By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Payton Sandfort is the owner of the lone triple-double in Iowa’s men’s basketball history.

He’s come close to adding to that in the first two games of this season for the Hawkeyes.

The 6-foot-7 forward leads Iowa in scoring, rebounding, and assists heading into Tuesday’s 8 p.m. game against South Dakota at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Sandfort, a senior, opened the season last Monday with 20 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in the 89-67 win over Texas A&M-Commerce. He then had 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in Thursday’s 89-74 win over Southern.

“Well, I think from the rebounding perspective, it’s not a complicated thing,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said on Monday. “He goes after the ball at both ends. He attacks the glass.

He’s a good athlete, but his ball handling and passing have really helped complement his great shooting, and that’s been impressive to watch as he’s really evolved over the years. Not that he wasn’t a good passer when he got here, it’s just that I think as he’s gotten more and more and more experience, he’s more comfortable. We move him around, and our offense is conducive for him to make shots and make plays.”

Sandfort is in the top 40 among all NCAA Division I players in assists and assists per game.

“I kind of look at him as a guard/forward,” McCaffery said. “I don’t look at him as a forward. I play him a guard. I play him at small forward. I play him a power forward. I think for him, , he’s always had great feel for how to play. Did that in high school, did that on the AAU circuit, did that from the minute he got here, but he’s just more comfortable now. He’s got the ball a lot. Regardless of what position you want to call him, he’s going to have a lot (of assists), and I trust him to go ahead and make plays.”

The Hawkeyes (2-0) play the Coyotes (3-0) in the final game of the Kenny Arnold Classic, a multi-team event. South Dakota already has wins over Southern and Texas A&M-Commerce as well.

“Deep team,” McCaffery said of the Coyotes. “They extend their defense. They’re very active. They got a number of different guys who can score. That’s why they’re 3-0.”

Forward Seydou Traore could see his first game time of the regular season for the Hawkeyes. Traore, who transferred from Manhattan last spring, played in Iowa’s exhibition game against Minnesota-Duluth but has been out with what McCaffery described as a “bum wheel.” Traore was on the bench for both of last week’s games wearing a walking boot.

“We’ll see — it will be a game-time decision,” McCaffery said. “He went yesterday in practice. “We’ll see how he feels today.”

Photo: Iowa forward Payton Sandfort (20) leads the Hawkeyes in scoring, rebounding and assists after the first two games of the season. (Daniel Kucin Jr./Icon Sportswire)