MBB Preview \\ vs. Utah State \\ NABC Hall of Fame Classic

The University of Iowa men’s basketball team heads to Kansas City for a Friday night neutral site game against Utah State in the NABC Hall of Fame Classic at the T-Mobile Center. The game will begin at 7 p.m. (CT) and be televised on BTN.

FOLLOW LIVE

Radio: Friday’s game will be broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network with Jon Swisher (play-by-play) and Bobby Hansen (color) on the call. The network includes more than 40 stations that blanket the state of Iowa and include portions of Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin. The Hawkeye Radio Network includes a 60-minute pregame show.
TV: Friday’s game will be televised with Jake Eisenberg (play-by-play) and Jess Settles (color) on the call.

OPENING TIP

• Iowa is traveling to play in Kansas City for the first time since 2009 when the team faced Texas and Wichita State in the CBE Classic.
• The Hawkeyes improved to 5-0 with an 83-58 victory over Rider on Nov. 19 in Iowa City. The 25-point win was Iowa’s largest margin of victory this season.
• Iowa limited the Broncs to 42.6 percent shooting and forced 20 turnovers for the second time this season. Rider made a single 3-point field goal in the game — the fewest Iowa has allowed in nearly a decade (0 vs. Alcorn State on Dec. 9, 2014).
• The Hawkeyes are 5-0 for the fourth time in the last five seasons. The last time Iowa started 6-0 was in 2021-22 (7-0 record).
• Iowa has won 93 of its last 99 nonconference home games, dating back to 2012.
• Senior Payton Sandfort notched his second 20-point game of the season, finishing with 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting to go along with six rebounds and three assists in the win over Rider.
• Iowa has at least one player (four different players) score 20 or more points in each of its first five games.
• The D… Iowa has held all five opponents under 50 percent shooting and three opponents under 70 points. The Hawkeyes are 96-3 when holding opponents to fewer than 61 points over the past 14+ seasons.
• Senior Payton Sandfort is averaging 17.8 points, seven rebounds and 4.2 assists during Iowa’s 5-0 start, while sophomore Owen Freeman averages 17.5 points and a team-best 8.3 rebounds. The are seventh and 10th in the Big Ten in scoring.
• Splash Brothers… Payton and Pryce Sandfort have combined to make 27 3-point field goals in Iowa’s first five games. Payton (14) leads the Big Ten, while Pryce (13) is third.
• The Hawkeyes have made at least eight 3-point field goals in all five games, including 10+ in three contests. Iowa made 18 in the win over Southern — the most since 2022. Iowa is second in the Big Ten (23rd nationally), averaging 11.4 per game.
• Iowa is leading the Big Ten (12th nationally) in assists (20.4). The team has had 20+ assists in three games.
• Payton Sandfort has been named to the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Watch List, the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Preseason List and the Lute Olson National Player of the Year Preseason Watch List.

SCOUTING UTAH STATE

• Utah State brings a 4-0 record into Kansas City with home victories over Alcorn State, Charlotte, Westminster and Montana. The Aggies have an average margin of victory of 40 points, which is tops in the country.
• The Aggies have the No. 1 scoring offense in the nation, averaging 104 points per game. Utah State scored 117 points in a 117-53 victory over Westminster on Nov. 13.
• Utah State is No. 2 in the nation in assists (22.3) and assist-to-turnover ration (2.41). The Aggies rank in the top 10 nationally in 11 team statistics.
• Ian Martinez, a preseason All-MWC selection, leads a group of five Utah State players in double figures, averaging 22.8 points on 53.5 percent shooting. He has a team-high 14 3-pointers and 15 assists.
• Utah State has eight players averaging at least 7.8 points per game. The Aggies are +10.4 on the glass this season and have forced 79 turnovers (19.8 per game).
• Utah State was picked to finish sixth in the preseason Mountain West Conference poll. The Aggies went 28-7 and 14-4 in league play to win the MWC regular season title a season ago.
• Jerrod Calhoun is in his first season as the Aggie head coach after spending seven seasons in the same position at Youngstown State.

SERIES HISTORY

• Tuesday’s game will be the second all-time meeting between Iowa and Rider. The Hawkeyes won 104-71 on Dec. 22, 1987, in Iowa City.
• Iowa is 3-0 all-time against current opponents from the Metro Atlantic Conference.
• Hawkeye sophomore Seydou Traore played in the MAAC last season at Manhattan College.

IOWA IN KANSAS CITY

• The Hawkeyes played in the Guardians (CBE) Classic in Kansas City during the 2001-02, 2005-06 and 2009-10 seasons. Iowa went 2-4 in the six games with wins over Memphis and Kentucky.
• Iowa’s last game in KC was a 74-57 loss to Wichita State in 2009.
• The Hawkeyes played in the 1955 Final Four in Kansas City and the Sweet 16 of the Midwest Region in 1983.

 

LAST GAME: IOWA 83, RIDER 58

Iowa moved to 5-0 with an 83-58 victory over Rider on Nov. 19 in Iowa City. It was the Hawkeyes’ largest margin of victory this season and a big part of the result came on the defensive end.
• Iowa limited the Broncs to 42.6 percent shooting and allowed just one 3-point field goal in the contest. The Hawkeyes also forced 20 turnovers.
• Four players reached double figures, including a 22-point, six rebound, three assist performance from senior Payton Sandfort.
• Graduate Drew Thelwell had seven assists and five steals in the game.

MORE NOTABLES

• Head coach Fran McCaffery has the most victories in Iowa history with 285, including a record 136 Big Ten wins.
• Junior Josh Dix and freshman Chris Tadjo missed Tuesday’s game against Rider because of injury. Iowa has not played a game at full strength this season.
• The Hawkeyes have shot better than 50 percent from the floor in two victories, including a season-best 54.4 percent in the win over South Dakota on Nov. 12.
• Graduate Drew Thelwell had seven assists and tied a career-high with five steals in Iowa’s win over Rider on Nov. 19. He has two games with 5+ assists and has had at least one steal in every contest.
• The Hawkeyes had 11 steals against Rider, its third game with 10+ steals this season.
• Iowa’s reserves combined for 37 points in the 19-point victory over South Dakota, including an 11-point, five rebound, six assist game for graduate Drew Thelwell. The bench scored 23 points in the neutral site win over WAZZU and all 10 players that saw action scored.
• Sophomore Ladji Dembele netted a career-high 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds against South Dakota. His eight rebounds matched a career-high.
• The Hawkeyes have had four players score 20 points in a game this season — Payton Sandfort (2), Pryce Sandfort (1), Josh Dix (1), Owen Freeman (1).
• Sophomore Brock Harding has 27 assists to 10 turnovers in five games. His 5.4 assists per game ranks sixth in the Big Ten.
• Iowa has three players in the top 12 in the Big Ten in assist-to-turnover ratio — Drew Thelwell, 3.33; Brock Harding, 2.70; Josh Dix, 2.67.
• Iowa went 3-0 to win the team title at the Kenny Arnold Challenge.

OWWWWEEEEN 

Sophomore Owen Freeman had a 20th birthday to remember when he returned to his hometown of Moline and produced a 21-point, 11-rebound double-double in Iowa’s neutral site victory over Washington State. Freeman made 9-of-15 field goals, which were a career-high.
• It was Freeman’s first double-double of the season and the sixth of his career. The 20-point game was the third of his collegiate career.
• In four games, Freeman is second on the team in scoring (17.5) and leads the team in rebounding (8.3) and blocks (8). He has scored 15+ points in every game.

1-2 PG PUNCH

Iowa’s point guard duo of Brock Harding and Drew Thelwell are averaging 14.2 points, 9.4 assists and 4.4 steall in five games this season.
• Thelwell has landed in double figures in three games off the bench, where he is averaging 8.4 points and four assists. Harding has a team-high 27 assists in five games.

PAYTON WATCH

Senior Payton Sandfort currently ranks 37th in program history with 1,134 career points. If Sandfort matches his 2023-24 production, he would climb to 11th place in program history.
• Sandfort also ranks eighth in program history with 199 career 3-point field goals. Should he match his junior year totals, he would finish second in program history to Jordan Bohannon (455 makes) in the record books.