IOWA CITY -- Iowa took its third consecutive victory in the non-conference slate, defeating South Dakota 96-77 on Tuesday night and sweeping the Kenny Arnold Classic. Between leading scorer Josh Dix's standout performance, impressive performances from the backup bigs and Seydou Traore's first appearance, the Hawkeyes handled the Coyotes in dominant fashion.

Here are three takeaways from the victory for the Hawkeyes.

For the first time since his appearance in Iowa's exhibition game with D2 Minnesota-Duluth, transfer Seydou Traore saw the floor for the Hawkeyes on Tuesday night. He missed Iowa's first two games of the season due to a lower leg injury.

"It felt amazing [to be back]," he said. "It feels great to have a good win under my belt, and first game -- it feels great."

Traore stepped in and immediately made an impact, putting up 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting and adding four rebounds. The Brooklyn, New York native's athleticism and rebounding could (and should) solidify him as a regular contributor going forward, maybe as a starter.

"Seydou's athleticism and versatility really helps our team," Dix said. "He could play 2 through 4. He was handling the ball during the press, rebounding and guarding their four man."

Most notable for head coach Fran McCaffery on Tuesday night was Traore's ability to handle the rock and get it up the court in transition, matching USD's full-court press.

"You can't speed him up," McCaffery said postgame. "He plays at his pace. He makes plays for other people and himself. I think he almost appreciates making plays for others more. He always has his head up and never panics."

Traore's feel for the pace of the game set him apart.

"He was spectacular in recognizing when to go, when not to go, when to move it," McCaffery added.

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Sophomore sensation and starting center Owen Freeman missed Tuesday's contest with an illness. Through two games, Freeman has averaged 15 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.

With Freeman out, McCaffery went to a mix of Ladji Dembele, Even Brauns and Riley Mulvey at center. The trio combined for 15 points and 14 rebounds.

"They all played really well," Dix said. "Ladji, he does all the dirty work for us. Even played really well -- he's athletic. He's played [South Dakota's] big guy a couple times, so he was a little hyped up for that."

Mulvey, who redshirted last season, stood out among the trio, playing 8+ minutes for the first time since January 12, 2023 against Michigan.

"Riley came in and gave us really good minutes," Dix said. "He finished around the rim, was screening and rolling, and I felt like he played really good defense as well."

McCaffery, who also played former walk-on Carter Kingsbury in limited minutes at the five, was happy with the performance of the entire bench.

"I was really proud of our bench. They scored 37 points," McCaffery said. " Not only was Owen not here, but Payton (Sandfort) was in foul trouble, Ladji was in foul trouble. That's what the real good teams do -- somebody else steps up. They were all great, especially Riley."

Against that combination of centers, South Dakota 7-footer and Dubuque, Iowa native Cameron Fens was held to just seven points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes.

Josh Dix led the way in scoring for the Hawkeyes, putting up 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor and 5-of-6 from three-point range. He also chipped in five assists and four rebounds. At times, he looked like the best player on the floor.

"Josh seemed like he made every shot," McCaffery said. "When he gets going early, he's a handful. We started going to him a little bit. Typically, we get it to him sort of organically with our offense. He's such a complete player. He never rattles and plays well at both ends."

Dix credited his teammates for the performance.

"They were just finding me when I was open," he said. "It makes it easy for me, I was just shooting wide open threes."

One particular shot late in the game came off a Brock Harding pass that landed directly in Dix's shooting pocket. As he did for the majority of the night, the junior wing buried the triple to finish the 23-point performance.

"I rep that every day, and I'm in here with Brock a lot just getting shots up," Dix said. "He's always going to make that extra pass, that's what I love about playing with him. He did it, and it was just like I was playing with him in practice."