IOWA CITY -- Despite three late possessions with an opportunity to win or tie the game, Iowa (14-12, 5-10) dropped a home contest to Oregon (19-8, 8-8) on Wednesday night, 80-78.
The combined efforts of Payton Sandfort and Josh Dix once again kept the Hawkeyes within reach, and Even Brauns stepped up for a career night at Iowa, but the Ducks held off Iowa for the Hawkeyes' eighth loss in ten games.
Here are three takeaways from the defeat.
Even Brauns Career Night
Arguably the star of the evening, Brauns played his best ball yet for the Hawkeyes on Wednesday night. The Iowa City West product put up 15 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field and 7-of-9 shooting from the free throw line. He added three rebounds and two blocks.
The scoring effort was his highest point total since scoring 18 points for Belmont against Illinois State on Feb. 4, 2022.
"Credit to my teammates for just helping me get good looks," Brauns said following the loss. "I'm not known as a guy who's going to give you a ton of points, but I took what they gave me. The coaches instill a lot of confidence in me, so that helps a lot."
Head coach Fran McCaffery commended Brauns for his continued effort and the way he has stepped up in the absence of starting big man, Owen Freeman, who is set to miss the remainder of the season following surgery on his finger.
"He was aggressive," McCaffery said of Brauns. "That's what I've been trying to get him to do. In his defense, he needs more minutes to do that, but he has it in him. He was terrific tonight. I'm really proud of him."
Brauns, who repeatedly put the ball on the deck and took it to the hole, went to the free throw line at a much higher clip than normal, and may have looked a bit more like he did during his days at Belmont -- where he started his college basketball career. A stalwart in the middle of the Bruins defense, Brauns went from playing 20+ minutes a night to putting up 1.1 points in 4.2 minutes per game this season prior to Freeman's injury.
"It's been hard to keep confidence, honestly," he said of his start to the 2024-25 season. "It's hard going from playing 25 minutes a game to playing two. But I'm just thankful that a lot of people believe in me. I was never going to quit. I showed up every day ready to go. And so, I'm just glad it paid off."
For all of Brauns' efforts on the court against the Ducks, McCaffery emphasized that the former mid-major center has provided more than just his on-court presence in his time with the Hawkeyes.
"He's an amazing young guy," McCaffery said. "He just has character through and through. He had every right to be frustrated with his playing time. We had some other guys ahead of him. But he just keeps plugging away. He comes to practice and works as hard as he can."
Though it was in a losing effort, Brauns' performance felt like a long time coming to the Hawkeyes -- and Iowa will continue to lean on him going forward.
"He's smart, and he knows what we're doing," McCaffery said. "I really encouraged him -- in particular, when Owen went out -- to be aggressive like that. Drive the ball. Go in and dunk the ball. Fly around, fly at the glass. Because he's got tremendous athletic ability. We all know that. We saw that in high school. So that gives us another weapon moving forward."
Two-Man Show
Yet again, despite the losing effort, Dix and Sandfort exhausted every bit of energy to attempt to lead Iowa to victory. Sandfort put up 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting, along with five rebounds and five assists. Dix poured in 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting and added two assists and two steals.
Dix played all 40 minutes, while Sandfort was on the court for 35 minutes. For the pair of scorers, it's just the latest iteration of a let-down this season.
"I feel bad for them," McCaffery said. "But [they had] really amazing performances, considering how they were guarded. It's just disappointing how that continues."
"We battled," Dix added. "This is a tough loss for sure."
Two of the elite scorers in the Big Ten, Sandfort and Dix have continued to put up big numbers, despite the myriad of losses the Hawkeyes have incurred in what's largely been a disappointing season.
"They're both pretty level-headed, competitive guys, so they're just going to keep coming, and that's the message to them," McCaffery said. "'I'm sure there's a level of frustration there. ... Payton is a competitor, Josh is a competitor. Those two guys are going to keep coming. They're going to keep leading in the locker room. That's why I love them both."
Three Chances
In the final minute, the Hawkeyes had three separate opportunities to score and take the lead or tie the game.
With 40 seconds remaining, Sandfort had a layup go halfway down and pop out that would have tied the game at 76.
"I thought Peyton's was going in," Dix said after the game.
After an Iowa foul and two made free throws by the Ducks, the Hawkeyes got a quick, final bucket from Brauns who went to the cup and laid in an easy two to make the score 80-78.
Following the ensuing inbound, Oregon point guard Jackson Shelstad fumbled the ball out of bounds, giving the Hawkeyes the opportunity for a final shot with just over 12 seconds to play.
Dix caught the inbound pass on the far side, dribbled around the Ducks defense for what looked to be a bunny of a layup -- only for it to also rim out.
"I thought it was going in," Dix said. "Those are looks we'll live with. We'll make them next time for sure."
On the rebound, the ball bounced off Oregon and Iowa retained possession with less than five seconds to play.
Dix's final shot attempt came with one second on the shot clock, as he came off a Sandfort screen and received the hand-off from Brauns. The Council Bluffs native took a dribble with his left hand, stepped back to create separation and attempted to launch a three-pointer from the top of the key before it was tipped by Oregon center, Nathan Bittle.
The block was clearly the most important play of the night for the Ducks, who received 21 points, 10 rebounds and three swats from their starting big man.
"I probably should have shot it right when I got the ball," Dix said in the postgame presser. "I was happy with the layup I took, but yeah."
McCaffery was also content with the shot, though it was a difficult one.
"It just was tough to get off," he said. "I'm not sure if he fumbled it for a second or if he didn't catch it cleanly. Because he took the step back, I think, to gather. Now you've got a seven-footer closing out on you, so it's a little different. He was open right away. I don't think he was going for three, you'd have to ask him. I don't think he was being greedy. I think he was gathering."
NEXT: The Hawkeyes will take on Washington (13-12, 4-10) in Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Saturday at 3 pm CT. The game will be broadcast on FS1.
