Iowa men improve to 2-0 with 98-67 victory over Alabama State
By John Bohnenkamp
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Brock Harding hasn’t shown any signs of being affected by the biggest stage of his basketball career.
Harding is just a freshman, but he has shown in Iowa’s first two games of the season that he is equipped to handle the pressure of major conference basketball.
Harding had a seven-assist, two-turnover night in Iowa’s 98-67 win over Alabama State on Friday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, finishing an impressive first week in which he had 14 assists in just 25 minutes of play.
“He will never be tentative,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “He can’t spell ‘tentative.’”
Harding came to the Hawkeyes with a reputation of toughness and a strong court vision, and he showed that in Friday’s game.
His layup with 8:15 to play gave the Hawkeyes a 26-25 lead, then his assist on a Ben Krikke layup less than a minute later helped Iowa go up, 30-25.
In the second half, with the game in hand, Harding delivered a no-look pass to high school and AAU teammate Owen Freeman for a dunk, and then followed that with an assist on Ladji Dembele’s layup on the Hawkeyes’ next possession for a 92-64 lead.
“He’s really smart,” McCaffery said. “That’s who he is, that’s how he plays.”
“I mean, when you have a lot of guys around you that can score the ball it makes it that much easier,” Harding said. “Guys cut, they know they’re going to get the ball, we got shooters all around. That makes my job a lot easier as a point guard, and so it’s just super fun playing with this group of guys.”
Asked to describe himself, Harding said, “Just kind of a hard-nosed point guard, pure point guard, going to do whatever it takes to win.”
“Brock’s a very confident guy,” forward Patrick McCaffery said. “That’s what I love about Brock — his confidence, his moxie. I think that’s what you need to play at this level, especially as a point guard and especially like a small guy like him — you need to be very confident in your ability. He is, and that’s why I love Brock so much. That’s my guy.”
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SANDFORT’S LATE START: Payton Sandfort had 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Hawkeyes, but he didn’t score his first points until he hit two free throws with 2:32 left in the first half.
But that started him on a run in which he scored 12 consecutive points.
“That was huge,” Fran McCaffery said. “And I probably should have gotten him going a little earlier. He even said, ‘Coach, get me going.’
“Once Payton saw two free throws go in, I think that was all he needed. We started looking for him and if he’s open, it’s going in.”
It was Sandfort’s first double-double of his career.
Sandfort averaged 19 points and 10 ½ rebounds in the two games this week.
“He’s always been pretty good (at rebounding),” McCaffery said. “Now that we’re playing he and Patrick in the forward positions, he’s recognized ‘I’ve got to get on the glass.’”
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OTHER NOTES: Iowa had just six turnovers, zero in the second half. The Hawkeyes have had just 13 turnovers in the first two games while forcing 35. … Patrick McCaffery led Iowa with a game-high 22 points. He is averaging 16.5 points in the first two games. … Ben Krikke had 13 points, and Tony Perkins added 12, for the Hawkeyes. … The Hawkeyes had a 27-11 advantage in fast-break points. They had a 54-14 advantage in fast-break points in the two games.