Iowa men’s basketball goes ice cold from deep in loss to Utah State

November 23, 2024 Vaseline blog 0

Iowa men’s basketball goes ice cold from deep in loss to Utah State

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A four-point halftime lead turned into a 77-69 loss to Utah State for Iowa men’s basketball on Friday.

After holding Utah State to 36% from the field in the first half, Utah State found its groove after halftime, shooting 56% from the field in the second.

Iowa did a respectable job on the defensive end. The Aggies have a high-octane offense and entered Friday’s matchup having scored at least 95 points in each of their first four games this season. On Friday, Utah State scored 77 and shot 46% from the field, 33% from deep and committed 18 turnovers.

But Iowa’s shooting was ice cold. The Hawkeyes shot 19% from 3-point range. Payton Sandfort was 1-for-13 from deep. Josh Dix and Pryce Sandfort combined for 0-of-6.

Iowa was also just 50% from the free throw line and turned the ball over 16 times.

The Hawkeyes were also hammered on the boards. Utah State outbounded Iowa 47-31.

The bright spots for Iowa were Owen Freeman, who had 18 points and 11 rebounds. Meanwhile, Brock Harding had 19 points. Payton Sandfort had 14 points but shot just 4-of-18 from the field.

Iowa fell to 5-1 this season.

Friday was a clash between two undefeated teams. Iowa entered 5-0 overall, while Utah State came in at 4-0.

The start of Big Ten play is approaching soon. After a matchup with USC Upstate, Iowa faces consecutive conference foes, starting with Northwestern on Dec. 3.

Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15contact via email at [email protected]