Payton Sandfort scored 21 points and pulled down nine rebounds to lead Iowa to a 110-68 win over North Dakota in Iowa City, Iowa, on Tuesday in the season opener for both teams.
Sandfort led six Hawkeyes who scored in double figures.
Ben Krikke scored 18 points, Owen Freeman had 14, Dasonte Bowen scored 12, Patrick McCaffery chipped in 11 and Tony Perkins added 10 to lead the offensive onslaught for Iowa. Krikke and Perkins also helped out on the glass with six rebounds apiece.
B.J. Omot finished with 24 points and was the only player to score in double figures for North Dakota. Tsotne Tsartsidze had nine points and six rebounds to flank Omot for the Fighting Hawks.
Iowa shot 40-for-75 (53.3 percent) from the field, went 12-for-24 from 3-point range and converted 18 of 20 free throws.
The Hawkeyes dished out 23 assists and only had seven turnovers.
Defensively, Iowa collected 12 steals.
North Dakota struggled from beyond the arc, going 4-for-25 for the game and 1-for-13 in the second half. The Fighting Hawks also committed 19 turnovers.
Iowa held a 56-32 lead at halftime after making 8 of 16 shots from 3-point range in the first half, compared to 3 of 12 for the Fighting Hawks.
The Hawkeyes kept growing their lead in the second half, going up 64-35 with 17:31 remaining and then 81-44 with 12:22 left following an 11-0 run.
Iowa cracked the 100-point mark with 2:44 remaining thanks to a 3-pointer by Ladji Dembele that gave the Hawkeyes a 102-66 lead.
Iowa created separation early, going on an 8-0 burst to take a 21-9 lead with 14:28 remaining in the first half after Sandfort canned a trey.
The Hawkeyes soon followed that up with a 14-2 run to go up 35-14 with 8:34 to go until halftime.
Iowa then ended the first half with eight unanswered points to grab the 56-32 lead at halftime. Perkins’ layup with nine seconds remaining closed the scoring in the period.
–Field Level Media
