Iowa men’s basketball: Hawkeyes take down Minnesota Duluth in exhibition win

The Hawkeyes were led by Owen Freeman, Payton Sandfort and Josh Dix. There are high expectations for that trio entering this season. On Friday, they combined for 66 of Iowa’s 102 points on Friday.

Sandfort finished the game with 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Meanwhile, Freeman had 21 points and eight rebounds. Dix had 22 points on an efficient 9-of-12 from the field. He scored 17 of his 22 points in the second half.

Video: Payton Sandfort leads Iowa with 23 points in exhibition win

Payton Sandfort discusses a variety of topics after Iowa’s exhibition win over Minnesota Duluth.

On Friday, Iowa went with a starting lineup of Brock Harding, Josh Dix, Payton Sandfort, Ladji Dembele and Owen Freeman.

Outside of the dominant trio, Ladji Dembele was very good.

Unofficially, Dembele made his first start as a Hawkeye on Friday. He was a role player off the bench as a freshman last season but could be in line for more. On Friday, he had seven points and four rebounds.

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Harding only scored two points on 1-of-7 shooting but dished out six assists.

The Hawkeyes had 10 players get in the scoring column on Friday — Payton Sandfort, Freeman, Dix, Dembele, Harding, Seydou Traore, Cooper Koch, Drew Thelwell, Pryce Sandfort and Even Brauns. 

Pryce Sandfort, Thelwell, Traore, Koch and Brauns combined for 27 points off the bench.

Pryce Sandfort looked decisive in the second half, scoring all 11 of his points after the break.

As expected at this point in the calendar year, Iowa looked like it was still trying to get in rhythm. Uncharacteristically, the Hawkeyes turned the ball over eight times in the first half. Minnesota Duluth was only down by two with less than six minutes left in the first half but Iowa gained some separation to go into the break up by nine.

Iowa came out searing in the second half with a 9-0, quickly ballooning its lead to 18 points. Minnesota Duluth wouldn’t go away, though, as Iowa didn’t make it a total destruction. But the margin still remained in double-digits in favor of Iowa for the remainder of the contest.

Iowa was a very efficient 59% from the field but 32% from deep.

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Video: Owen Freeman has 21 points and eight boards in exhibition win

Owen Freeman discusses a variety of topics after Iowa’s exhibition win over Minnesota Duluth.

Minnesota Duluth, a Division II program, is led by head coach Justin Wieck, who has deep ties to Iowa. A native of North Liberty, Wieck played at both Kirkwood Community College and the University of Iowa. Wieck is now starting his seventh season as the Minnesota Duluth head coach.

Iowa’s regular season tips off against Texas A&M Commerce on Monday, November 4 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. 

Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at ttachman@gannett.com