Iowa basketball completes foreign tour sweep with 106-79 win over Barcelona All-Stars

Iowa men’s basketball closed out an impressive foreign tour with a 106-79 win over the Barcelona All-Stars on Monday.

Iowa had to play catchup after a slow start. The Hawkeyes got behind early, trailing the Barcelona All-Stars by eight points at the end of the opening quarter and four at halftime.

But Iowa used a huge second-half surge to roll to victory. The Hawkeyes outscored the Barcelona All-Stars 54-23 in the final two quarters.

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Payton Sandfort had 16 points and 14 rebounds. Ben Krikke had 16 points and eight rebounds. Dasonte Bowen had 16 points and three assists.

Freshman Brock Harding contributed 12 points. Sophomore Josh Dix was 4-6 from deep. Payton Sandfort also was 4-9 from deep and had 14 boards.

"If we decide to go small, play (him) at the four position, we're gonna need him to rebound," Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said.

Iowa won its three games of the foreign tour by a combined 109 points. The Hawkeyes scored more than 100 points in each of the three games. The smallest margin of victory was against the Barcelona All-Stars when Iowa won by 27 points.

In the first game, Iowa rolled past the Paris All-Stars 123-77. The Hawkeyes shot 16-40 (40%) from deep during that game. Payton Sandfort and Krikke each had 22 points. Tony Perkins added 19 points and Pryce Sandfort had 13 points.

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The following game, Iowa used a dominant stretch to beat the Valencia All-Stars 119-83. The Hawkeyes outscored the Valencia All-Stars 62-34 during the second and third quarters combined. Payton Sandfort built on his strong first game with a 19-point 11-rebound performance.

While it’s best to take results this time of year with a grain of salt, this was an encouraging trip for a team dealing with a lot of turnover from last season. A big question heading into this season is how the Hawkeyes will fill the production of Kris Murray and Filip Rebraca, who were integral parts of Iowa’s success.

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Iowa has six new scholarship players on the roster — four freshmen and two transfers. Each of those additions contributed in some way during the foreign trip. Among the notable standouts from that group were freshman Owen Freeman and Valparaiso transfer Ben Krikke.

Iowa’s success this upcoming season might hinge on having reliable contributors to help core returners Patrick McCaffery, Perkins and Payton Sandfort. Along with the newcomers, sophomores Dasonte Bowen and Josh Dix are candidates to have important roles. 

"We're really deep," McCaffery said of what he learned about his team during the foreign tour. "We have a lot of different guys that can score. We have an unselfish group. We have great culture."

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