Runnin’ Utes give up the lead in the second half as Iowa pulls away and takes a 95-88 win

SOUIX FALLS, SD – Iowa’s defense was underwhelming and Utah showed little improvement on offense, shooting just 12.5% ​​from the floor early in the game.

It was another slow first half start against a Quad 1 opponent this season.

But unlike previous Quad 1 games where Utah gave the opposing team a double-digit lead early on, the Runnin’ Utes fought back. And it was Mason Madsen, making his first start of the season, who provided the crucial spark.

Madsen grabbed a defensive rebound and then hit a 3-pointer at the other end to make three consecutive 3-pointers on consecutive possessions and give Utah its first lead of the game.

From there, Utah found its offense and controlled a 4-point lead at halftime before extending the lead to 10 in the second half.

Iowa didn’t give up, however, and slowly chipped away at the lead before eventually pulling away to a 95-88 victory in Utah’s final non-conference game of the season at the Sanford Pentagon.

Madsen finished the game with 24 points, including 6 of 11 from 3-point range, six rebounds and four assists, but that wasn’t enough to hold off Iowa’s offensive attack late. Lawson Lovering contributed 25 points, four rebounds and two assists in the loss.

Iowa forward Payton Sandfort led the team in the second half, contributing a team-high 24 points and seven rebounds, while four other Iowa players scored in double figures.

Utah opened the game just 1 of 8 shooting from the field, while Iowa jumped out to an early 9-2 lead, helped by a defense that forced the Utes into late-shooting, bad-look situations. Little by little, Utah found a way to get back into the game, especially through Madsen’s hot shooting and Lovering’s strong follow-up play.

Less than two minutes into the second half, Ezra Ausar hit two free throws to give the Utes a team-high 11 points lead. Over the next five minutes, Iowa slowly chipped away at Utah’s lead, making it a four-point game with 14:13 left.

Utah scored just two points over the next three minutes as Iowa cut the lead to a single possession before Drew Thelwell hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 10:47 left. After Iowa regained the lead, there was little Utah could do in the final ten minutes of the game to stop the Hawkeyes’ lead from growing.

Owen Freeman, the team’s leading scorer who averages 17.2 points per game, ran into foul trouble and was sidelined for much of the game – including a fourth foul with just under 11 minutes to play – but finished the game with 16 points, so six rebounds and two assists while adding three blocks in just 19 minutes.

Thelwell and Josh Nix each added 15 points and Brock Harding contributed 12 points to round out Iowa’s best scoring effort.

Utah finishes nonconference play with a record of 8-3, with all three losses coming against Quad 1 opponents. The Utes resume action Dec. 31 in Waco, Texas, to open Big 12 play against Baylor.