Iowa pulls away from pesky Texas A&M-Commerce in opener

Five players scored in double figures Monday night and Iowa pulled away from Texas A&M-Commerce in the second half for an 89-67 season-opening win in Iowa City.

Payton Sandfort stuffed the stat sheet for the Hawkeyes with 20 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Owen Freeman added 15 points and nine rebounds, while Pryce Sandfort came off the bench to tally 13 points.

Josh Dix and Morehead State transfer Drew Thelwell each chipped in 10 points as Iowa canned nearly 46 percent of its field goals. The Hawkeyes also forced 24 turnovers and blocked 10 shots, getting three each from Freeman and Payton Sandfort.

Khaliq Abdul-Mateen scored 12 points for the Lions and Scooter Williams Jr. added 11 points plus four assists. Texas A&M-Commerce sank 46.8 percent from the field but was outscored 15-2 at the foul line.

Iowa led 51-46 with 14:47 remaining in the game after TJ Thomas converted a three-point play for the Lions. But Freeman hit a layup that started a game-breaking 13-0 run for the Hawkeyes.

Texas A&M-Commerce came in lightly regarded, tabbed to finish 10th in the 12-team Southland Conference. But it gave Iowa a good fight in the first half, using good shooting and decent rebounding to make up for problems in ballhandling. The Lions led as late as the 8:30 mark of the first half after Evan Phelps converted a layup to make it 18-17.

The Hawkeyes took the lead for good moments later via Thelwell's layup but couldn't make the big run for the half's remainder. The margin reached seven at one point but Texas A&M-Commerce drew within 38-35 with 1:26 remaining on a 3-pointer by Yusef Salih.

Iowa was able to get two foul shots each from Freeman and Pryce Sandfort in the final 1:06 to earn a 42-35 advantage at halftime.

--Field Level Media