Sanford Pentagon Familiar Ground for Filip Rebraca

Former North Dakota Big Man Returns with Iowa Teammates to Face Utah State

Dec 11, 2021 - Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA - The opening tip in the game between the Creighton Bluejays and the Brigham Young Cougars in the first half at Sanford Pentagon. (Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports)

Filip Rebraca said his last game in the Sanford Pentagon “left a sour taste in my mouth.”

Which is what happens when you get an elbow to the mouth, an injury that Rebraca said required a few stitches.

Rebraca played four games in the Sioux Falls arena in the Summit League tournament when he was at North Dakota. He averaged 12 points in the first three games when North Dakota reached the tournament championship game in 2020, but had just eight points on 4-of-12 shooting in last season’s loss to Oral Roberts after getting popped in the mouth.

“First three games there, put up some pretty good numbers against some good teams,” Rebraca, now a forward at Iowa, said earlier this week.

He’ll get another chance to play there on Saturday, when the Hawkeyes (7-3, 29 KenPom, 32 NET) play Utah State (8-3, 50 KenPom, 31 NET).

“It’s a really nice place,” Rebraca said of the Pentagon. “Historical, I guess, so that’s interesting.”

It’s the third time Iowa has played there — the Hawkeyes defeated Colorado in 2017 and lost to Gonzaga last season.

“They do a terrific job with how professional they are, with running an event like that,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “The facility is first-class. The crowds are phenomenal. The people really, I think, enjoy those games and support those games. For us to get up to that part of the country where we have so many fans is something that's important to us.:

It’s become an important place for Iowa to play neutral-court games.

“I think when you're evaluating it, it just makes a lot of sense,” McCaffery said. “We're always going to play a really good team. Utah State is really good. We played Colorado, we played Gonzaga, really good teams. I think it's an opportunity for your guys to experience something like that.”

It’s the fifth neutral-court game for Utah State this season. The Aggies have wins over Richmond, Penn, New Mexico State and Oklahoma under new coach Ryan Odom.

Forward Justin Bean leads the Aggies in scoring at 19.4 points per game.

“Ryan is a terrific coach,” McCaffery said. “The kid, Bean, is as good as anybody we'll face all year long. He's tremendous. So it's a veteran team. They've got some transfers, and they've got some veteran guys. Really share the ball, move the ball. They've got multiple shooters. Everybody understands how to play.

“Again, it's like when you schedule a game like this — well, any game anymore — you really don't know who you're going to face until the season starts. But I think we all knew they would be good. Really good coach, really good players.”

The Hawkeyes haven’t played since a 73-53 loss at Iowa State on December 9. It’s been a chance for Iowa to work on getting better to snap a three-game losing streak.

“I think that's really critical,” McCaffery said of the time off. “It kind of always is. Even if we had not lost a couple games in a row, you have eight days off. You're going to kind of get back to, OK, what's worked, what hasn't worked, what do we need to improve on, both collectively and individually. Maybe you have a guy who's struggling a little bit, you try to get him going. Maybe our motion game isn't working or press -- whatever is not working, you try to work on it.”