College Basketball- The men’s basketball teams for Iowa and Iowa State have certainly enjoyed the spoils of last week’s matchups with both squads earning wins in overtime and now the Cyclones being ranked 2nd in the top 25. For their trouble, a couple players earned Conference Player of the Week Honors.
Big Ten
Payton Sandfort, who also eared the Dick Vitale National Player of the Week, will have to share the spotlight with Michigan’s Vladislav Goldin as Co-Big Ten Player of the Week, but the Waukee native will certainly enjoy his second weekly honor of his career.
The Hawkeyes played Nebraska last Tuesday under the theme of Superhero Night and Iowa clearly needed a hero as the squad trailed by 15 points in the second half. That’s when Sandfort took over the game, scoring 30 points between the second half and overtime to score the 97-87 win.
He followed that performance with 23 points in a dominant 85-60 win over Indiana. It was his sixth 20-point game of the season.
The Hawkeyes will face off against USC on the road tomorrow, January 14th, with the game scheduled to start at 9:30 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM will have the call.
Big 12
The #2 Cyclones had two players earn Big 12 weekly awards as Curtis Jones was named Player of the Week and Joshua Jefferson took home Newcomer of the Week.
The duo helped Iowa State produce two wins as Jones averaged 24.5 points per game for their two contests without turning over the ball, while Jefferson netted 17 points in each game, including the layup to send their contest against Texas Tech into overtime and the eventual game-winning free throws.
The Cyclones will need the duo to show up against #9 Kansas on Wednesday, January 15th, in front of the home crowd with tip-off scheduled for 6 pm. KILJ 98.5 FM and AM 1130 will have the broadcast.