Associated Press

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Payton Sandfort scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to go with seven assists to help Iowa beat Texas A&M-Commerce 89-67 on Monday night in a season opener.

Owen Freeman added 15 points and nine rebounds for Iowa. Pryce Sandfort had 13 points, and Josh Dix and Drew Thelwell scored 10 apiece.

Payton Sandfort shot 7 of 14 from the floor and 4 of 9 from long range. The senior averaged 16.4 points and hit 94 3-pointers last season, third-most in program history.

Khaliq Abdul-Mateen scored 12 points and Scooter Williams Jr. added 11 to lead Texas A&M-Commerce.

The Hawkeyes took the lead for good midway through the first half and led 42-35 at the break. The Sandforts combined for 15 first-half points and three 3-pointers.

The Lions pulled within five points early in the second half before Iowa used a 33-9 run for an 84-55 lead with 3:42 remaining. During the stretch, Pryce Sandfort made two 3s and Freeman scored on an alley-oop dunk.

It was the first meeting between the teams. The Hawkeyes are 10-1 against the Southland Conference and have won 90 of their last 96 nonconference home games dating to 2012.

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AMES – Iowa State women’s basketball player Aili Tanke was walking up the ramp at Hilton Coliseum following Sunday’s practice when she bumped into Cyclones coach Bill Fennelly.

Fennelly, who was getting ready to hop in his car, asked Tanke if she was ready for her first collegiate game on Monday.

“I was like, ‘Yeah’ and he was like, ‘Well, good, because you’re starting,’” Tanke said. “My mouth just dropped. I didn’t even think I said anything.”

Tanke was one of the stars of Iowa State’s first show Monday. The former Johnston standout scored 12 points and grabbed three rebounds as the ninth-ranked Cyclones beat Chicago State 96-56 in their season-opening victory at Hilton Coliseum.

“I thought she was fantastic,” Fennelly said.

Tanke, a 5-foot-11 freshman guard, has been that way ever since she stepped foot on campus. She was impressive in workouts leading up to the season. Tanke then turned in a strong showing by tallying 11 points off the bench in Iowa State’s exhibition win over Central.

Fennelly has praised Tanke’s basketball IQ and ability to be in the right spot at the right time. He also loves the consistency she brings to practice. All that factored into her locking up the last remaining starting spot alongside Audi Crooks, Emily Ryan, Arianna Jackson and Addy Brown.

“She just knows what she can do and I think she’s really comfortable playing with the other four that have a little experience,” Fennelly said.

Tanke got the starting nod over some more experienced players. She said she was shocked when Fennelly broke the news to her on Sunday.

“It kind of felt like a dream,” Tanke said. “I honestly didn’t believe it. Like, I was scared to tell people because I was like, what if I just imagined it?”

It was real, though. And Tanke made the most of the opportunity. She connected on two 3-pointers in Iowa State’s 29-0 run to open the game. When it was all said and done, she shot 4-of-5 from the field including 3-of-4 from 3-point range.

“You’ve got to give her credit,” Fennelly said. “When you’re a freshman and you start in this environment, you never know how it’s going to go, and she played really, really well and really smart. And I thought for her first college game, was one that was really good.”

Addy Brown starts strong in season opener

With most of the attention on Crooks this season, Brown has managed to fly under the radar. The sophomore was one of Iowa State’s top contributors last season but was left off the preseason All-Big 12 team and didn’t garner much of the spotlight during the offseason.

“If we didn’t have Audi Crooks, Addy Brown would get all that attention,” Fennelly said. “She is as skilled and as talented as any player at her position in the country.”

Brown showed off that versatile skillset Monday when she filled the stat sheet with a game-high 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists. More performances like that should generate more attention for Brown, who has used any offseason snubbing to her advantage.

“I kind of like it that way,” Brown said. “I think it motivates me.”

Crooks finished with 16 points and four rebounds.

Fennelly still figuring out minutes and rotations

Fennelly was able to unload his entire bench during the win over Chicago State. That was the plan. Fennelly had planned to not play anyone more than 24 minutes and get at least 13-14 minutes for everyone. It’s his way of giving everyone on the roster opportunities to make compelling cases for playing time.

But with so many players making the most of those chances early on, Fennelly said he isn’t quite ready to start cutting down on playing time. He said playing time will sort itself out as the season goes along and the games get tougher.

“We have a very skilled team,” Fennelly said. “It’s one of the more skilled teams that we’ve had here when you look at one through 12.”

Taulelei nears debut

Iowa State center/forward Lilly Taulelei may be close to making her Cyclones debut. Taulelei, a transfer from UMass, has been dealing with a sprained ankle. She didn’t suit up for Iowa State’s exhibition game or the season opener.

But Taulelei did go through a 45-minute individual workout prior to Monday’s game. Fennelly said she could suit up for Thursday’s game against Indiana State.

“She’s close,” Fennelly said. “That’ll be nice to have another body in the post.”

Tommy Birch, the Register’s sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He’s the 2018, 2020 and 2023 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468

Former President Donald Trump has branded top Iowa pollster Ann Selzer a “Trump-hater”, and described her weekend poll, which put Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of him by 3 points, as “suppression”.

The Republican nominee said that the poll, which showed Harris leading in the Hawkeye state despite Trump winning it last election, should be “illegal”, claiming it was designed to suppress the Republican vote on Election Day.

The poll showed Harris leading Trump by 3 percent in Iowa, giving the Democrat some much-needed momentum in the Midwest as the election comes to a close. The poll, conducted between October 28-31, found that 47 percent of likely voters would choose the vice president if the election were held on the day they were surveyed, while 44 percent of voters said they would choose Trump.

Several of Selzer’s polls have been accurate historically, with correct predictions in the 2008, 2012, and 2016 elections.

However, that didn’t stop Donald Trump from rejecting the numbers, saying on Truth Social over the weekend that the poll was run by “a Trump hater who called it totally wrong the last time.” In 2020, Selzer predicted Trump would win Iowa with 48 percent to President Joe Biden’s 41 percent with the final result turning out at 53.1 percent to 44.9 percent.

At a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Sunday, Trump referenced the poll in his speech, saying: “It’s called suppression. They suppress, and it actually should be illegal.”

The Trump campaign doubled down on these statements, releasing a memo that read: “On Saturday, top Democrats appear to have received early access to an absurd outlier poll of Iowa conducted by The Des Moines Register.

“Not to be outdone, The New York Times arrived right on cue with another set of polling data being used to drive a voter suppression narrative against President Trump’s supporters.

“Some in the media are choosing to amplify a mad dash to dampen and diminish voter enthusiasm. It has not worked. Our voters are like President Trump: they fight.”

In a statement responding to backlash over the surprising numbers, which indicates a potential Harris landslide, Selzer told Newsweek: “These are the kinds of comments seen for virtually any poll, including mine. The Des Moines Register includes a methodology statement with each story they publish.

“It’s the same methodology used to show Trump winning Iowa in the final polls in 2016 and 2020. It would not be in my best interest, or that of my clients—The Des Moines Register and Mediacom—to conjure fake numbers.”

Newsweek contacted The Des Moines Register for a response to the comments via email.

Other polling released over the weekend showed conflicting news, with Harris receiving a boost in the Midwest in the final Sienna College/New York Times poll, which put her ahead in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, and Trump getting solid numbers in the final Morning Consult poll, which put him in the lead for Georgia and Arizona.

Do you have a story we should be covering? Do you have any questions about Kamala Harris and the 2024 election? Contact LiveNews@newsweek.com