Utah went 0-fer in its pursuit of a possible Quad 1 win during nonconference play, with the final chance coming Saturday in a neutral-site matchup against Iowa at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
With the 95-88 loss to the Hawkeyes, the Runnin’ Utes finished nonleague action with an 8-3 record.
“There’s some good things from this, but it’s frustrating when you’re right there and you have an opportunity to win a road game in a hostile environment,” Utah coach Craig Smith said in his postgame interview on 700 AM. “And we gave ourselves every opportunity, but we just couldn’t get enough stops.”
Early in the second half, Utah looked like it might be able to secure its best win of the nonconference season, as it started the stanza on a 7-0 run and led by as many as 11 points.
Hot-shooting Iowa had other plans, though.
The Hawkeyes, who led by eight early in the game before Utah rallied and eventually took a four-point lead into halftime, began to chip away at the Utes’ lead and tied the game at 63-63 with 11:02 to play.
Following a few minutes of back-and-forth play, Iowa went ahead for good on a Payton Sandfort layup. The Hawkeyes outscored Utah 20-13 over the final seven minutes.
It was a matchup of two similarly offensive-minded teams — both the Utes and Hawkeyes are in the top 3 nationally in assists per game, top 15 nationally in scoring offense and top 20 in 3-pointers per game.
Those kind of numbers predicted this would be a tight, high-scoring contest, and for much of the game, that’s exactly how things played out.
Sandfort, who was held to five points when Utah beat Iowa in the NIT last season, paced Iowa (9-3) with 24 points and eight rebounds. Owen Freeman put up 16 points, six rebounds, three blocks, two assists and a steal, even though he missed the final 11-plus minutes after picking up his fourth foul.
Five Iowa players scored in double-figures, as the Hawkeyes’ offense — which averages 87.2 points per game — wore down the Utes.
The Hawkeyes shot 53.1% for the game, slightly better than Utah’s 51.5%. In the second half, Iowa made 63.3% of its field goals and scored 59 points.
“They’re a high-octane offense. They can do a lot of different things,” Smith said.
Smith bemoaned the fact that Iowa was able to attack the paint to fight its way back into the game. While Utah finished with a 56-50 edge in points in the paint, the Hawkeyes were assertive in getting to the rim.
Six of their final eight baskets came on layups.
“Where it changed was, obviously, we got up 11 and they just started pulverizing us in the paint,” Smith said. “... They really played through the paint, and they just kind of put their head down and go and we just lost some discipline.”
That spoiled some solid individual efforts for Utah.
Mason Madsen, making his first start as a Ute, scored 24 points, hitting six of Utah’s seven made 3-pointers in the game. He added six rebounds, four assists, a block and a steal.
After Iowa initially took a 9-2 lead, Madsen sparked the rally for Utah, and that included a stretch in which he hit three straight 3-pointers to help the Utes grab their first lead.
“Mason started drilling shots and was really a spark for us,” Smith said. “He really played well on the offensive end and did some good things.”
Lawson Lovering, meanwhile, scored a career-high 25 points while shooting 11 of 14 from the field. He also had four rebounds and two assists.
“Lawson obviously was making them pay and was very stubborn with the ball,” Smith said.
Gabe Madsen was largely held in check by Iowa, though, as he had nine points and shot 3 of 7 from the field and never really was a factor like his brother was.
While Utah had 24 assists on 35 field goals — more than Iowa’s 15 on 34 buckets — the Utes were outperformed in fast break points (16-9) and at the free-throw line — the Hawkeyes were 18 of 24, while Utah was 11 of 16.
Iowa was also a little bit better from 3-point range, making 9 of 20 while the Utes were 7 of 21.
A glance up and down the stat sheet paints the picture of what could have been for Utah with a bit more execution — the Utes weren’t dominated in any one category, but Iowa made the little plays to earn the win.
Going into Big 12 play, the Utes will carry an 0-3 record against Quad 1 or Quad 2 opponents, as they also lost close matchups to Mississippi State and Saint Mary’s.
Utah beat the eight teams it was projected to beat, while it lost all three of its potential resume-building matchups.
For now, that will leave a bittersweet taste as Utah takes a break for the holiday season before getting back on the court ahead of the Big 12 opener at Baylor on Dec. 31.
“I thought we competed well and did a lot of really good things on the offensive end,” Smith said, “but you have to be able to guard.”