Iowa 95, Utah 88: A balanced comeback

Nine months ago, Utah finished the 2023-24 season at Iowa in the second round of the NIT. On Saturday night, Iowa faced Utah again at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and won a very solid 95-88 victory over the Utes. The Hawkeyes used a dominant second half and balanced scoring performance from the starting lineup to earn the win.

Here are three takeaways from the game.

Finishing strong hasn’t always been a strength of this particular Iowa team. The Hawkeyes couldn’t make enough shots (or get enough stops) in their neutral site loss. State of Utah He ran out of steam last month after playing very well for 35 minutes against Iowa State a few weeks ago.

On Saturday, Iowa trailed 40-36 at halftime and trailed by 11 early in the second half after snapping a 9-2 run against the Utes at halftime. After that, the Hawkeyes caught fire and scored 25 points in the next seven minutes of play, bringing the total to 63 points.

Down the stretch, it was the Hawkeyes who were making shots and getting stops. Iowa edged Utah 20-13 after the game was tied with 6:59 left. Iowa scored 59 points in the second half (Utah’s 48), led by 16 points from Payton Sandfort, who shot 5 of 8 from the floor and was perfect at the free throw line (6 of 6).

Notably, Iowa scored 59 points in the second half despite shooting just 4 of 6 from 3-point range. After attempting 14 three-pointers in the first 20 minutes (and making five), Iowa adjusted on offense in the second half, attacking the rim more and shooting at a higher rate – and more trips to the free-throw line, where the Hawkeyes reached after the break 17 out of 24 points.

“We moved the ball and drove the ball (in the second half),” Iowa’s head coach said Fran McCaffery said after the win. “We gave up too much in the first half. Payton said it (and) he was right, we hit a few early and started settling.”

“(Then) they don’t have to play defense, they don’t get tired, they come down and split you up, they run well. So we kept moving the ball back and forth, pushing the ball forward, smart screening, backcuts, that was the difference in the game.”

The sellout crowd at the Pentagon had a palpable (and unsurprising) Hawkeye atmosphere that fueled Iowa’s second-half comeback. That’s true, as is the veteran core of this Iowa squad, which has plenty of experience in these situations – both good and bad – at this point.

“Veterans,” McCaffery said of how Iowa was able to turn the game around in the second half. “We have good players, we have good ballplayers, guys that have been through this, (the) crowd was great. I think (it was) a combination of all of those things.”

One player who provided a notable spark in Iowa’s comeback effort was senior guard Drew Thelwell, who made his third consecutive start. Thelwell didn’t make a basket in the second half – he didn’t even attempt one – but scored seven points on 7 of 8 shooting at the free throw line.

Thelwell drew five fouls (more than anyone else on the Iowa squad in the second half), although some of those came late as the Utes tried to extend the game. Still, Thelwell’s ability to attack the defense and the energy he brought were key factors in Iowa’s comeback win.

“(His energy) is contagious,” McCaffery said after the game. “Everyone else goes with him, Brock (Harding) is like that in a way. The energy in the building was phenomenal. Drew was in the middle of it all. His defense picking up six fouls, those are stats that matter. “You influence a team’s ability to win by passing the ball and drawing fouls, and that’s exactly what he did.

McCaffery also explained what he was looking for when pursuing Thelwell out of the transfer portal earlier this year and what he brought to this Iowa team. “I was looking for an experienced point guard who could lead a team, who could play off the ball and score, who could protect his man,” he explained.

“I noticed right away that this kid can play defense, that he wants to play defense and wants to play on both ends, that he understands how to get a win,” McCaffery said. “Drew Thelwell is a winner, that’s what I was looking for and that’s what we got.”

The man Thelwell replaced in the starting lineup — Ladji Dembele — also had some key players spark Iowa’s comeback effort. After scoring zero points and grabbing just one rebound in the first half, Dembele had five points, three rebounds and a steal after the break. His two baskets came during Iowa’s surge after falling behind by 11 points and helped cut the deficit from 7 points to just two.

More importantly, he helped keep Iowa afloat in the second half as Owen Freeman was on the bench with foul trouble (Freeman picked up three fouls in the second half and played a total of less than five minutes after halftime). Dembele played 14:10 in the second half and finished the game with a plus-minus rating of +13 in those minutes, the highest of any Iowa player in the second half.

McCaffery praised the performances of Dembele and fellow substitute Pryce Sandfort. “They’re just rock solid, both of them. They only care about winning. Pryce was great defensively. Ladji, boy was he great. (He) had his two big rings. But then defensively, on the glass, (He had a) great offensive rebound late, (a) couple rebounds in traffic, just his awareness on defense was great.”

In recent years, there have been several standout individual players who have been the focal point of their respective Iowa teams – Luka Garza, followed by Keegan Murray and then Kris Murray. These players were superstars at the collegiate level, garnering All-Big Ten honors, winning Big Ten Player of the Year honors and also vying for (or winning, in Garza’s case) national honors.

There isn’t a player like that on this Iowa roster – but at best, this is a team that has plenty of depth and scoring balance, with multiple players who can score and pass and put pressure on the defense. They almost achieved their best on Saturday evening, especially in the furious comeback in the second half.

All five Iowa starters finished in double figures, led by Payton Sandfort with 24 points and a game-high 8 rebounds. Freeman finished second on the team with 16 points despite missing 75% of the second half due to foul trouble. “Owen was really on his way to a big game, I felt bad when he got into foul trouble like that,” McCaffery said after the game. Freeman finished the game with 16 points and 6 rebounds.

Josh Dix and Drew Thelwell added 15 points each, with 10 of Dix’s points coming in the second half. Dix did his damage inside the arc in this game, going 7 of 9 on two-point shots and attempting just one three-pointer.

Finally, Brock Harding finished the second half with 12 points. After going 0 of 5 in the first half, Harding shot 4 of 8 in the second half, including 2 of 2 from deep. His first three-pointer gave Iowa its first lead of the second half at 68-67, and his second three-pointer extended Iowa’s lead to 88-80 with three minutes to play.

If Iowa moves the ball well, sets screens and attacks the rim like the offense did in the second half, it becomes a very difficult team to defend because there is not a single player that the defense can attack and try to do. to slow him down. Maintaining that focus and aggressive attitude on offense was key to Iowa’s win on Saturday – maintaining the same things over the next two and a half months will be key to Iowa’s success in the Big Ten.

NEXT: Iowa ends non-conference play with a home game against New Hampshire on December 30 (6:00 p.m. CT, BTN).