DES MOINES — The Iowa Hawkeyes overwhelmed Florida A&M, 88-52, in the first of two Hawkeye basketball games at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. Freshman center Owen Freeman led all scorers with 14 points in a game that was never seriously competitive, as Iowa started the game on a 15-2 run and never looked back.
"Our gameplan was to really work on our motion offense, which had been a little bit stagnant," said head coach Fran McCaffery. "But it's always going to be a function of your defense. Our defense was really good to start the game."
Indeed, that defense-forward run to start the game set the tone for the duration.
"We knew we wanted to come out with a lot of energy," freshman guard Brock Harding said. "We felt like that was a big problem in the last couple of games; we got hit first and were playing behind, so we made a big emphasis to come out with a lot of energy."
Three Takeaways
1. Owen Freeman's never leaving the starting lineup. In the freshman's second career start, Owen Freeman registered a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds; the 6'10" big man also added a block and an assist in his 19 minutes of action before being (mercifully) substituted out.
In addition to the statistical production, Freeman also just looked the part; his finishing skills at the rim — aside from a missed dunk — and disciplined defense and positioning made life difficult for the Rattlers.
"This year, he's been really aggressive, not really playing like a freshman," Harding said of his classmate. "He's getting better every single time out there."
Obviously, Florida A&M didn't have the personnel to pose much of a challenge for Freeman; only Shannon Grant (all 6'10" and 285 pounds of him) was even close in stature, and Freeman's footwork and verticality made easy work of Grant and the Rattlers' interior defense.
"He was really locked in, and that's not always the case with young big guys," said McCaffery. "He was always in the right place. You have to really anticipate what's coming, or else you're not going to be in the right place. That's what he did today."
It won't be this easy once the Big Ten season starts back up, but Freeman did what he had to do with the opportunity.
2. Brock Harding can BALL. Freeman's Moline classmate Brock Harding dazzled off the bench Saturday, with 10 points (including a pair of three-pointers), two rebounds, two assists, a steal and even a block.
"The starting group got it going early, and that made my job easier," Harding said. "Stuff would break down, and I could see where I was going to get open shots. Pryce [Sandfort] made a good pass to me, I made my first [three-pointer], and just played off that."
Again, though, stats tell an incomplete story, given the high level of some of Harding's plays:
Unlike Freeman, Harding's got a veritable logjam of capable ball-handlers in front of him in the Hawkeye rotation, so Fran McCaffery has the luxury of time to let his dynamic point guard grow into the role from off the bench.
With more plays like that coming, though, it may be a mere matter of time before Harding's level of play is just as difficult to keep out of the starting (or finishing) five as Freeman's.
3. Payton Sandfort looks like the most complete player on the team. In Payton's first game back at Wells Fargo Arena since his Waukee Northwest team won the Iowa state championship in 2019, he scored 13 points with three assists in his 21 minutes of work.
"It was really cool to be back," Payton said. "You might not know from how I started shooting it, but I played 12 games in here. It was really familiar, the sights and smells, everything."
Sandfort kicked off his scoring with a turnaround baseline jumper that was pure from 15, and three of his five made baskets came from inside the arc. He only had one rebound Saturday, but he still leads the team in boards for the season and came into the game second on the team in assists.
Not bad for a "shooter."
Sandfort even had one last gem in him after the game, humorously checking Harding when asked about chirping on the court:
Iowa is now 6-5 (0-2 Big Ten) on the season, with its next game against UMBC on Wednesday, December 20 in Iowa City (7 PM CT, BTN).
