Iowa
Iowa 97, Nebraska 87: Payton Sandfort's Overtime Revenge
Iowa 97, Nebraska 87: Payton Sandfort’s Overtime Revenge
IOWA CITY — Behind a furious second-half comeback and outlasting Nebraska (12-3,2-2) in overtime, Iowa (11-4, 2-2) took the victory over the Cornhuskers, 97-87 on Tuesday night in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Here are three takeaways from the win.
Payton Sandfort: Confirmed Back
After scoring just two points on 1-9 shooting in Iowa’s 116-85 loss to Wisconsin on Friday, Sandfort had a rough first half. Over the first 20 minutes, it looked as though the senior may continue his cold streak, as he started 0-2 with zero points.
“At halftime, I was pretty upset,” Iowa’s second-leading scorer said postgame. “I went into the locker room and acted like I was going to the bathroom, but I read some Bible verses, read some notes to myself. Once I saw one go in [in the second half], I just felt like myself again.”
The first triple he made after the half was a small miracle in itself — and it showed Sandfort that he was ready to break through the rough shooting streak.
“I got a roll off the top of the backboard,” Sandfort smiled. “It seems like ever shot this year has rimmed out. From there I knew I was going. I was like ‘Alright. It’s about time.’”
It was time, indeed. Sandfort proceeded to score 30 points in the second half and overtime, shooting 8-13 in the second half, including going 6-of-9 from three. He earned some pretty high praise from his head coach afterward, too.
“The only thing close to it that I’ve seen, (Jarod) Uthoff had 30 in the first half at Iowa State a couple years ago. More than a couple years ago,” Fran McCaffery said postgame. “He made big shots in the second half that just changed everything.”
McCaffery continued, Sandfort’s scoring was generated without too much of a concerted effort by he and the staff.
“We wanted to get him going, you know, so we tried to run some stuff for him. But the way they play defense, it has to happen naturally,” he said. “You got to move it, you got to push it in transition, he got some there. We did run some stuff for him, so we got some stuff there. But for the most part, you know, we just got to move it, move it, move it and find him.”
Clawed Back
Thanks in part to Sandfort, Iowa rallied back from 15-point deficit with 14:54 left. The Waukee, Iowa native pointed to a lack of defensive effort for the 52-37 Nebraska lead.
“To start the half, we were pretty lax defensively, Sandfort said. “We were making bad plays, turning the ball over.”
McCaffery pushed the team to stay the course.
“Well, there’s plenty of time,” McCaffery said, who remained calm despite trailing by double-digits. “There’s no need to panic, you know, we’ve got a group with great character. They were locked in during the timeout. Obviously we scored the next five, and that changes everything.”
Sandfort relayed a similar message to his head coach.
“I just kind of told everybody, we’re gonna be fine,” he said. “This is game 15, we got more than half the season left. Let’s just relax, let’s change the season right now, and let’s just get gritty. And we got gritty guys, and I think we’ve seen it all season, except for that Wisconsin game. But we really gritted down.”
He pointed beyond his own heroic performance as to how the team pulled off the win.
“Everybody had to contribute, but we stayed together,” he added. “And that’s the mantra, bad teams fall apart when things go bad. And I just tell everybody, if we stay together as a team and block out what everybody’s saying, just be in the room, be present, be where your feet are, then it always turns out all right.”
It almost didn’t turnout alright. After the ferocious comeback and holding a three-point lead with 3.5 seconds remaining, Nebraska’s Brice Williams — who finished with a team-lead 28 points — drilled a buzzer-beating three-pointer to send the game into overtime.
“Right away, we had a chance to get on the floor and get the loose ball,” Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg said postgame. “We didn’t do it, we didn’t get it. And they got out again, and transition was the problem with us.”
The Hawkeyes did get out and get going in OT, outscoring the Cornhuskers 21-11 in the final five minutes. Sandfort was proud of his team’s post-regulation effort.
“Just knowing that we can do it. Especially after what happened at the end of regulation the way that we came together in overtime — it was really player-led, the way that we were talking to each other,” Sandfort said. “The coaches put us in good spots, but the way that we stayed together, the five of us on the floor and the guys on the bench,(3:55)was really what pushed us over the edge. And I hope we know that we can build on that and keep moving forward.”
Don’t Forget Di
Ultimately the win doesn’t happen without the efforts of Dix and Owen Freeman.
Alongside Sandforts 30-point second-half and overtime, Dix put up a team-lead 31 points, including nine points in overtime to help seal the victory. He went 10-14 from the field and 7-10 from the three point line.
“I think Dix is a hell of a player,” Hoiberg said postgame. “I think he’s the most underrated player in this league.”
The statement wasn’t a shock to Sandfort, who has seen Dix develop from a gangly freshman one of the Hawkeyes’ three best players.
“He’s about as good as he gets from a toughness standpoint, from a skill standpoint,” Sandfort said. “Nothing rattles him, nothing makes him excited. He’s just out there playing ball. And the things that he’s battled through, I think, have made him tough and(5:00)made it so that he doesn’t rattle him.”
And Dix played all but 22 seconds of the game. With Drew Thelwell out due to a “tweaked lower leg” injury and Cooper Koch missing the game due to a previously noted medical condition, Dix was forced to play nearly all 45 minutes.
“I’m going to need an ice bath,” Dix joked. “I feel good that we won. My body hurts a little bit, but I’m good.”
“He was exhausted,” McCaffery added. “I mean he played as hard as he could every possession at both ends of the floor — and made phenomenal decisions, made big shots, made big plays. He was really, really special. … Steals, assists, rebounds. That’s who he is.”
Dix’s 31 points paired with Sandfort’s scoring effort resulted in Iowa’s first duo to score 30+ points since Jordan Bohannon and Keegan Murray did the same at Maryland in 2022.
“That’s crazy,” Dix said. “Payton was going crazy in the second half, so we just kept feeding him. In overtime, I got the ball in my hands a little bit more. He also just took over. It was great.”
NEXT: Iowa will face Indiana (12-3, 3-1) in Carver Hawkeye-Arena on Saturday, January 11. The game will be broadcast at 7 pm CST on Fox.
Iowa will host a high-priority official visitor this weekend for the matchup with the Hoosiers.
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The first month of the Iowa high school wrestling season has been filled with scintillating individual performances. Here’s a look at seven standouts who have been racking up bonus points in December.
Drew Anderson (Riverside)
The Class 1A state runner-up last year at 132 is up to 144 this season and he’s 14-0 with 11 technical falls, a pair of pins and a forfeit win. Anderson, a junior in his second season at the school, already owns the Riverside school record for technical falls with 28. Anderson is on pace to more than double the previous Riverside tech record of 23.
Urijah Courter (West Marshall)
Courter won the 2A title last season at 113 after placing third as a freshman at 106. He’s up to 120 this season. Courter is 14-0 this season with 10 pins and two technical falls. His ledger also includes a 6-5 win against Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont’s Simon Bettis in a rematch of last season’s state title bout.
Cooper Hinz (Jesup)
Entering the holiday break, Michigan commit and two-time state medalist Cooper Hinz is 22-0 with 21 wins via pin, technical fall or forfeit. His other victory was a 4-1 overtime decision against returning state placewinner Cain Rodgers of North Fayette Valley. More impressively, all of Hinz’s pins and technical falls have all come in the first period.
Lincoln Jipp (Bettendorf)
Jipp placed fifth at 138, third at 165 and second at 175 in Class 3A during his first three seasons. Now he’s up to 215 — 77 pounds more than where he started his career as a freshman. The North Carolina recruit pinned his way through the prestigious Dan Gable Donnybrook. He’s 16-0 with 10 pins, four technical falls and a forfeit.
Mason Koehler (Glenwood)
The returning 2A champ at 215 is 20-0 with 18 pins and a major decision. His only two matches that went the distance came at the Council Bluffs Classic, where he defeated Nebraska standout Ryan Boehle of Grand Island 14-4 and Minnesota hammer Joe Kruse of Totino-Grace 9-2. The rest of Koehler’s matches this season ended in first-period pins. He has already registered a six-second pin and another in nine seconds this season.
Jaxon Miller (Carlisle)
Miller is a three-time state medalist, a two-time finalist and returning state champ in Class 3A. He placed fourth as a freshman at 145 before making trips to the finals at 157 and 165. He’s 16-0 this season with 13 first-period pins, two technical falls and a forfeit.
Keaton Moeller (Starmont)
Moeller placed third in 1A as a freshman at 145 before winning a state title at 150 as a sophomore. He missed all of last season after suffering a torn ACL in football. Now he’s back as a senior at 190 and Moeller hasn’t missed a beat. He’s 13-0 with five pins, six technical falls and a pair of forfeits. He has yet to wrestle a full period this season.
Iowa High School Premium Rankings
Check out the Iowa High School Wrestling Premium Rankings, which are generated by using an athlete’s complete match history to predict a wrestler’s performance against others in their weight class by considering factors such as win-loss records, the quality of their victories (pins, technical falls, major decisions), the strength of their opponents and overall historical performance patterns. The data is updated every Monday, sourced from the Trackwrestling season results. Since each team is responsible for maintaining their season results, any data discrepancies for a wrestler should be addressed by contacting their coach to manage the information within the season. This includes the weight class assigned. Wrestlers are eligible to be ranked after competing in five matches at a single weight.
is
As No. 14-ranked Iowa women’s basketball (10-2, 1-0 Big Ten) returns from the Christmas break, the Hawkeyes will begin the bulk of their Big Ten slate today as they welcome Penn State (7-5, 0-1 Big Ten) to Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Iowa looks to rebound from its 90-64 loss against No. 1 UConn on Dec. 20, where its sloppy play (26 turnovers leading to 41 UConn points) ultimately proved to be its undoing against the Huskies.
Entering today’s game, sophomore center Ava Heiden leads the team in scoring with 14.6 points per game on 64.4% shooting from the floor, with senior forward Hannah Stuelke (13.4) and sophomore guard Chit-Chat Wright (11.7) also averaging double-figure scoring.
Defensively, Wright leads the team in steals per game with 1.6, while Heiden tops the squad in blocks with 1.2 denials per contest.
As tipoff nears between the Hawkeyes and Nittany Lions, follow along for live updates, the latest score, and highlights of the action:
Hawkeyes are on fire offensively through the first quarter of play (shooting 10-for-16 from the floor), while also dominating the defensive glass (leading 7-2 in defensive rebounds) and keeping Penn State off-synch.
Chit-Chat Wright leads everyone with 12 points on 4-for-4 from the floor, 2-for-2 from 3-point territory, and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line.
Timeout Penn State.
Hawkeyes are on a roll offensively since the Nittany Lions’ appeal, with a 14-0 scoring run that forces a Penn State timeout.
Penn State’s appeal was successful on the foul call, but the shot clock violation on the Nittany Lions still stands.
Nittany Lions retain their timeout.
Timeout Penn State.
The Nittany Lions are appealing the foul call on Gracie Merkle and the ensuing shot clock violation.
Both teams are shooting well to start the game.
On its game day availability report, sophomore Emely Rodriguez remains out. Graduate starting guard Kylie Feuerbach is also “questionable.”
Watch Iowa vs. Penn State
TV: Big Ten Network
Tip-off Time: 3 p.m. CT
Iowa women’s basketball schedule
All times CT
- Nov. 3 vs. Southern: Iowa 86, Southern 51
- Nov. 9 vs. Evansville: Iowa 119, Evansville 43
- Nov. 13 vs. Drake: Iowa 100, Drake 58
- Nov. 16 at Northern Iowa: Iowa 74, UNI 41
- Nov. 20 vs. Baylor (WBCA Showcase in Orlando): Iowa 57, Baylor 52
- Nov. 22 vs. Miami (WBCA Showcase in Orlando): Iowa 64, Miami 61
- Nov. 26 vs. Western Illinois: Iowa 86, Western Illinois 69
- Nov. 30 vs. Fairfield: Iowa 86, Fairfield 72
- Dec. 6 at Rutgers: Iowa 79, Rutgers 36
- Dec. 10 at Iowa State: Iowa State 74, Iowa 69
- Dec. 13 vs. Lindenwood: Iowa 102, Lindenwood 68
- Dec. 20 vs. UConn (Champions Classic): UConn 90, Iowa 64
- Dec. 28 vs. Penn State: Big Ten Network, 3 p.m.
- Jan. 1 vs. Nebraska: Big Ten Network, 1 p.m.
- Jan. 5 at Northwestern: Big Ten Network, 7:30 p.m.
- Jan. 11 at Indiana: Big Ten Network, 4 p.m.
- Jan. 15 vs. Oregon: FS1, 8 p.m.
- Jan. 18 vs. Michigan State: Big Ten Network, 7 p.m.
- Jan. 22 at Maryland: NBC, 5 p.m.
- Jan. 25 vs. Ohio State: Peacock, 1 p.m.
- Jan. 29 at USC: Peacock, 8 p.m.
- Feb. 1 at UCLA: Fox, 3 p.m.
- Feb. 5 vs. Minnesota: Big Ten Network, 6 p.m.
- Feb. 11 vs. Washington: BTN+, 6:30 p.m.
- Feb. 16 at Nebraska: Fox, 11 a.m.
- Feb. 19 at Purdue: BTN+, 6 p.m.
- Feb. 22 vs. Michigan: Fox or FS1, 11 a.m. or 1 p.m.
- Feb. 26 vs. Illinois: Big Ten Network, 8 p.m.
- March 1 at Wisconsin: BTN+, 2 p.m.
- March 4-8 Big Ten Tournament
Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions. Follow Scout on X: @SpringgateNews
Records have fallen, stars have shined and there has also been plenty of heartbreak, heartache and sadness along the way.
Here is a look at some of the top sports stories that made headlines throughout 2025 in Iowa high school athletics.
The Rams swept both the state wrestling duals and traditional team titles in Class 3A this past winter, scoring a state tournament record 259.5 points. They clinched the traditional crown before the final day when Cooper Martinson, Justis Jesuroga, Nico DeSalvo and Eddie Woody all won individual championships.
Down in Class 1A, Don Bosco remained the premier program in the state, winning a seventh consecutive state championship. The Dons, who have claimed 17 titles all-time, also won state duals. Hayden Schwab, Hendrix Schwab, Kaiden Belinsky and Dawson Youngblut were all individual champs.
By winning a third state wrestling championship each last year, Fort Dodge’s Dreshaun Ross and Blake Fox from Osage moved closer to joining the exclusive four-timers club. Ross and Fox will both be going for a fourth individual state wrestling championship this winter.
The Johnston girls basketball team ended last year with a second consecutive Class 5A state championship, besting Dowling Catholic in the finals. The Dragons came into this season having won 52 consecutive games, as Notre Dame commit Jenica Lewis now leads them. In the finals last year, Kelli Kalb scored 13 points and Amani Jenkins grabbed 18 rebounds.
A loaded Valley boys basketball team captured its third consecutive Class 4A state championship this past winter, besting Waukee Northwest in the finals, 61-47. They became just the second 4A team to win three consecutive titles, as Jayden McGregory scored 26, Zay Robinson 15 and Trevin Jirak had 13 with 10 rebounds. McGregory is now headed to Missouri to play football, Robinson entered the transfer portal after playing one season of football at Iowa State and Jirak is at Iowa playing basketball.
Western Dubuque runner and future Oregon Duck Quentin Nauman has been virtually untouchable when it comes to distance running. Back in the spring, Nauman completed the distance triple crown at the Drake Relays, winning the 800, 1,600 and 3,200. He again did the same at state, setting multiple records in the process. In the fall, Nauman won another state cross country title, again setting a meet record.
Ranked as one of the best players in the country for her grade, Sophia Schlader showed why to the rest of Iowa by leading Waukee Northwest to the Class 5A state softball title this past summer. Schlader and the Wolves bested Linn-Mar in the finals, 1-0 in eight innings. The freshman struck out 15 batters, tying her own 5A state mark, as she finished the week with 35 strikeouts. Her 15th K of the finals came with the bases loaded and two outs.
In the span of 24 hours, Pella won the first state baseball championship in program history and first state softball title in school history. The Dutch baseball team did it first, besting Dubuque Wahlert in the Class 3A finals, 3-1, on a game-winning hit by Landyn Bethards. Teagan Hoekstra pitched a complete game, striking out seven. The No. 8 seed in softball, Pella took out No. 1 Cedar Rapids Xavier in the quarterfinals and North Polk in the finals for head coach Katie Banowetz, who was to be married one day later.
Pella’s Marissa Ferebee cemented her own place in the history books, winning a third consecutive Class 3A state cross country championship this past fall. The future Arkansas Razorback also was a state champion in track and field in the spring in the 3,000-meter run. She helped the Dutch earn a fourth consecutive team state cross country title, as well.
The Iowa high school football season was hit hard by a number of forfeits, as teams cited too few of healthy players to compete on the gridiron. One of those was defending eight-player state champion Remsen St. Mary’s, as the Hawks called a game at halftime and sat on the sidelines for multiple weeks to get enough healthy and experienced players ready to continue. Others called the season off entirely or did not even field a varsity team this past fall.
For the first time since the classification was created, someone other than Southeast Polk won the Class 5A title. That somebody? Ten-time state champion Dowling Catholic, as Ian Middleton led the Maroons past Iowa City Liberty, 27-10. Middleton ran for 206 yards and scored two touchdowns on 34 carries in the finals.
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