By Dallas Jones

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Usually when we hear the Iowa Hawkeyes are a bubble team in February, we are talking about the NCAA Tournament. This year, it is the conference tournament the Hawkeyes are at risk of missing out on.

Coming into tonight’s matchup with Oregon, the Hawkeyes were 5-9 in the conference play, putting them at 14th in the conference. The bottom three of the 18 team conference will not be invited to the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis this March.

Tonight’s 80-78 loss made that possibility even more of a reality as they add another tally in the loss column. Here is how it happened.

1st half: The Hawkeyes are second in the Big Ten in points per game (84.9), but started off slow tonight as they missed their first four attempts from the field. A mid-range jumper from Payton Sandfort at the 16:07 mark broke that streak as Oregon jumped out to an early six point lead.

They Hawkeyes quickly picked up the pace, making seven of their next eight attempts after that jumper. It was a Josh Dix three that tied the game up 20-20 at the 10:57 mark, the first tie since 0-0. Before the under eight timeout, Oregon would go on an 8-2 run and regain their highest lead of the game at six.

With 3:44 left in the half, Iowa still trailed by six and the clear difference came from close to the basket. Oregon out rebounded Iowa 13-9 to that point and had 24 points in the paint compared to Iowa’s 10.

At the break, Iowa was led by Josh Dix (15) and Payton Sandfort (10), which accounted for 67.5% of their points. Nine different Hawkeyes played in the first half, with Josh Dix as the only played from either team to go the entire half without sitting.

2nd half: The Sandfort brothers came out of the break ready to make something happen. They combined for eight of Iowa’s first 12 ponits in the half. The Hawkeyes started the half on a 12-4 run that tied the game at 49 with 14:40 left to play.

Four minutes later the game was 61-59 favoring Oregon. It was apparent at this point in the game that most of Iowa’s offense was going to come from either Josh Dix or Payton Sandfort. The duo was 15-20 (75%) from the field at that point with 37 of Iowa’s 59 points. No other Hawkeye had made more than two field goals yet in the game.

With 5:50 to play Even Brauns knocked down a free throw that would tie the game at 67, Brauns would finish with a season high 15. He was a perfect 4-4 from the field and put together one of his best performances since coming to back to Iowa City.

After a couple of Oregon baskets, the Hawkeyes got a six point play from the Sandfort’s. Payton made a three while there was a foul under the basket, the shot counted and the Hawkeyes retained possession. After inbounding the ball, Pryce knocked down a three that gave Iowa a 73-71 lead. Oregon responded and after an over three minute scoring drought, the Hawkeyes saw themselves down 78-76 with under a minute left.

It was at that point that Oregon banked in a three at the end of the shot clock to make it a five point game with 51.5 left in regulation, BUT the call was overturned to be a shot clock violation. The Hawkeyes could not take advantage as Payton Sandfort missed a look at the rim. The foul game began and after Oregon stepped out of bounds, the Hawkeye once again had a chance to tie or win with 12.4 seconds on the clock down 80-78.

Josh Dix missed a lay up and then had a jumper blocks just before time expired, giving the Hawkeyes another close loss this season.

See what Josh Dix, Even Brauns and Head Coach Fran McCaffery had to say postgame here: