half.
Fran McCaffery only used three bench players in the first half and they barely played a combined 13 minutes.
“In fairness to those guys, I didn’t give them much playing time in the first half,” Fran McCaffery said of his bench players. “I put them in and we had a difficult stretch offensively and I put the starters back in and they played most of the first half.
“So, I told them at halftime, you guys are going to get out there again, I’m going to leave you out there and they we were real good, I thought.”