Hawkeyes will need to play good defense vs. Utah State in the Pentagon

Entering Thursday, the NCAA men’s basketball NET rankings had Iowa 31st, Utah State 32nd.

So while the foursome of Virginia, Purdue, Illinois and Iowa State were seen as the gauntlet in the Hawkeyes’ pre-New Year’s schedule, you can tack on the Utah State Aggies and make it a quintet.

Which only makes sense, since a pentagon has five sides, and Iowa’s game with Utah State Saturday night is at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.

It will be a veritable home game for the 7-3 Hawkeyes, with northwest Iowans trekking up I-29 to the 3,250-seat arena. A good thing that is for Iowa, because it can use any advantage available against a highly competitive foe.

Utah State is 8-3 and has talent. Five Aggies have scored 20 or more points in a game this season. Sophomore guard Steven Ashworth had a career-high 27 in USU’s 95-80 win at Weber State Wednesday.

Weber State entered the game 9-1 and with a 15-game home win streak. Utah State scored the game’s first 10 points, had 59 points by halftime, and led by as much as 27 despite limited production by 6-foot-7 senior forward Justin Bean.

Bean had two points in the game and his team still won big. Bean, however, is the man. He averages 19.4 points and 11 rebounds. He was a preferred walk-on when he got to Utah State. That was 1,066 points and 810 rebounds ago.

Bean, Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said, “is as good as anybody we’ll face all year long.”

But will the Hawkeyes face him? Bean and point guard/Utah transfer Rylan Jones (6.0 assists per game) were hurt in the Weber State game. Bean sprained an ankle and Jones suffered a neck injuury in the game. Both apparently will be game-time decisions Saturday.

Odom is in his first year coaching the Aggies after helping make college basketball lore at Maryland Baltimore County when it defeated Virginia 74-54 in the first round of the NCAA tourney. UMBC became the first No. 16-seed to win an NCAA game.

“Ryan is a terrific coach,” McCaffery said. “He brought two of his best players with him.”

One of the two is 6-foot-10 forward Brandon Horvath (13.4 ppg) and the other is top sub RJ Eytle-Rock of London (7.3 ppg), who started 64 times for Odom at UMBC.

When this game was announced, it didn’t resonate in Iowa the way last year’s game at the Pentagon against Gonzaga did. But this opponent is legit.

“I think we all knew they would be good,” McCaffery said. “Really good coach, really good players.”

Iowa, meanwhile, will try to experience victory for the first time since Nov. 29 at Virginia. That was the game in which Hawkeye forward Keegan Murray (22.2 ppg) turned an ankle himself, causing him to miss the next game and not play at full efficiency in the next two.

“He’s not there yet,” McCaffery said, “but he’s getting closer.”

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