By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

A lot was made about Payton Sandfort returning to Iowa for his senior season.

Instead, what the Hawkeyes have gotten so far this season is Sandfort times two.

Oh, Payton is getting his points — he’s the Hawkeyes’ leading scorer at 18.5 points per game, and, after becoming the only Iowa men’s player with a triple-double last season, has almost gotten two in the first two games of this season.

The No. 2 scorer for the Hawkeyes is Pryce Sandfort, Payton’s brother who is a sophomore this season. He’s averaging 17.5 points.

“I’m happy to see him out there contributing,” Payton said after Monday’s season-opening 89-67 win over Texas A&M-Commerce in Iowa City. “He’s going to have a huge year.”

He is certainly off to a good start. Pryce had 13 points in Monday’s win, then followed that with a 22-point game in Thursday’s 89-74 win over Southern.

Pryce played in 32 games for the Hawkeyes last season, but averaged just 8.7 minutes. His play is what coach Fran McCaffery expected when he recruited him in high school, when he was Iowa’s Mr. Basketball his senior year at Waukee Northwest High School..

“I think it’s a couple of things,” McCaffery said after Monday’s win. “He’s way stronger than he was. He was a skinny guy last year, got pushed around a little bit. Nobody’s pushing him around now.

“He was always a guy that could play both ends, a very underrated defensive player. Like nobody ever mentioned that when he was in high school, that he was a guy that could guard basically five positions. He did that tonight and blocked a few shots.”

There is a third element to his improvement.

“Being more aggressive in practice helped me regain that confidence, and I just went out and displayed it,” Pryce said. “I’ve just been doing it all offseason, and it was time to do it in a game.”

“I love it when he’s aggressive,” Payton said. “It’s something I had to talk to him about last year. In practice, the whole summer and the fall, he was just great.”

Pryce is already close to matching the numbers he had all of last season. He has 35 points this season after 73 last season, 12 field goals this season to 26 last year, and nine 3-pointers compared to 17 last season.

He was 8-of-10 from the field in Thursday’s win, including 6-of-8 in 3-pointers.

“I’ve been in the zone in practice,” Pryce said. “But in games, it’s been a while.”

“He’s been playing like that since the summer,” McCaffery said. “Consistently shooting the ball well, consistently playing well at both ends. More aggressive, driving the ball, making plays.”

The numbers Pryce put up in high school were a good indication of what was coming next. He averaged 24.9 points and 11 rebounds as a senior, 26.2 points and 10.3 rebounds as a junior.

It’s the level of play Pryce has expected, and now it’s coming true.

“I’ve pictured these moments in my head, all throughout last year and in the offseason,” he said. “Now that it’s here, it feels really good that all that hard work paid off.“

Photo: Iowa’s Pryce Sandfort is coming off a big first week of his sophomore season. (Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire)