By Hawk Fanatic

The Iowa men’s basketball team entered Wednesday’s game at Rutgers depleted and deflated after having lost six of its last seven games.

Iowa was also without graduate guard Drew Thelwell due to an ankle injury, and without sophomore forward Owen Freeman, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, due to a season-ending finger injury, and without freshman forward Cooper Koch.

And yet despite all that adversity, and despite trailing by nine points at halftime, Iowa still found a way to win 84-73 in Piscataway, New Jersey.

The Hawkeyes missed 14 straight 3-point shots during one stretch in Wednesday’s game, but they kept firing away and it finally paid off as senior forward Payton Sandfort made a three to give Iowa a 76-71 lead with 1 minute, 38 seconds left to play.

Iowa then finished the game on a 8-2 scoring run, giving 15th-year head coach Fran McCaffery his first Big Ten road win this season.

Iowa also outscored Rutgers 51-31 in the second half.

Fran McCaffery became emotional as he talked about his team’s win on the Big Ten Network post-game interview.

“There’s times in your career when you’re really proud of your team,” Fran McCaffery said. “We have had injuries. We have had some setbacks, so do other teams, other teams have it. But it’s how you respond. How do you respond in practice? How do you respond in meetings? How do you try to carry out the game plan? Do you stay together? Do you stay focused?

“And at the end of the day, that’s all we can ever ask.”

Junior guard Josh Dix led Iowa in scoring with 26 points, while Payton Sandfort finished with 20 points.

But this was a team win as multiple players rose to the occasion, including sophomore point guard Brock Harding, who finished with 13 points and seven assists.

Harding had recently been removed from the starting lineup, but he would go to play 36 minutes in Wednesday’s game with Thelwell unavailable.

Sophomore forward Pryce Sandfort, who is the younger brother of Payton Sandfort, scored 10 points off the bench, while forward Ladji Dembele finished with nine points and four rebounds.

Iowa also had just two turnovers in the second half after having seven in the first half.

“It’s been a really tough road these last two-and-a-half weeks, three weeks, and I’m so proud of everybody,” Payton Sandfort said. “We’re down a lot of guys and everybody who’s playing is hurt and everybody is sick. I’m just so proud of the fight. It’s been tough. We’ve been getting scrutinized and going through hell and back and I’m so proud of how everybody stepped up with Drew out and Owen out. It’s a team win and I’m so proud of these guys.

“That’s what it means to be a Hawk.”

Rutgers is led by two of the top college players in the country in freshman guard Dylan Harper and freshman forward Ace Bailey, both of whom project as high first-round picks in the 2025 NBA Draft.

And while they had their moments in Wednesday’s game, they both were held below their season scoring averages as Bailey finished with 13 points and Harper had 11.

Iowa improved to 14-10 overall and 5-8 in the Big Ten while Rutgers, despite having two potential NBA lottery picks, fell to 12-13 and 5-9.

“That’s a culture win,” Payton Sandfort said. “What we’ve been going through and how close we’ve been to finally getting over the hump feels so good and I’m so proud of my guys.”

When asked what the team has been going through, Payton Sandfort said:

“It’s tough. Losing sucks. The league is a grind. You look at the schedule and you know playing a team that’s near the bottom of the a league with two of the best players in America, they’re going to be top three picks.

“There’s fighter and guys dealing with injuries and heartaches sand the way that everybody stepped up tonight, we made plays. I think you could see the emotion that everybody had.”

Iowa trailed 42-33 at halftime as Rutgers made 8-0f-14 shots from 3-point range in the half.

The Scarlets Knights entered Wednesday’s game shooting just 33 percent from three, which ranked last in the Big Ten.

Payton Sandfort and Josh Dix combined to score 21 of Iowa’s 33 points in the first half with 11 and 10, respectively.

Sandfort limped off the court with an ankle injury late in the first half, but he would return just minutes later.

Rutgers led by nine points at halftime despite Dylan Harper only scoring two points. Harper played just 11 minutes in the first half after picking up two fouls.

Iowa will look for another win on the East Coast when it plays at Maryland on Sunday.