By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – With his team having lost eight of its last 10 games, and with the season slipping away, Iowa senior forward Payton Sandfort hadn’t had much to smile about heading into Saturday’s game against Washington.

But that all changed in dramatic fashion as the 6-foot-8 Waukee native carried Iowa to a much-needed 85-79 victory in a game that could ultimately go a long way in determining if the Hawkeyes make the Big Ten Tournament, which only takes the top 15 teams in the 18-team conference.

Iowa was trailing 59-53 when Payton Sandfort banked in a 3-point shot with 9 minutes, 15 seconds left to play.

He then made three straight free throws just seconds later, and suddenly game in which Iowa had trailed almost from the beginning was tied at 59-59 with 8:51 left to play.

Payton Sandfort scored six straight points in just 22 seconds and he would go on to take the game over down the stretch as he scored 20 of his 27 points in the second half.

Payton Sandfort said to the media afterwards that he called bank on his momentum-changing three.

He also figured that the law of averages were finally on his side when he banked in the three because Iowa’s opponents have made several improbable bank shots this season that would prove costly.

“It seems like the whole season all we’ve seen is teams bank in threes,” Payton Sandfort said. “So, it felt good to see one go our way. I think that was one of our first of the year. So, it changes everything.

“There have been countless games where teams have changed the momentum with banked-in threes. So we got our own and after that I think everyone started having fun and we kind of loosened up. I screamed out bank and everybody heard me and I think I was telling everybody that I screamed out bank. We kind of just loosened up and then everybody started making plays again. I’m proud of my team.”

And while Payton Sandfort was the star for Iowa in Saturday’s win, he was hardly a solo act as Iowa received a significant boost off the bench from some unlikely players, namely redshirt junior guard Carter Kingsbury and senior center Riley Mulvey.

Kingsbury played nearly 29 minutes and he spent much of the game guarding Washington power forward Great Osobor despite being about four inches shorter and 40 pounds lighter than Osobor.

Kingsbury said he wasn’t sure what kind of role he would play in Saturday’s game, if any.

“They always tell me to stay ready at all times,” Kingsbury said. “So it’s kind of every game, you’re just kind of waiting to see how big of a role I’ll play.

“We stayed together a lot as a team and we get done at the end when we needed to.”

Mulvey played 14.37 minutes off the bench and finished with nine points. He also stood in the lane and took a charge against Washington center Frank Kepnang during the second-half rally. Kepnang made a thunderous dunk on the play, but it was erased by the charging call, much to the delight of the fans inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“Riley stood in there and took it and he never wavered,” Payton Sandfort said. “That’s who he is.

“He’s got a shirt that he wears, it says, ‘it’s just Riley doing Riley things.’ And I think that’s what that was.”

Mulvey, Kingsbury and Payton Sandfort were all part of the same recruiting class, but Payton Sandfort is the only one among the three that has been a consistent contributor for Iowa.

Kingsbury, who is the son of former Iowa guard Chris Kingsbury, came to Iowa  as a walk-on, but he was put on scholarship this season and he certainly earned his scholarship with Saturday’s performance.

Sophomore point guard Brock Harding also contributed 11 points off the bench, while Payton Sandfort’s younger brother, Pryce Sandfort, scored eight points off the bench.

Senior center Even Brauns also did his part by scoring five points off the bench.

Iowa had a 36-20 advantage in bench points.

“I’ll give a shout out to all those guys off the bench,” Payton Sandfort said. “Brock, Carter, Even, Pryce, Riley, I mean they were huge. They’ve been great teammates. They’ve been in and out of the lineups.

“Carter, Riley and Even have been on scout team for most of the year. But they’re great teammates. They get us better. They’re great players and we could see this coming.”

Carter Kingsbury and Payton Sandfort have been roommates for the past three years at Iowa and have become very close friends.

That was obvious as Carter Kingsbury talked after Saturday’s win about what Payton Sandfort means to the team.

“He’s been a leader for our team for a couple years now,” Carter Kingbury said of Payton Sandfort, who tested the NBA draft process last spring. “It makes me happy to see him succeed. He’s had rougher games, but nobody is working harder than him. He stays true to his process.

“I’m just glad he got to show what he is capable of tonight.”

Mulvey then shared his thoughts on Payton Sandfort, who was his roommate as a freshman.

“He’s always able to bounce back from anything, too, because we’ve had some very rough times and he’s been able to push through everything and come back and be his own player and be able to make shots in tough times,” Mulvey said.

Iowa improved to 15-12 overall and 6-10 in Big Ten play, while Washington fell to 13-14 and 4-12 under first-year head coach Danny Sprinkle.

Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery also won his 200th game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Saturday.

He downplayed the achievement afterwards.

“I never really think about that,” Fran McCaffery said. “I never want to make it about me.”

Carter Kingsbury replaced starter Seydou Traore just three minutes into Saturday’s game. Traore spent the rest of the game on the bench in what Fran McCaffery said was a coach’s decision.

“He’d been practicing really well,” Fran McCaffery said of the 6-5, 225-pound Carter Kingsbury. “I think he’s a good fit for Osobor. Osobor is a handful. He’s about 265 (pounds). He’s really strong when you go back-down game.

“And I just thought Carter’s strength and physicality would be effective.”

Osobor finished with 15 points, but he only took 10 shots from the field as Kingsbury made him work for everything on offense.

Iowa was trailing 34-25 and the arena was lacking energy when Brauns made an old-fashioned 3-point play, which started with a rim-rattling dunk, with 2:55 left in the first half.

His 3-point play finally brought the fans to their feet and it also triggered an 8-0 scoring run by Iowa to close the first half, trimming the deficit to 34-33 at the break.

Kingsbury also brought the fans to their feet when he made a 3-point basket that cut the deficit to 34-31 with 2:16 left in the first half.

Iowa fans were used to watching Kingsbury’s father, Chris Kingsbury, make threes for the Hawkeyes in the mid-1990s, and now his son was helping to carry on the family tradition at a time when his team desperately needed an offensive spark.

Iowa already was without sophomore forward Owen Freeman, its leading scorer and rebounder, due to a season-ending finger injury.

Freshman forward Cooper Koch also missed Saturday game for health reasons, while starting point guard Drew Thelwell tried to play on his injured ankle, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

Thelwell, a graduate transfer from Morehead State, played less than eight minutes and didn’t score.

Fran McCaffery said afterwards that Thelwell suffered a setback in practice on Friday.

“I wasn’t even going to play him, but he said I’m ready to go, so I gave him a shot,” Fran McCaffery said. “He didn’t have it the other night and he didn’t have it today.

“I feel so bad for that kid. He wants it bad. He’s a phenomenal leader, a phenomenal person, awesome in the locker room. We need him, but others are stepping up thankfully.”

Iowa now heads back on the road for a game at Illinois on Tuesday.