Tony Perkins scored 23 points and Brock Harding, Ben Krikke, and Payton Sandfort each notched double-doubles to help Iowa cruise past visiting Maryland, Baltimore County 103-81 on Wednesday in Iowa City, Iowa.
Fighting through early inconsistency, the Hawkeyes (7-5) pulled away from the Retrievers (5-9) to win their second straight game.
UMBC’s Dion Brown and Khydarius Smith had 23 and 20 points, respectively. The duo combined to go 17-for-28 from the floor, but it wasn’t enough as the Retrievers lost their fourth in a row.
Iowa led by as many as 28 points while shooting 50 percent compared to 46.4 percent for UMBC. An effective floor game lifted the Hawkeyes, who forced 15 turnovers while committing just four and had 33 assists on 42 made field goals. The Hawkeyes finished plus-11 in rebounds.
Sandfort had 18 points and 10 rebounds, Krikke chipped in 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Harding had 10 points, 12 assists, and four steals, a total Perkins matched.
The Hawkeyes made just six of their 23 attempts from beyond the arc, with Sandfort contributing four of those makes. Patrick McCaffery (14 points) and Sandfort each connected from deep in the first 1:17 of the second half to help the Hawkeyes maintain control after a strong spurt to close the first half.
UMBC hung around for much of the first 20 minutes. Sparked by a layup and jumper from Smith, the Retrievers scored six straight points to take a 26-21 lead with eight minutes remaining before halftime.
The Hawkeyes responded, scoring 29 of the game’s next 39 points to take a 50-36 lead into halftime.
Perkins (12 points) and Krikke (10) reached double figures by the break, while Sandfort and McCaffery weren’t far behind with eight apiece.
Marcus Banks led the Retrievers with five rebounds.
Iowa improved to 6-1 at home this season.
–Field Level Media