“I just caught it and threw it up there,” Sandfort breaks shooting slump and couldn’t miss

IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) - In a two-game stretch Payton Sandfort went 0-12 with zero points in two losses, but his coach never lost faith.

“He was way too hard on himself,” Fran McCaffery said. “He’s not gonna trust himself if the coach doesn’t trust him. I say that all the time ‘just trust your talent, I trust you I’m gonna keep running stuff for you.’”

Those days feel long forgetten. The sophomore is averaging nearly 20 points on 56 percent shooting in three games against Indiana, Rutgers and Michigan.

“Now I’m back in a groove at practice i think everybody around me knew it was gonna click at some point,” Sandfort said. “I’m just really proud of myself for sticking with it glad we got here.”

His teammates feed off their sophomore shooter.

“When he hits big threes everyone smiles everyone congratulates him,” said junior Kris Murray. “He just brings a different type of energy that our team feeds off of.”

Two weeks after he couldn’t hit a shot., he couldn’t’ seem to miss against Michigan he couldn’t seem to miss. Like his putback in overtime after Kris Murray airballed a three-pointer.

“I had to force that one up and Payton was right place right time that just shows the awareness that he has on the court,” Murray said. “I don’t even know if he saw the basket honestly.”

“I knew the shot clock was low so I just kinda caught it and threw it up there,” Sandfort said on the shot. “I’ll take the points.”

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