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.

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.”

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.”

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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