MBB Preview \\ USC-Upstate

The University of Iowa men’s basketball team returns home to host USC Upstate on Tuesday at 7 p.m. (CT) on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The game will be televised on BTN.
•Tickets are $15-25 for adults and $5-10 for youth through the Iowa Athletics Ticket Office.

FOLLOW LIVE

Radio: Tuesday’s game will be broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network with Gary Dolphin (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: Tuesday’s game will be televised on BTN with Jason Ross, Jr. (play-by-play) and Jordan Taylor (color) on the call.

OPENING TIP

• The Hawkeyes dropped their first game of the season, falling 77-69 to Utah State in the NABC Hall of Fame Classic on Nov. 22 in Kansas City. Iowa led 37-33 at the half before the Aggies outscored it 44-32 over the final 20 minutes.
• Iowa has held all six of its opponents under 50 percent shooting, has forced at least 18 turnovers in four games and has held three opponents under 70 points. The Hawkeyes are 96-3 when holding opponents to fewer than 61 points over the past 14+ seasons.
• The Hawkeyes limited Rider to a single 3-point field goal on Nov. 19 in Iowa City — the fewest 3-pointers the program has allowed in nearly a decade (0 vs. Alcorn State on Dec. 9, 2014).
• Iowa has won 93 of its last 99 nonconference home games, dating back to 2012.
• Sophomore Owen Freeman has posted two double-doubles in his last three games. He is averaging a team-best 17.6 points and 8.8 rebounds in five games, while shooting 62.7 percent from the floor.
• 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.
• Sophomore Brock Harding scored a career-high 19 points and had five assists and four steals against Utah State.
• The Hawkeyes’ next victory will be the 100th win of graduate guard Drew Thelwell’s collegiate career.
• Iowa has at least one player (four different players) score 20 or more points in five of the team’s six games.
• Splash Brothers… Payton and Pryce Sandfort have combined to make 28 3-point field goals in Iowa’s first six games. Payton (15) is third in the Big Ten, while Pryce (13) is fourth.
• The Hawkeyes have made at least eight 3-point field goals in five games, including 10+ in three contests. Iowa made 18 in the win over Southern — the most since 2022. Iowa is third in the Big Ten (36th nationally), averaging 10.3 per game.
• Iowa is leading the Big Ten (11th nationally) in assists (20.2). 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 USC-UPSTATE

• USC Upstate has dropped back-to-back games to fall to 2-6 on the season. The Spartans two wins came over Piedmont and Southern Wesleyan.
• The Spartans have played three ACC schools, falling at NC State, at Virginia Tech and at Wake Forest. They lost to the Demon Deacons by five points, 85-80.
• USC Upstate has three players averaging in double figures with Mister Dean leading the way with 18 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. He also has a team-high 13 steals.
• The team is averaging 81.6 points, while shooting 48.7 percent from the field.
• The Spartans are led by first-year head coach Travis Richter. Richter spent the previous six seasons as a assistant coach at Drake under Darian DeVries. He is a native of Waterloo, Iowa and a graduate of Simpson College.
• Iowa assistant coach Matt Gatens worked alongside Richter for four seasons in Des Moines.

SERIES HISTORY

• Tuesday’s game will be the first meeting in the all-time series between Iowa and USC Upstate.
• The Hawkeyes are 5-0 all-time against current members of the Big South Conference.

 

LAST GAME: UTAH STATE 77, IOWA 69

Utah State rallied from a four-point halftime deficit to hand Iowa its first loss of the season, 77-69, in the NABC Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City. The Aggies outscored the Hawkeyes, 44-32, in the second half.
• Utah State won the rebounding battle, 47-31, and had 15 offensive rebounds, leading to 24 second-chance points.
• Iowa made a season-low five 3-point field goals (in 26 attempts) en route to a season-low 19.2 3-point percentage. The Hawkeyes also made a season-low 50 percent (8-of-16) of their free throws.
• Sophomore Brock Harding led a trio of Hawkeyes in double figures, scoring a career-high 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting with three 3-pointers. He also had five assists and four steals.
• Sophomore Owen Freeman finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double in three games.

MORE NOTABLES

• Head coach Fran McCaffery has the most victories in Iowa history with 285, including a record 136 Big Ten wins.
• Friday’s game against Utah State was Iowa’s first game playing 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 has had 11 steals in back-to-back games against Rider and Utah State. The team has four games 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 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).
• Josh Dix (honorable mention), Owen Freeman (honorable mention, Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Year) and Payton Sandfort (third team) all earned All-Big Ten honors last season. Sandfort is a preseason first-team All-Big Ten selection in 2024-25.
• Sophomore Brock Harding has 32 assists to 13 turnovers in six games. His 5.3 assists per game ranks seventh in the Big Ten.
• Iowa has three players in the top 12 in the Big Ten in assist-to-turnover ratio — Drew Thelwell, 3.67; Josh Dix, 2.57; Brock Harding, 2.46.

BROCK’S BREAKOUT

Sophomore Brock Harding had the best game of his career in Iowa’s neutral site game against Utah State on Nov. 22 in Kansas City. The Moline, Illinois, native scored a career-high 19 points, making 8-of-15 field goals and a career-best three 3-pointers. He also had five assists and tied a career-high with four steals, while playing a career-high 33 minutes.
• It was Harding’s first game in double figures this season (fourth of his career) and the first time he has led the team in scoring in his career.
• He is averaging eight points, 5.3 assists and 2.3 assists this season while shooting 45 percent from the floor and 57.1 percent (8-of-14) from 3-point range.
• Harding has had at least four assists and one steal in all six games.

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.
• Freeman notched his second double-double, finishing with 18 points and 11 rebounds against Utah State on Nov. 22. He made 9-of-12 field goals and had three blocks.
• The Moline, Illinois, native has two double-doubles this season and seven in his career. He also has three career 20-point games.
• In five games (he missed the South Dakota game because of illness), Freeman is leading the team in scoring (17.6), rebounds (8.8) and blocks (11). He has scored 15+ points in every game.
• He is leading the Big Ten in field goal percentage (62.7), second in field goals (37), third in blocks (11), sixth in rebounds (8.8) and eighth in scoring (17.6).

P$$$$$

Senior Payton Sandfort is the only Hawkeye to reach double figures in all six games. He is averaging 17.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and four assists per game, while shooting 40.7 percent from the floor.
• The Waukee, Iowa, native finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in the season opening win over East Texas A&M and he scored 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting with six rebounds in the win over Rider.
• Sandfort has two 20-point games this season and 20 for his career and has six career double-doubles.