Iowa surges in second half to overwhelm Northern Illlinois

Ben Krikke recorded 20 points and seven rebounds to help Iowa roll to a 103-74 nonconference victory over Northern Illinois on Friday night at Iowa City, Iowa.

Payton Sandfort added 16 points and seven rebounds, and Dasonte Bowen had 15 points for the Hawkeyes (8-5), who have a three-game winning streak for the first time this season.

Owen Freeman added 12 points, nine rebounds, four steals and three blocked shots as Iowa topped 100 points for the second straight game and the fourth time this season. Pryce Sandfort — the younger brother of Payton — also had 12 points while Tony Perkins contributed 10 points, eight assists and three steals.

David Coit was 6 of 7 from 3-point range while scoring 23 points for the Huskies (6-6), who committed 21 turnovers. Zarique Nutter had 16 points and Philmon Gebrewhit had 11 for Northern Illinois, which has lost five of its last six games.

Iowa shot 50 percent from the field and hit 8 of 25 3-point shots while improving to 10-0 all-time against Northern Illinois. The Hawkeyes committed just seven turnovers.

The Huskies made 46.6 percent of their shots but were a stellar 11 of 18 from behind the arc.

The Hawkeyes outscored North Illinois 49-26 in the second half. The Huskies were just 9 of 31 (29 percent) from the field after halftime.

Iowa held a six-point halftime advantage before scoring the first seven points of the second half.

Payton Sandfort capped that run with a 3-pointer and he scored nine of the Hawkeyes' first 15 points in the half as the lead reached 69-53 with 15:36 left.

Iowa's lead reached 20 for the first time on a fast-break dunk by Josh Dix to make it 76-56 with 13:49 remaining.

Dix also pushed the advantage to 30 for the first time, converting a layup to make it 95-65 with 6:37 remaining.

The lead topped out at 37 points.

Iowa led 54-48 at halftime despite Northern Illinois shooting a sizzling 66.7 percent from the field.

Krikke had 16 in the half for the Hawkeyes, while Coit scored 14 for the Huskies.

Iowa ripped off 13 straight points in one stretch. Krikke capped it with a basket to give the Hawkeyes a 27-15 lead with 12:15 remaining.

The Huskies whittled away from their deficit and pulled within 43-42 on Coit's jumper with 4:14 left. But Iowa scored the next seven points en route to taking the six-point lead at the break.

—Field Level Media