SALT LAKE CITY — The No. 3 seeded University of Iowa men’s basketball team fell to No. 2 seeded Utah, 91-82, on Sunday night in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The Hawkeyes end the season with an overall record of 19-15.

Senior Patrick McCaffery scored 19 points on an efficient 7-of-9 shooting. McCaffery added four rebounds and a steal. Sophomore Josh Dix scored 14 points on 6-of-9 (66.6%) shooting. Dix grabbed four rebounds, blocked one shot, and had one steal.

Freshman Owen Freeman scored 12 points to go along with seven rebounds and four assists. Freeman blocked three shots, his 12th game this season with 3+ blocks.

Graduate Ben Krikke scored 12 points and pulled in six rebounds. Freshman Brock Harding rounded out the Hawkeyes in double digits with 12 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting night from the field.

Freeman scored seven of Iowa’s first 12 points. A dunk from McCaffery sparked the Hawkeyes and narrowed the deficit to just four points after trailing by as many as 10 early in the game. Utah’s 3-point shooting made it difficult for the Hawkeyes to close the gap, as they shot 7-of-14 from deep in the first 20 minutes. A 9-3 Iowa run in the final two minutes pulled the Hawkeyes within 12 at the break, trailing 48-36.

The Hawkeyes fought back from down 14 points to bring the game within five with just under 13 minutes remaining. A 6-0 Utah run pushed their lead back to 11 points and they would go on to lead by at least nine points for the rest of the game. Krikke, Dix and McCaffery combined to score 32 of Iowa’s 46 second half points.

Iowa finished the game shooting 33-of-68 (48.5%) from the field and 7-of-21 (33.3%) from deep. The Hawkeyes shot 9-of-14 (64.3%) from the free throw line.

Utah was led by Gabe Madsen with 31 points on 9-of-19 shooting. Madsen shot 7-of-15 from beyond the arc.