Owen Freeman fuels Iowa to convincing win over New Orleans

Field Level Media|published: Sun 15th December, 16:02 2024

Dec 12, 2024; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Fran McCaffery reacts during the second half against the Iowa State Cyclones at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

Owen Freeman scored 22 points and Brock Harding had 13 points and six assists to lift Iowa to a 104-57 rout of visiting New Orleans on Sunday in Iowa City, Iowa.

After suffering narrow losses to Michigan and No. 3 Iowa State over the past eight days, the Hawkeyes rebounded with a comfortable win. The Hawkeyes (8-3) led by as many as 47 points, shooting 62.7 percent compared to 37.3 percent for the Privateers.

James White paced New Orleans (2-7) with a game-high 24 points to go with six rebounds. MJ Thomas scored 14 points and Jah Short grabbed 11 rebounds.

Payton Sandfort (15 points), Josh Dix (13) and Pryce Sandfort (10) also scored in double figures for the Hawkeyes.

Harding, Dix and Payton Sandfort swished three treys apiece, helping Iowa go 14-for-29 from beyond the arc. The Privateers were 4-for-24.

Freeman asserted himself inside for much of the afternoon, both in the half-court offense and in transition while playing just 19 minutes. Midway through the second half, he stepped in front of a Privateers pass, fed the ball to Drew Thelwell, then finished the fast break with a two-handed alley-oop dunk.

Iowa had 28 assists on 42 made field goals.

Fueled by 67.7 percent shooting, including a 57.9 effort from beyond the arc, Iowa surged to a 57-29 lead at intermission.

Harding set the tone with 13 points on 5-for-5 shooting, including makes on each of his three attempts from deep. Dix followed closely behind, contributing 10 first-half points on 4-for-5 shooting.

New Orleans showed moxie in the opening minute-plus, scoring four straight points after Harding connected on a trey on the first possession of the game. A White layup off a Short steal gave the Privateers their lone lead at 4-3 at the 18:43 mark of the first half.

White had 16 points at the break.

Iowa reserve forward Seydou Traore completed warmups but missed the game with ankle soreness. Injured early in a Nov. 26 rout of South Carolina Upstate, Traore returned to the lineup Thursday, playing 14 minutes against Iowa State.

--Field Level Media