Sanford Pentagon arena in Sioux Falls, South Dakota has sort of become a home away from home for the Iowa men’s basketball team.

The Hawkeyes will play in Sioux Falls for the fourth time, facing Utah on Saturday at the Sanford Pentagon. It is Iowa’s first game in Sioux Falls since Dec. 18, 2021 — a 94-75 victory over Utah State.

Iowa is 2-1 overall in Sioux Falls.

Saturday’s game is the third meeting in the all-time series between Iowa and Utah. The Utes lead 2-0. Utah won the first meeting, winning 92-88 in Los Angeles in 1964.

Last season in the NIT, the Utes won 91-82 in Salt Lake City behind a 31-point performance from Gabe Madsen, who leads the Utes in scoring this season with a 19.8 per-game average. He also leads Utah with a 45.6 3-oiint field-goal percentage.

Gabe Madsen made seven threes in the win over Iowa last season.

The Utes have won two straight games to bring an 8-2 record into Saturday’s game in Sioux Falls. Utah downed Florida A&M, 89-59, on Dec. 17.

Iowa’s three losses this season have come against Utah State, Michigan and Iowa State.

Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said Thursday that he wasn’t too optimistic that sophomore forward Seydou Trore would play against Utah.

Traore injured his ankle against USC Upstate and he has only played in one game since then against Iowa State, logging approximately 14 minutes off the bench.

Scouting Utah

• Utah has played all but one of its games at home this season. The Utes played a neutral site game against Mississippi State on Nov. 17, falling 78-73.
• The Utes are leading the nation in assists (21.0), while ranking fifth in scoring margin (22.6), eighth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.94), seventh in 3-pointers per game (11.3) and ninth in field goal percentage defense (37.0).
• Gabe Madson leads the Utes, averaging 19.8 points on .458 shooting with a team-high 39 3-point field goals. Twin brother, Gabe, has 31 3-pointers en route to a 11.1 scoring average. Gabe also is tops on the team with a 45.6 3-point field goal percentage.
• Utah has four players averaging in double figures and six players averaging at least 8.1 points per game. The Utes average 42.4 rebounds per game — second in the Big 12 — with seven players averaging at least four rebounds per contest.

Utah (8-2) vs. Iowa (8-3)

When: Saturday, 5 p.m.

Where: Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Sanford Pentagon (3,250)

TV: Big Ten Network

Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network

All-time series: Saturday’s game is the third meeting in the all-time series between Iowa and Utah. The Utes lead 2-0. Utah won the first meeting, winning 92-88 in Los Angeles in 1964. • Last season in the NIT, the Utes won 91-82 in Salt Lake City behind a 31-point performance from Gabe Madsen. The guard drained seven 3-pointers in the game.

Editor’s note: hawkeyesports.com contributed to this report.