Utah went 0-fer in its pursuit of a possible Quad 1 win during nonconference play, with the final chance coming Saturday in a neutral-site matchup against Iowa at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
With the 95-88 loss to the Hawkeyes, the Runnin’ Utes finished nonleague action with an 8-3 record.
“There’s some good things from this, but it’s frustrating when you’re right there and you have an opportunity to win a road game in a hostile environment,” Utah coach Craig Smith said in his postgame interview on 700 AM. “And we gave ourselves every opportunity, but we just couldn’t get enough stops.”
Early in the second half, Utah looked like it might be able to secure its best win of the nonconference season, as it started the stanza on a 7-0 run and led by as many as 11 points.
Hot-shooting Iowa had other plans, though.
The Hawkeyes, who led by eight early in the game before Utah rallied and eventually took a four-point lead into halftime, began to chip away at the Utes’ lead and tied the game at 63-63 with 11:02 to play.