Hawkeye men rally from 11-point second-half deficit to beat Utah, 95-88, improve to 9-3

(This story was written in Cedar Rapids.)

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. --- Iowa rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to defeat Utah in men’s basketball Saturday at Sanford Pentagon, 95-88.

The Hawkeyes had a 59-point second-half in avenging their second-round NIT loss at Utah last March and improving to 9-3. Utah is 8-3.

Senior forward Payton Sandfort had a season-high 24 points and a game-high eight rebounds for Iowa. Owen Freeman scored 16 points, Josh Dix and Drew Thelwell 15. Brock Harding had 10 of his 12 points after halftime.

“I just think that everybody that played really contributed,” Iowa Ccoach Fran McCaffery said on the Hawkeye Radio Network postgame show.

Lawson Lovering had a career-highs 25 points for the Utes.

Utah scored the first seven points of the second half to open its largest lead of the game, 47-36. Center Freeman scored seven points in 49 seconds to get his team within six points. The Hawkeyes continued to chip away, tying the game with 11:02 left and taking their first lead of the half 49 seconds later.

“The key was we started driving the ball,” said McCaffery. “We got in the bonus early, got in the double-bonus early.”

With 10:26 left and the game tied at 65, Freeman was assessed his fourth foul. Ladji Dembele replaced him and nearly played the duration of the game. He offered good defense in Freeman’s absence of several minutes.

“He played like a veteran guy who understands how to win,” McCaffery said. “Boy, did he contribute in a big way tonight.”

Iowa took the lead for good with 6:48 left. Dix scored six points in an 11-2 run that broke open the game.

The Hawkeyes opened the game with a 7-0 lead and was up by as much as eight points in the first half as the Utes missed all but one of their first 13 shots.

Mason Madsen made three 3-pointers within 44 seconds to give Utah its first lead, 25-24, with 8:16 left in the half. He entered the game as a 45.6-percent 3-point shooter, and was 6-of-11 from deep in scoring 24 points.

The Hawkeyes were outrebounded, 35-27, but played the Utes even on the boards in the second half. Iowa shot 53.1 percent from the field.

It was Iowa’s third win in four games in Sioux Falls over the last seven years.

The Hawkeyes’ resume play Dec. 30 in Iowa City against New Hampshire, which takes a 2-11 record into its Sunday game against Stonehill.

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