By Hawk Fanatic

IOWA CITY, Iowa – What appeared to be a mismatch on paper between the Iowa men’s basketball team and New Hampshire certainly played out that was on the court.

Iowa never trailed  in Monday’s game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and led by as many as many as 32 points in the first half while cruising to a 112-70 victory in the final nonconference game of the season.

The 112 points is a season high for Iowa, which improved to 10-3 overall, while New Hampshire fell to 2-13.

Iowa had six players score in double figures, led by senior forward Payton Sandfort with 15 points.

Sophomore forward Seydou Traore also provided a spark with 14 points and six assists off the bench.

“He’s really good at finding people. He does a lot of things,” Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said of Traore on the Big Ten Network post-game interview. “He rebounds. He blocks shots. He defends. He can play the point. He can play the four spot. But he makes plays for other people. That’s a special gift.”

Traore, who transferred from Manhattan College this past summer, had missed four of the previous five games with an ankle injury.

“I’m just happy to be back,” Traore said. “It’s been a long ride.”

Freshman forward Cooper Koch also scored 14 points off the bench and made three shots from 3-point range.

Iowa played with sophomore center Owen Freeman for what is believed to be a minor ankle injury. Freeman was on the bench in street clothes during Monday’s game and he didn’t appear to be limping.

As important as the 6-foot-10 Freeman is to his team on both ends of the floor, he wasn’t needed in Monday’s game as New Hampshire was completely overmatched.

Iowa shot 59 percent from the field in the first half and led 62-33 at halftime.

Fran McCaffery used 13 players in the first half and eight of them scored at least five points, led by Payton Sandfort with 11.

Fran McCaffery was pleased with how his players came back from the holiday break in practice and it carried to the game.

“They were like that from the very first minute that we came back from break,” Fran McCaffery said. “It showed me a lot. It’s a serious group.”

The schedule now gets serious as Iowa returns to Big Ten play for the rest of way, with a game at Wisconsin up next on Friday.