Iowa catches fire in second half, coasts past Indiana

With 23 points, Payton Sandfort was one of five scorers in double figures for Iowa on Saturday night, helping the Hawkeyes pull away for an 85-60 victory over Indiana in Iowa City, Iowa.

Owen Freeman dominated inside and collected 16 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots for Iowa (12-4, 3-2 Big Ten), while Drew Thelwell and Josh Dix each added 12 points. Brock Harding contributed 10 points and 10 assists.

Myles Rice scored 12 points to pace the Hoosiers (13-4, 4-2), who had a five-game winning streak snapped. Oumar Ballo added 10 points and 13 rebounds but also committed four of Indiana's 16 turnovers that Iowa cashed in for 24 points.

The Hawkeyes converted 54.2 percent of their field-goal attempts, including 11 of 24 from beyond the 3-point line. They also held a 37-31 advantage on the glass and carved out a whopping 26-2 edge in fastbreak points.

Indiana struggled badly in the second half, sinking just 11 of 34 shots from the floor to finish the night at 40.7 percent. Mackenzie Mgbako, who entered the week averaging 14.1 points per game, was held scoreless in a Wednesday night win over Southern California and managed only six points on 2-of-6 shooting against Iowa.

Iowa led 43-33 at the break on Saturday and wasted little time putting the game away in the second half. Thelwell converted two foul shots with 17:06 left to cap an 11-3 burst that put the hosts ahead 54-36. The margin grew as high as 30 on Sandfort's 3-pointer with 1:39 remaining.

The Hawkeyes got off to a fast start in the first half, ripping off 15 straight points for a 15-4 lead at the 14:21 mark. Iowa was up by 13 before the Hoosiers rattled off an 18-2 run for a 26-23 edge that came thanks to Ballo's dunk with 7:17 remaining.

However, Iowa soon regained control with 16 unanswered points in a span of 4:47. Thelwell's layup capped the outburst and made it 41-28 Hawkeyes with 1:25 on the clock, and Iowa was not threatened after that.

--Field Level Media