By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Payton Sandfort found solace away from his teammates in Iowa’s locker room at halftime.

Sandfort felt the need to disappear after barely appearing in the first half of Tuesday’s game against Nebraska at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Oh, he had been on the court … for 10 minutes and 7 seconds. But the Iowa senior had taken just two shots, missing them both. He had two fouls, one rebound, zero points.

And this was after Sandfort’s worst game of the season in Iowa’s worst game of the season on Friday at Wisconsin, when he made just 1 of 9 shots and finished with two points.

It’s why Sandfort went to the back of the locker room to compose himself with the Hawkeyes down three points to the Huskers at halftime.

“I was pretty upset,” Sandfort said. “I went in, acted like I was going to the bathroom. I just went back and read some Bible verses, read some notes to myself.”

Messages received, Sandfort went out and spent the next 25 minutes snapping the net at the north basket while galvanizing his teammates to produce one of the biggest comebacks in program history.

Iowa’s 97-87 win over the Huskers was a product of Sandfort and his teammates understanding the concept of time — the minutes and seconds on the clocks above them on the court, the days and games remaining on their schedule.

This was a win the Hawkeyes (11-4 overall, 2-2 Big Ten) needed. They had played 40 awful minutes in Friday’s 116-85 loss at Wisconsin, and in a little more than 25 minutes of this game had moments of good basketball, but were now seeing another game slipping away.

This was the Hawkeyes’ 15th game of the season, basically the halfway mark. This was their fourth game in the 20-game tornado that is the Big Ten season, but they couldn’t afford another slip down the now-expanded 18-team standings.

It’s why, when coach Fran McCaffery called a timeout with 14:53 left and the Hawkeyes trailing 52-37, Sandfort looked at his teammates in the huddle and said, “Let’s change the season right now.”

Fifty-one seconds later, Sandfort hit his first field goal, a 3-pointer. He was on his way to scoring all 30 of his points in the second half and in overtime.

“Once I saw one go in, I felt like myself again,” Sandfort said. “I was at peace.”

“Payton was going crazy in the second half,” said guard Josh Dix, who had his own craziness with 31 points.

Sandfort’s 3-pointer started a quick five-point burst — Owen Freeman would score inside a minute later — and Nebraska’s lead was 10 points.

Fifteen points can feel like looking from the bottom of a canyon, especially considering the way the Hawkeyes had been playing.

Ten points suddenly felt manageable.

“There was no need to panic,” McCaffery said. “We’ve got a group with great character.”

“Everybody had to contribute, but we stayed together,” Sandfort said. “And, you know, that’s the mantra. Bad teams fall apart when things go bad. And I just tell everybody, if we stay together as a team, and block out what everybody’s saying, just be in the room. Be present, Be where your feet are, then it always turns out all right.”

It was a message the Hawkeyes had embraced since getting back from Wisconsin. They knew, Sandfort said, what some of those in the fan base were saying after the embarrassment in Madison.

Again, it’s the concept of understanding time, in this case the number of days on the calendar and games left.

“It felt like everybody thought the world was ending, when we lost to Wisconsin,” Sandfort said. “But everyone in that locker room, as a team, we stayed connected, and that’s why I’m so proud of everybody. You look at the outside world, I think everyone pretty much gave up on us.”

The social media barkers were at full yap early and often in this game, but what the Hawkeyes did to close out this win was the perfect silencer.

They kept carving at Nebraska’s lead. And when Sandfort hit a 3-pointer with 2:59 to play, Iowa led 69-68.

“They kept fighting, they kept swinging, they kept clawing,” Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said.

Their lead got to 74-70 with 1:20 left on another Sandfort 3-pointer, and seemed ready to close out the game when Brock Harding made two free throws with five seconds left for a 76-73 margin.

Nebraska, though, tied the game on Brice WIlliams’ 3-pointer at the buzzer, as first Harding and then Dix tried to foul Williams, but failed.

“After regulation, I was a little mad,” Dix said. “I thought I fouled, but it’s good. Glad we got it done in overtime.”

They got it done by scoring the first nine points in the opening two minutes, and they outscored the Huskers 21-11 in the overtime.

“We were down 15. We would have killed for it to be tied and have a five-minute game,” Sandfort said of having to play the extra session. “And you know, we’ve played those five-minute games in practice all the time, so we knew just what we were doing.”

As Harding dribbled out the final seconds, Sandfort raced to the northeast edge of the court, arms wide open to acknowledge the crowd. Comeback complete, it was time for a curtain call.

“You believe in yourselves, you believe in each other, and you have a sense that you’re never out of it,” McCaffery said. “That’s what this league is, and there’s going to be a lot of games like this.”

The season, though, had changed. Just like Sandfort had urged in the huddle.

It’s all about receiving the message

“It was really player-led, the way that we were talking to each other,” Sandfort said. “Coaches put us in good spots, but the way that we stayed together, the five of us on the floor and the guys on the bench, was really what pushed us over the edge. And I hope we know that we know that we can build on that.

“And keep moving.”

Photo: Iowa’s Brock Harding (2) and Payton Sandfort react during the Hawkeyes’ win over Nebraska on Tuesday night. (Stephen Mally/hawkeyesports.com)