Iowa men’s basketball begins foreign tour with 123-77 win against Paris All-Stars

Iowa basketball got off to a strong start in its foreign tour, demolishing the Paris All-Stars 123-77 on Tuesday.

Iowa stuffed the box score. The Hawkeyes shot 41-81 (50.6%) from the floor, including 16-40 (40%) from deep. They were led in scoring by Payton Sandfort and Ben Krikke, who each had 22 points. Tony Perkins had 19 points, five assists and four steals. Freshman Pryce Sandfort had 13 points.

Freshman Brock Harding had six assists to zero turnovers, along with 10 points. Sophomores Dasonte Bowen and Josh Dix each had eight points. Belmont transfer Even Brauns had seven points and eight rebounds.

“Krikke was tremendous, I thought Even was great, as well,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “He had seven (points) and eight (rebounds). Great job by him, I thought he was physical defensively. So was Ben.”

Two of the main blemishes were turnovers and fouls, though that isn't too surprising given how far away the start of the regular season is.

Iowa continues its foreign tour with two more games: Aug. 11 vs. Valencia All-Stars (noon CT) and Aug. 14 vs. Barcelona All-Stars (noon CT).

As a disclaimer, it’s probably easy to overreact — one way or the other — in games like this. But there is still so much time left before the regular season begins, so take Tuesday’s developments with a grain of salt. That being said, here are some thoughts on Tuesday’s game.

Ben Krikke looks the part

Iowa’s frontcourt, which struggled with depth last season, lost some really important pieces during the offseason. Kris Murray and Filip Rebraca carried a bulk of the load in the frontcourt last season. But now Murray is off the NBA and Rebraca just signed to play in Serbia. Beyond those two, Josh Ogundele, who played a limited role last season, left the Iowa program, as well.

That meant Iowa’s frontcourt needed major reloading for the 2023–24 season. The Hawkeyes brought in freshmen Owen Freeman and Ladji Dembele, along with Brauns to help bolster the frontcourt. 

But what might prove to be the biggest offseason addition is Valparaiso transfer Ben Krikke. Krikke was a coveted transfer in the portal for good reason. The 6-foot-9 forward led the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring last season at 19.4 points per game while shooting nearly 80% from the free-throw line.

On Tuesday, Krikke finished with 22 points on 8-of-16 from the field and 10 rebounds. He also had three steals and one block.

If he can be this reliable presence, the importance is twofold. After losing its top two scorers this offseason — Murray and Rebraca — Iowa needs someone to put the ball in the basket. And two, Iowa needs holes to be filled in the frontcourt.

On Tuesday, Krikke provided both. It is a nice start to game action in his Iowa career.

Iowa shoots 40% from deep

For a program with a history of being a high-level 3-point shooting team, last season was underwhelming. The Hawkeyes shot just 34% as a team last season. That’s a far cry from the 38.6% Iowa shot during the 2020-21 season.

On Tuesday, Iowa shot 16-40 (40%) from deep. Payton Sandfort shot 4-of-8 from deep. His younger brother, Pryce, shot 3-of-8 from deep. Perkins was 2-of-2. Bowen and Dix combined to shoot 4-of-9. Harding was 2-of-8.

This is a good sign, but obviously, these types of percentages can fluctuate on a game-to-game basis. It’ll be interesting to see if the Hawkeyes can sustain something close to that number for the remainder of this foreign tour.

Two of Iowa’s top three players in total 3-pointers made last season are gone (Murray and Connor McCaffery). Payton Sandfort was second in that category, though he shot 34.3%. Iowa not only needs shooters to step up, but to do so at a more efficient rate than last season.

Cleaning up fouls and turnovers

Following Tuesday’s win, Fran McCaffery emphasized the importance of limiting fouls and turnovers.

The Hawkeyes committed 21 turnovers and 21 fouls.

“Number one, I thought we fouled too much,” McCaffery said. “I think that’s a function of understanding how the game is officiated over here. But don’t put them on the free-throw line. Make them make tough twos. The other thing was, we had too many turnovers. Now that was corrected in the second half.”

Given it’s still August, that Iowa was a little sloppy on both sides of the court isn’t too concerning. The roster influx from last season suggests this group is still learning to play with each other. Using this trip as a way to do so it isn't a bad thing, either.

Freshman Owen Freeman grabs 15 boards

Along with Murray and Rebraca being Iowa’s two leading scorers last season, they were also the team’s leading rebounders. It’s another ripple effect of their departures that Iowa will have to deal with this upcoming season. 

That’s why Freeman’s 10 points, 15 boards, three blocks and three steals are especially notable. Here’s an impressive stat for many accounts: of Iowa’s 25 offensive rebounds, nine came from Freeman.

A 3-star recruit in high school, Freeman is one of the wild cards on this Iowa roster. It might be too much to ask for Iowa’s frontcourt to be better than last season, but it’s not too much to ask it to be deeper. It will likely take more than Krikke to hold down Iowa’s frontcourt. Who else can step up? Perhaps it’s the 6-foot-11 Freeman. Or Brauns. Or Dembele. 

On top of that, Freeman flashed his ability to run the floor. During one sequence, Harding and Freeman, who both attended Moline High School in Illinois, showed off their connection. Harding caught an outlet pass, initiating a 2-on-1 fast break. He then lobbed the ball off the backboard, which Freeman, who was trailing slightly to the side, caught and threw down for a two-handed slam.