By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Iowa’s men’s basketball team is going to get a Thanksgiving break.

The Hawkeyes could use the time off after playing USC Upstate on Tuesday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Iowa (5-1) won’t play again until December 3 in the Big Ten opener against Northwestern at home, and coach Fran McCaffery is hoping the break will help get his team healthy again.

“You never know exactly what the health of your team is going to be at any given time,” McCaffery said on Monday. “But this certainly appears to be coming at a really good time for us.”

Iowa had Saturday off after returning from Friday’s 77-69 loss to Utah State in the NABC Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City, Mo.

Payton Sandfort, second on the team in scoring at 17.2 points per game, didn’t practice on Sunday as he tries to recover from an injury to his right wrist. McCaffery said forward Seydou Traore and forward Josh Dix, who have been dealing with their own injuries, did practice.

“(Traore) appears to be fine. Josh looked better yesterday,” McCaffery said. “Payton didn’t practice. We’ll see how he does today.”

The Hawkeyes usually play in a multi-team event during Thanksgiving week — last season they played two games in San Diego. Instead, Tuesday’s game will serve as the final preparation before Iowa heads into a December schedule that includes the conference opener against Northwestern, a road Big Ten game against Michigan, a home game against a top-5 Iowa State team and a neutral-court game against Utah.

“So we’ll try to utilize that time to get a little bit healthier,” McCaffery said.

McCaffery, though, will still be watching basketball even though his players get some time off. He’s planning on travelling to Arizona to watch Butler play in the Arizona Tip-Off. McCaffery’s son Patrick is playing for the Bulldogs, while Connor McCaffery, Fran’s oldest son, is an assistant coach with the team.

“It’s one of the few times I’ll actually be able to see Patrick play,” McCaffery said. “So I’ll see him playing in Phoenix.”

The focus for now, though, is Tuesday’s game. USC Upstate is 2-6, including losses to North Carolina State, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. Three Spartans average in double figures in scoring, led by Mister Dean’s 18 points per game.

“Mister Dean is special, but he has some help,” McCaffery said. “They played a really good Wake Forest team right to the wire, it was a one-point game with 25 seconds to go. I’ve been impressed with how hard they play and how they share the ball and how they get productivity from a lot of different people.”

Photo: Iowa’s Payton Sandfort (right) didn’t practice on Sunday as he tries to recover from a wrist injury. (Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire)