Mason Falslev’s big night pushes Utah State past Iowa

Sophomore guard Mason Falslev scored a career-high-tying 25 points and grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds while leading Utah State to a 77-69 victory over Iowa on Friday during the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City, Mo.

Falslev scored 16 points in the second half as Utah State (5-0) overcame a four-point halftime deficit. Ian Martinez added 13 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Aggies, who outrebounded the Hawkeyes 47-31.

Sophomore point guard Brock Harding paced Iowa (5-1) with a career-high 19 points to go with five assists and four steals. Owen Freeman notched 18 points and 11 rebounds and leading scorer Payton Sandfort posted 14 points but made just 1 of 13 3-point attempts. Iowa finished 5 of 26 (19.2 percent) from 3-point range.

Utah State entered the game with the nation’s best scoring offense (104 points per game) and Iowa wasn’t far behind (86.6 ppg), but both teams came out determined to show their defensive chops.

The Aggies’ aggressive matchup zone forced the Hawkeyes into missing their first nine 3-point attempts in the opening seven minutes. Iowa’s three-quarter-court pressure forced Utah State to throw multiple passes off the boards, and both teams challenged the other’s dunks and layups and swatted five shots a piece in the first half.

Utah State built two early five-point leads thanks to Tucker Anderson’s 3-pointer and fastbreak layup. However, Iowa carried a 37-33 lead into halftime as Freeman scored all 10 of his points in the paint.

Neither team could build more than a six-point lead in the second half until the final minutes. When Sandfort broke free for a dunk at the 12:52 mark, he gave Iowa a 53-49 edge.

Martinez responded by driving the baseline and dunking over 6-foot-8 freshman Cooper Koch. That triggered a crucial 9-0 Aggies run as Martinez sandwiched a 20-footer and a 3-pointer around two Falslev free throws to give Utah State a 58-53 lead with 10 minutes to play.

Martinez picked up his fourth foul with 8:42 left and took a seat with the Aggies clinging to a 58-55 edge. After Utah State gave up back-to-back layups to Harding and Freeman to see their lead shrink to 63-61, Martinez returned with 4:17 to go.

Utah State pushed its lead to 68-61 with three minutes to go as Karson Templin made a layup and Falslev swished a 3-pointer with the shot clock running out. Iowa could get no closer than 4 the rest of the way.

–Field Level Media