OMAHA, Neb. − There isn’t one hard-and-fast conclusion that can be drawn about the Iowa men’s basketball team from Tuesday night’s 92-84 loss at eighth-ranked Creighton.
A lot of positives can be taken out of CHI Health Center, for sure, but ultimately this was the Hawkeyes’ first defeat of the 2023-24 season.
“We don’t really believe in moral victories,” forward Patrick McCaffery said. “We just want to keep pushing.”
Here is what happened, though.
Creighton, which had its top three players in Trey Alexander, Ryan Kalkbrenner and Baylor Scheierman put their pro aspirations on hold to make another bid for a Final Four, exemplified what a good, veteran team does out of the locker room after first-half tie at 43-43.
Iowa, which is integrating six newcomers including four true freshmen into the fold, had to learn a hard lesson about necessary intensity. If the Hawkeyes learn that lesson quickly, they’ll be better for it. And given the makeup of this team, chances are they will.
“The second half, at the beginning, we were a little bit sluggish,” guard Tony Perkins said.
Added forward Ben Krikke: “We knew that we needed to come out and be the aggressors (in the second half), but we weren’t. They punched first.”
Creighton turned a 43-43 tie into an 80-63 lead by scoring 37 points on 19 possessions to open the second half.
“Those are video-game numbers,” 14th-year Creighton coach Greg McDermott said.
The Bluejays made their first 10 shots of the second half, including four 3-pointers. They didn’t make any baskets in the final 6:39. It was one hot stretch that doomed the Hawkeyes, who played pretty darn well in the first 20 minutes and last 10.
Iowa outscored the nation’s eighth-ranked team in their house by nine in those 30 good minutes.
“We have a lot of confidence in our team. It’s disappointing the way that we started the second half. We just didn’t play hard enough,” Iowa junior Payton Sandfort said. “Besides that, the rest of the game was pretty even.”
The Ben Krikke plan is off to an excellent start
Creighton fans inside the CHI Health Center were muttering throughout the first half about Krikke, the fifth-year senior transfer from Valparaiso. Creighton’s defense is constructed to limit opportunities at the 3-point line, but that opens up mid-range jumpers. Iowa dialed that in on the scouting report, and Krikke was up to the task. He canned six of his seven shots, almost all of them from the 15-foot range.
“Yeah, that’s his shot,” Perkins said. “That’s his shot.”
Added McDermott: “Obviously, my plan for Krikke was not a very good plan.”
Krikke would finish with a game-high 24 points on 11-for-18 shooting.
“We knew coming in they were going to have pretty aggressive drop defense with Kalkbrenner,” Krikke said. “We knew the middle would be there, and that guards could attack them off that, too. It was just kind of a byproduct of the scouting.”
Perkins also made a living in the lane, going for 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting to go with six rebounds, three assists and three steals. But Krikke was Iowa’s story of the night.
Although he led the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring a year ago, there was uncertainty how Krikke’s game would translate to the Big Ten Conference level. Well, played before what he said was the biggest crowd he had faced in more than three years, Krikke showed he was up to the task.
He’s not Kris Murray, but he is a left-handed scoring weapon in the frontcourt who looks to be a great fit. So far, Krikke is averaging a team-best 18.3 points a game.
“We looked at a lot of players, and he was the guy we targeted,” head coach Fran McCaffery said. “We were excited to get him because he fits our program in every way. Not only in terms of how he plays the game, how he fits with our style, how he understands the game, but just kind of who he is, how he is in the locker room. And he is everything you want as a coach in terms of work ethic and character and understanding teamwork and commitment to winning.
“My only disappointment is I’m only going to coach him for one year.”
The Iowa youngsters impressed their head coach
McCaffery is rolling with a 10-man rotation this season, including all four true freshmen. Ladji Dembele, Owen Freeman, Brock Harding and Pryce Sandfort combined to play 44 of Iowa’s 200 minutes. Led by Freeman’s eight second-half points, they provided a spark that inspired the starters to match their intensity at the finish. As a result, Iowa cut the Creighton lead to 89-84 with just over a minute to go.
Freeman probably would’ve played more if not for two fouls in four first-half minutes. Sandfort (two points) played better in the second half than the first. Dembele provided a spark, draining both 3-pointers he attempted and totaling eight points. Harding didn’t score but had three assists.
“I wanted to get 10 guys playing time. We were able to do that,” Fran McCaffery said. “The young guys were able to get some quality minutes and execute and get the opportunity to play through their mistakes.
“At the end of the day, those four guys didn’t play like freshmen. That’s not surprising to me, quite frankly.”
Freeman is averaging 10.0 points a game in just 13.6 minutes. He looks like a potential force as McCaffery continues to refine his rotation. And it’s telling that, as a team, Iowa has 70 assists and 20 turnovers (including 20 and seven Tuesday) and is shooting 49.8% from the floor (including 50% Tuesday). That wouldn’t be happening without the way the freshmen have played in their opportunities.
Payton Sandfort ‘blacked out for a second’
Sandfort was targeted by Creighton’s defense, according to McDermott, who was happy to limit Iowa’s streakiest and best outside shooter to just seven field-goal attempts.
But another reason for Sandfort’s limited production (11 points) was limited playing time, both in terms of foul trouble and injuries.
With 9:58 left in the first half, Sandfort picked up his second foul. He didn’t make a field goal the rest of the game.
“It’s really hard when you’re out for that long. But I’ve got to be smarter,” Sandfort said. “I can’t get in that situation. It took me out of my game for sure.”
And then with 13:55 left, Sandfort missed a 3-pointer and was trying to keep alive a rebound when he crashed hard to the floor.
“I took a beating,” Sandfort said afterward, his left shoulder wrapped in ice.
About the fall, he said he didn’t remember much.
“I remember I went up for my own rebound and dove for it and blacked out for a second,” Sandfort said. “I went through some tests. I’ll be all right.”
Trainer Brad Floy and team doctors cleared Sandfort but McCaffery said, “I was really close to not putting him back in.”
With Iowa hosting Arkansas State on Friday, Sandfort could probably sit a game if he needs to get right ahead of a Thanksgiving tournament in San Diego, with an initial game against Oklahoma.
Down 89-84, Sandfort had a 3-pointer with 43 seconds left from the left corner come up well short. He said he got fouled on the play, but there was no call.
“We still thought we had a chance,” Perkins said. “Payton shot a 3, I don’t know if I was a foul or not. If he got fouled, that would’ve helped us.”
“Disappointed” was a word Iowa players used a lot, but …
When all was said and done, there was more to feel good about than bad about from this litmus-test game.
Outside of Purdue and maybe Michigan State (to be determined), the Hawkeyes won’t face a tougher team all regular season. And they showed others and themselves that they can compete. The offense has firepower. The defense has potential but needs to avoid the type of meltdown that occurred early in the second half. The freshmen were feisty, and sophomores Dasonte Bowen and Josh Dix clearly have taken steps forward. Iowa finished with 20 assists against seven turnovers.
“I feel great about our team,” Perkins said. “We’ve got young players who can produce.”
Added Krikke: “Obviously a super frustrating loss, but lots to learn. I’m optimistic. We’ll get together in practice and figure out what we need to figure out and tighten some things up defensively.”
Yes, opponents will adjust to seeing how Krikke is being used and copy how Creighton handled Payton Sandfort. No, this team isn’t going to be a pushover on many nights.
“Proud of the way our young guys played and how we came out fighting and finished fighting,” Sandfort said. “But we’ve got to have a greater sense of urgency the whole 40 minutes. If we can do that, we’ll have a good team.”
Hawkeyes columnist Chad Leistikow has covered sports for 29 years with The Des Moines Register and USA TODAY Sports Network. Join Chad’s text-message group (free for subscribers) at HawkCentral.com/HawkeyesTexts. Follow @ChadLeistikow on Twitter.