Smith records 4th triple-double, Madsen scores 31 as Runnin' Utes defeat Iowa in NIT

SALT LAKE CITY — Postseason basketball continues for the Runnin' Utes.

The NIT runs through the Huntsman Center, where Utah has played some of its best basketball of the season. Sunday night's matchup against third-seeded Iowa was no different.

Deivon Smith got hot early, and then Gabe Madsen took over late in the first half to give the Runnin' Utes a 12-point lead at the break. Madsen had 19 first-half points, including three 3-pointers, and was a key catalyst in Utah building up an 18-point lead behind a 13-0 run.

Iowa made a small run in the second half and got the deficit down to 5, but Branden Carlson and Lawson Lovering got a pair of dunks to stop the run, and then Madsen hit a pair of 3-pointers to build the lead back up to 15 with just under eight minutes left to play.

Utah eventually came away with a 91-82 win in the second round of the NIT.

With the win, the Utes (21-14) advance to the NIT quarterfinals, where they will play VCU at the Huntsman Center, with a chance at a semifinal appearance at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

"I thought our guys were really locked in," Utah head coach Craig Smith said. "It was such a different feel for this game than it was last game."

And now that Utah has won a couple games, the feeling around the team is that they want to stay as long as they can. Securing an NIT bid was not a part of the plan — everyone dreams of the NCAA Tournament — but the team has now bought in to winning it all. And that showed based on the team's confidence and aggression from the jump.

"I mean, now it's like, we're kind of in this thing, and I think it feels more like, 'Oh, we can go win this tournament,'" Madsen said. "I think, just some guys who want to go out on a good note, and I think we're just getting a good groove going; and being able to play three games at home now is pretty cool, so I'll never turn down another game at the Huntsman."

"I think everybody's just leaving it all out on the floor, just knowing if we lose our season's over," Smith said. 'I think Cole (Bajema) made the comment after we lost the Pac-12 Tournament that he was so bored and didn't know what to do, because we were waiting on if we were playing in the NIT or not. But I think guys are just super focused and just enjoying the time we have left with each other."

Madsen finished the night with a career- and team-high 31 points, including seven 3-pointers on 7-of-15 shooting from behind the arc. Smith added another triple-double with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, eliciting a raucous cheer from the Huntsman Center crowd once he grabbed his last rebound.

Smith joins Jason Kidd as the only two players in Pac-12 history to have four triple-double games in a season.

"It's a super blessing, especially with the stuff I had to go through to even be here," Smith said. "I thank my teammates for allowing me to get those assists, rebounds, or whatever it is, playing hard for each other. I'm just super blessed. I don't really have words — just playing hard, and it's all coming together."

Utah opened up the game going 0-of-5 from the field before Smith got a steal and used his speed to complete the breakaway for a layup and-one opportunity. Iowa hit a 3-pointer as the shot clock buzzer sounded on the ensuing possession to take an early 5-3 lead, but it was the last time the Hawkeyes (19-15) held a lead as Utah got shots to fall.

And though shots started to fall, Utah took over on defense, as well.

Utah secured a couple blocks and established a baseline of what was to come in the post if Iowa challenged at the rim. The Hawkeyes continued to challenge Utah, but it wasn't enough.

Iowa had five players finish in double figures in a balanced effort, and was led by Patrick McCaffery's 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting and four rebounds.

Most impressive to Craig Smith was how his team limited Payton Sandfort, who dropped 30 points on Kansas State to open up the NIT and averaged 24.2 points over the last five games of the season. On Sunday night, Utah held Sandfort to 5 points on 1-of-11 shooting before he fouled out of the game.

"He has been on fire coming into this game. ... And for us to be able to hold him — he's such a good player — to hold him for 1-for-11 for 5 points, our guys were really on point," Smith said. 'That was primarily Cole Bajema, but it's a team thing that way, and he did a great job."

In the win, Branden Carlson finished with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting, but moved into the top-five all-time scorers in Utah history. Carlson currently has 1,856 career points, eclipsing Mike Newlin's 1,849 points. Just ahead of Carlson now is Luke Nevill's 1,898 points, with a chance to potentially move higher.

"Congrats to Branden Carlson cracking the top five all-time scoring in the history of the University of Utah men's basketball," Smith said. "I mean, that's — I mean, seriously like that — it's hard, hard to do."

Related topics