Iowa 103, Quincy 76: Krikke and Freshman Shine in Hawkeye Debut

IOWA CITY -- Iowa left Carver-Hawkeye Arena with a 103-76 win on Monday night against Divison II Quincy. Though the Hawkeyes took the 27-point victory, it wasn't exactly pretty from start to finish.

Here are three takeaways from their exhibition victory.

Iowa freshman Ladji Dembele, Owen Freeman, Pryce Sandfort and Brock Harding each played significant minutes for the Hawkeyes Monday evening. Each played between 13 and 14 minutes in their Iowa City debut.

They were anything but perfect, but each of them impressed in different ways in their first collegiate minutes.

Sandfort looked every bit of the part of an elite shooter, making four of five attempts from deep and finishing with 12 points.

"Pryce is a sharp-shooter," Josh Dix said following the game. "That's kind of his thing. He came in and everyone knew he could shoot the ball, and he's going to do it."

"He obviously has the green light," McCaffery added. "He can pull from anywhere, and I won't say a word to him."

Freeman looked every bit as advertised, pouring in 12 points while going 5-6 from the field, grabbing seven rebounds and adding a block. Dembele's raw athleticism showed with two monstrous blocks on the defensive end, and showed a tenacity that the Hawkeyes need around the rim.

"Ladji does a lot of the little things," Dix said. "He gets us a lot of extra possessions. As you saw, he's a defensive anchor. He and Owen protect the paint. They're going to be really good."

Opposing Big Ten teams will read the scouting report this season and circle Ben Krikke's name to start games. As much of a threat as he is on offense, the Valparaiso transfer's lack of athleticism and his limited size at 6'9" make it difficult to protect the rim and rack up rebounds.

Krikke isn't a player that has consistently thrown his weight around or been willing to throw an elbow or two. Though he finished with 7 rebounds against Quincy, his average of 5.9 per game last season for the Beacons makes sense based on what we saw Monday. This isn't the be-all-end-all for the Hawkeyes by any means, but it is something to note. As we'll get to, though, Krikke makes up for it elsewhere.

"I think there were a couple times I could've been more aggressive in ball-screen coverage," Krikke said post game. "I could've been up a little bit more and been more active with my hands. But I've shown that in practice and going forward I expect to do it better, be up on guards and not give angles to the basket."

The bright spots around the rim for the Hawkeyes are freshman Freeman and Dembele. Freeman lived up to expectations in terms of his ability to rebound the ball and get put-backs, and his athleticism will be very advantageous for him. Dembele showed why McCaffery raved about him and his ability to rebound at media day.

Though his inexperience showed on an ill-advised pass to the interior on an offensive possession, he followed it up by showing off his athleticism and vertical by swatting a layup attempt by Zion Richardson. He added another monstrous block in the second half on a shot attempt at the rim by Quincy.

"Ladji has done that in practice," Krikke said. "He's always really good at those chase-down blocks. He has long arms, and he tracks the ball well. I've seen that a few times, and I've been victim to it, too."

Dembele is raw and the Hawkeyes will live with his mistakes as long as he makes his presence felt by making impact plays on defense and around the basket.

Though the starters for the Hawkeyes struggled at times on Monday night, we got a look at what the first five (Tony Perkins-Dasonte Bowen-Payton Sandfort-Patrick McCaffery-Ben Krikke) could do in flashes, and how they'll operate in 2023.

McCaffery led the group in scoring with 16 points, but Sandfort and Krikke led the effort in non-garbage time. By the look of things, every bit of the offense will operate through them.

Though Sandfort didn't have a standout performance, putting up just 13 points on 5-10 shooting, one can tell he'll be a focal point of the scoring this season for the Hawkeyes.

Krikke showed the ability to not only score the ball, but to distribute down low as well, and his skills as a big in the post will create a difficult matchup for any team Iowa faces.

"It's just basketball -- ready and react," Krikke said postgame. "If there's a play and somebody is open on a back-cut or something, I'll pass the ball. It's a team game, and if the team flourishes, we all win."

Though he shot just one three on the night, that has been a facet of the game he has worked on in the past and we may see going forward.

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