Iowa 95-88 Utah (December 21, 2024) Game Recap

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Payton Sandfort scored 24 points, Owen Freeman scored 16 points and Iowa beat Utah 95-88 on Saturday.

Josh Dix scored 15 points and shot 7 of 10, Drew Thelwell had 15 and Brock Harding had 12 for Iowa (9-3), which has won two straight games after two straight losses.

Iowa (9-3) finished shooting 53.1% (34 of 64). Utah was right behind at 51.5% (35 of 68).

With the game tied at 75, Sandfort made consecutive layups, followed by one from Dix, and Iowa led 81-78 with 5:49 left, and the Hawkeyes never trailed until the end. Harding sank two free throws, Dix added a jump shot and Harding made a 3 with 3:03 left for an 88-80 lead. Utah never got closer than six points on two layups by Lawson Lovering 21 seconds apart.

Lovering scored a career-high 25 points on 11 of 14 shooting, and Mason Madsen scored 24 for the Utes (8-3).

It was Iowa’s first win against Utah, which had already won the two previous meetings between the two teams.

Utah begins Big 12 Conference play and travels to Baylor on New Year’s Eve. Iowa hosts New Hampshire on December 30th.

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