Iowa men stay hot

EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Josh Dix scored a career-high 24 points, Payton Sandfort added 23 and Iowa beat Northwestern 87-80 Saturday night.

Dix made 9 of 13 from the field and 4 of 5 from 3-point range. Sanfort finished 7-of-14 shooting, 4 of 8 from behind the arc, with six assists and five rebounds. Ben Krikke scored 12 points and Tony Perkins had 10 points and 14 assists for Iowa (18-12, 10-9 Big Ten).

Boo Buie led Northwestern (20-9, 11-7) with 27 points and seven assists while shooting 9 of 13 from the field and 6 of 7 from 3-point range. Brooks Barnhizer scored 20 points, Nick Martinelli 17 and Blake Smith 11.

Buie hit a 3-pointer that made it a one-possession game with 1:42 left, but Sandfort answered with a three-point play to make it 80-74 33 seconds later. It was at least a two-possession game the rest of the way.

Iowa shot 55% overall, made 10 of 20 from 3-point range and finished with 25 assists on 33 made field goals.

Dix hit a 3-pointer before Krikke made a layup and Sandfort added two free throws to make it 48-41 with 15:31 to play, matching the largest lead by either team to that point. Buie made a layup that trimmed Northwestern’s deficit to four about two minutes later. Dix hit two foul shots, Sandfort followed with a 3 and Perkins hit a fadeaway in the lane to give the Hawkeyes a 59-48 lead with 11:22 remaining.

Buie hit two 3-pointers 32 seconds apart to cap a 12-4 spurt that pulled the Wildcats within three with 8 minutes to go. Barnhizer made a 3 with 5:43 left that made it 67-65, but Krikke answered with two free throws before Owen Freeman and Sandfort made back-to-back layups and Northwestern got no closer.

Northwestern retired the first jersey in the university’s history at halftime when the Wildcats honored Billy McKinney by lifting his No. 30 into the rafters. McKinney, a 6-foot point guard, played at Northwestern from 1973-77 and finished as the program’s all-time leading scorer with 1,900 career points, a mark that would stand for 35 years. He went on to play seven seasons in the NBA.

Iowa is off until March 10, when the Hawkeyes wrap up the regular season at home against Illinois. Northwestern visits Michigan State on Wednesday before it plays host to Minnesota in a regular-season finale on Saturday.