By Hawk Fanatic

Payton Sandfort and the other seniors on the Iowa men’s basketball team have earned the opportunity to compete in the 2025 Big Ten Tournament.

The Hawkeyes ruined Nebraska’s Senior Day with a 83-68 victory in the regular-season finale, and before a sellout crowd on Sunday at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska.

With Sunday’s win, Iowa also more importantly secured one of the 15 spots in the Big Ten Tournament, and finished the regular season above .500 at 16-15, while Nebraska ended the season with five straight losses and will miss the conference tournament after having played in the NCAA Tournament last season under head coach Fred Hoiberg.

Iowa will be the 15th seed in the conference tournament and will face Ohio State on Wednesday at approximately 5 p.m. in Indianapolis.

Payton Sandfort and his younger brother, Pryce Sandfort, a sophomore forward, both played huge roles in Sunday’s victory as they scored 22 and 16 points, respectively.

Pryce Sandfort also grabbed 11 rebounds, while Payton had eight.

It was the first double-double in Pryce Sandfort’s Hawkeye career.

Junior guard Josh Dix also did his part to extend the season by scoring 15 points, as did backup point guard Brock Harding, who contributed  12 points and four assists off the bench.

Iowa outscored Nebraska 34-14 in bench points and had 18 assists on 31 baskets while sweeping the season series.

“I think it’s a culmination of a season and different guys stepping up on different days,” Fran McCaffery said on the FOX post-game interview. “But collectively, staying in the fight and continuing to compete, continuing to believe in each other and make good basketball decisions, make good plays.

“It’s never going to be perfect, I know that. But what has to be perfect is your fight. It has to be, your competitiveness and your understanding the anatomy of the game. And that’s what we did today.”

The Hawkeyes also held Nebraska’s leading scorer, Brice Williams, to just seven points on 3-of-12 shooting from the field.

Williams had scored 43 points in his previous game against Ohio State.

“Clearly, he was a focal point I think for anybody that plays,” Fran McCaffery said. “We mixed our defenses, a little pressure, a little zone, a little matchup, a little man-to-man. With him you’ve got to be up. He’s hard to speed up. He plays at his pace. He gets to his spots. So you try and get him uncomfortable as much as you can.”

Payton Sandfort was joined by his Iowa teammates as he was interviewed on the court after the game.

“It’s a team win. I love these guys,” Payton Sandfort said with his teammates standing side-by-side with him on the court, with arms wrapped around each other.

This season has been tough on Payton Sandfort, 6-foot-8 Waukee native, as he has battled with injuries and with the pain and agony from losing.

But now, at least, he will get to play in the conferenced tournament for one last time, and with his brother for at least one more game.

Iowa and Nebraska both finished 7-13 in conference play, but Iowa has the edge from winning both regular-season games.

Fran McCaffery’s future became a hot topic this season as the losses started to mount.

McCaffery said to the media recently that he is fully committed to the Iowa program and that he has no intention of moving on after his 15th season as head coach.

So, at least for now that storyline can be put on hold with now headed to the conference tournament, which starts next Wednesday in Indianapolis.

Iowa led Sunday’s game 40-35 at halftime, thanks largely to the Sandfort brothers as they combined for 21 points in the half, led by Pryce Sandfort with 11.

Senior center Even Brauns also scored six points off the bench in the first half on 3-of-3 shooting from the field.

Brauns entered the second half of Sunday’s game having made17 of his last 18 field-goal attempts.

Iowa didn’t shoot any free throws in the first half, but did make six shots from 3-point range, led by Pryce Sandfort with three.

Nebraska only shot 3-of-14 from three in the first half and missed its last 10 threes in the half.

Iowa also outscored Nebraska 23-8 in bench points in the first half and assisted on 11 of its 17 baskets in the half.

The Hawkeyes, who have played without sophomore forward Owen Freeman, its leading scorer and rebounder since early February due to a finger injury, have struggled in the second half of games this season.

But that certainly wasn’t the case against Nebraska on Sunday as Iowa picked up its second Big Ten road win, the other coming at Rutgers.

Nebraska only shot 35 percent from the field and was just 6-of-27 from 3-point range.

The Cornhuskers had a sellout crowd cheering them on, the emotion from Senior Day, and spot in the Big Ten Tournament on the line, and yet, couldn’t get the job done against an Iowa team that had been struggling to win games.