Iowa’s Owen Freeman takes unprompted shot at Mackenzie Mgbako after beating IU basketball

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IOWA CITY, Iowa — Iowa basketball sophomore forward Owen Freeman had something he needed to get off his chest after a 85-60 win over Indiana basketball on Saturday night.

Freeman had 16 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks — three of those came early in the second half as the Hawkeyes pushed their lead to 20 points — and outplayed IU’s big man Oumar Ballo.

After taking questions from reporters, he made it clear he wasn’t happy about sharing last year’s Big Ten Freshman of the Year award with IU forward Mackenzie Mgbako.

“It was never co-freshman of the year,” Freeman said. “I’m just going to make that apparent.”

More: IU basketball vs. Iowa player ratings: Hoosiers ‘dominated in every phase’ in ugly loss

Owen Freeman, at the end of his media availability after Iowa’s blowout win over Indiana:

“It was never Co-Freshman of the Year.”

He shared the award with Indiana’s Mackenzie Mgbako last season. pic.twitter.com/23NFiaMSXa

— Eliot Clough (@EliotClough) January 12, 2025

They shared Freshman of the Year honors as voted on by the league’s coaches (Freeman was the solo winner from the media) as a nine-time Big Ten freshman of the week (second most in history). He averaged 10.6 points per game while leading the team in rebounds (6.6 per game) and blocks (1.8 per game).

Mgbako averaged 12.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists last season as a full-time starter. He shot a team-high 82% from the free-throw line and 1.5 made 3-pointers.

He was a non-factor for the Hoosiers in Saturday’s loss with six points (2 of 6) and six rebounds in just 16 minutes. Indiana coach Mike Woodson pulled off the court for an extended rest less than three minutes into the second half and he subbed out for good with 9:05 to go.

Mgbako had the first scoreless game of his collegiate career in IU’s previous game.

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/iowas-owen-freeman-takes-unprompted-042445938.html

Author : The Herald-Times

Publish date : 2025-01-12 04:24:00

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