Six Iowa players scored in double figures Monday night as the Hawkeyes overpowered New Hampshire 112-70 in a nonconference matchup at Iowa City.
Payton Sandfort led the way with 15 points and six rebounds for the Hawkeyes (10-3), while reserves Seydou Traore and Cooper Koch each scored 14.
Ladji Dembele added 12 points, while Josh Dix and Pryce Sandfort chipped in 11 points apiece for Iowa, which canned 60.8 percent of its field-goal attempts and turned 18 New Hampshire turnovers into 29 points.
Giancarlo Bastianoni scored a game-high 17 points for the Wildcats (2-13) and Anthony McComb III added 15, but it wasn’t close to being enough for prevent a seventh consecutive loss. Sami Pissis logged 11 points for New Hampshire, which not only ran into turnover trouble but struggled to hit shots, making only 40.6 percent from the field.
The game pretty much played out as most expected. The Hawkeyes came into the night as the seventh-highest scoring team in Division I at 87.8 ppg and wasted little time proving they would put up big numbers against their outmatched America East Conference opponent.
Beginning with Payton Sandfort’s short baseline jumper a minute into the game, Iowa poured on the points. The Hawkeyes’ first double-figure lead came after less than six minutes on Sandfort’s layup that made it 15-4, and the hosts’ fast tempo was too much for the Wildcats to handle.
Iowa led by double figures for the final 31:18, pushing the advantage to 20 for the first time when Payton Sandfort drilled a 3-pointer with 9:37 left in the half to up the margin to 35-15. The lead reached 30 via Riley Mulvey’s dunk with 2:20 remaining until the break and was as high as 32 before the Hawkeyes settled for a 62-33 lead at halftime.
The onslaught continued in the second half as the cushion topped 40 on Even Brauns’ hoop with 7:02 left, making it 99-58. On Iowa’s next possession Traore dunked to give the Hawkeyes 100 points for the third time this season.
A total of 12 players scored for the Hawkeyes, who pushed the advantage up to 48 points with 4:17 remaining.
–Field Level Media
