MBB Notes: SEMO

 

OPPONENT	SEMO at Iowa
DATE	Tuesday, Nov. 18
LOCATION	Iowa City, Iowa | Carver-Hawkeye Arena (14,998)
KICKOFF	7:30 p.m. (CT)
STREAM	BTN
RADIO	Hawkeye Radio Network

 

ON THE AIR
Radio: Games are broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network with Gary Dolphin (play-by-play) and Bobby Hansen (color) on the call.  The network includes more than 40 stations that blanket the state of Iowa and includes portions of Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin.  The Hawkeye Radio Network includes a 60-minute pregame show.
TV: Tuesday’s game will be televised on BTN with Cory Provus (play-by-play) and Jess Settles (color) on the call.

OPENING TIP
• The Hawkeyes bring a 3-0 record into Tuesday’s game against SEMO after downing Big East foe Xavier, 81-62, on Nov. 14 in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
• Iowa assistant Connor Wheeler spent two seasons at SEMO as an assistant coach from 2022-24 under Brad Korn.
• Senior guard Bennett Stirz has scored 20+ points in consecutive games and is the only Hawkeye to reach double figures in all three contests.  He averages 21.3 points with .588/.462/.900 shooting splits, while averaging 5.3 assists, three rebounds and 2.7 steals.
• Iowa’s reserves are averaging 33.3 points per game over the first three contests.
• After being +1 on the glass over the first two contests, Iowa out-rebounded Xavier, 41-24, on Nov. 14 with three players grabbing 8+ rebounds.
• The Hawkeyes have shot better than 50 percent from the field in all six halves this season and are shooting .568 as a team, which ranks sixth nationally.
• Iowa’s defense held Xavier to a .390 field goal percentage and a .242 clip from 3-point range -- both season lows by a Hawkeye opponent.
• Ben McCollum is the third Iowa head coach since 1986-87 to win his first three games as the Hawkeyes’ head coach, joining Tom Davis and Todd Lickliter.
• Amongst active players, Stirtz is the only player nationally ranked in the top 10 in points (1,682) and assists (448) and he is one of six to have 1,500 points and 350 assists.
• Iowa is receiving votes in both the Associated Press and Coaches’ rankings in Week 2. The Hawkeyes are 39th in the AP poll and 40th in the Coaches’ poll.
• Iowa’s 12-player transfer portal class was ranked eighth nationally by 247Sports.
• Stirtz is a preseason All-American by CBS Sports, Field of 68, Jon Rothstein and Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook and he’s on the Naismith, Oscar Robertson Trophy and NABC Division I National Player of the Year Watch List.

SCOUTING SEMO
• The Redhawks bring a 1-3 record into Tuesday’s game with their lone win coming against Webster, 87-41, on Nov. 12.  SEMO has road losses at Saint Louis (92-67), at Missouri (89-84) and a home loss to St. Thomas (84-72).
• SEMO has four players averaging in double figures: Luke Almodovar (14.3), Braxton Stacker (13.3), Marqueas Bell (12.3) and BJ Ward (11.5). Bell also leads the team in rebounding and is second in assists.
• The Redhawks are shooting 44.5 percent from the field, but just 28.1 percent from 3-point range.  The team averages 77.5 points, scoring 80+ in two contests.
• SEMO has forced 70 turnovers in four games with its opponents averaging 17.5 turnovers. The Redhawks are -3.8 on the glass.

SERIES HISTORY
• Tuesday’s game is the third meeting in the all-time series between Iowa and SEMO. The Hawkeyes lead the series, 2-0.
• Iowa won the first meeting, 75-41, in 2008 and 106-75 in 2022.
• The Hawkeyes are 1-0 against the Ohio Valley Conference this season, courtesy of the 77-58 win over Western Illinois. Iowa is 30-1 against the current members of the OVC all-time.

LAST GAME: IOWA 81, XAVIER 62
The Hawkeyes had three players land in double figures in an 81-62 victory over Big East Conference foe Xavier on Friday in Iowa City. Iowa shot 56.9 percent from the field with 50 points coming in the paint and limited the Musketeers to 39 percent shooting in the victory.
• Bennett Stirtz paced the team with 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting to go along with eight rebounds, three assists and two steals.
• Tavion Banks scored 13, while Kael Combs finished with a season-high 11. The Hawkeyes got 34 points from their reserves in the win and out-rebounded Xavier, 41-24.
• Cam Manyawu had a game-high nine rebounds, while Alvaro Folgueiras had eight boards.

MORE NOTABLES
• Junior Kael Combs finished with 11 points -- one off a career-high -- and four assists against Xavier, playing a season-high 32 minutes. Combs has 10 assists in three games.
• Junior Cam Manyawu had nine points and nine rebounds in 18 minutes against the Musketeers. Manyawu is averaging 7.7 points and 4.7 rebounds in 14.3 minutes per contest.
• Iowa scored 50 of its 81 points in the paint in the win over Xavier.
• The Hawkeyes have shot 50 percent or better from the field in all six halves this season, including a season-high 64 percent in the first half of the season opener. The team has shot 60+ percent twice.
• Iowa ranks is tops in the Big Ten and sixth nationally in field goal percentage (.568) and 11th in effective field goal percentage (.635) through the first three contests.
• The Hawkeyes have the fourth-best scoring defense in the conference, allowing 63 points per game.
• Iowa is leading the Big Ten in steals at eight per game.
• The Hawkeyes attempted 44 free throws (made 36) in the season-opening win over Robert Morris. Iowa, who has made 20 or more free throws twice in a game this season, is averaging 23.7 makes per game (18th-most nationally).