OMAHA – Ben Krikke paced Iowa with 24 points but it wasn’t enough as Iowa put up a good show against #8 Creighton in a road game losing effort, 92-84/
Iowa (2-1) and Creighton (3-0) were tied 43-43 at halftime in a bank-and-forth affair to open things up.
Krikke led the Hawkeyes with 24 points – his first 20 point game as a Hawkeye and third straight double-digit contest. He made four of his first five field goals and 7-of-9 attempts in the first half, scoring 16 points. He finished with season highs in points, field goals (11) and field goal attempts (18).
Krikke is the third different Hawkeye to reach the 20-point mark this season (Patrick McCaffery, Payton Sandfort).
Iowa had four players finish in double figures (and six players score at least eight points).
Tony Perkins scored a season-high 16 points, tied for the team-high with six rebounds and had three steals.
The team has had at least four players in double digits in all three contests.
The Hawkeyes finished with 20 assists on its 34 field goals – its third straight game with 20+ assists.
Iowa had seven turnovers – its third straight game with seven or fewer turnovers.
The Hawkeyes closed the game on a flurry, making 9-of-11 field goals over an eight-minute stretch, trimming a 17-point deficit to five points with 1:26 to play.
Creighton made its first 10 field goals in the second half and 15 of its 17 field goals, including five 3-pointers, in the first 11 minutes of the second half.
The Bluejays had a 19-5 advantage in fast-break points and a 32-19 advantage in bench points.
The Hawkeyes are 147-30 under head coach Fran McCaffery when scoring 80 or more points.
It is just the 17th loss under McCaffery when shooting at least 50 percent from the field.
The Hawkeyes return to Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Friday, hosting Arkansas State at 7 p.m. (CT). The game will be streamed on B1G+.
