MBB Notes: vs. Ole Miss (Acrisure Classic)

 

OPPONENT	Ole Miss (5-0) vs. Iowa (5-0)
DATE	Tuesday, Nov. 25
LOCATION	Palm Desert, Calif. | Acrisure Arena (11,000)
KICKOFF	8:30 p.m. (CT)
TV	CBS Sports Network
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: Both games of the Acrisure Classic will be televised on the CBS Sports Network with Ed Cohen (play-by-play) and Dan Dickau (color) on the call.

OPENING TIP
• The Hawkeyes bring a 5-0 record to Palm Springs and into Tuesday’s neutral site game against Ole Miss at the Acrisure Classic.
• Tuesday’s game is Iowa’s first against an SEC opponent since 2023 (vs. Auburn in NCAA Tournament).
• Head coach Ben McCollum is the fourth Iowa coach all-time to open his tenure with five consecutive wins, joining Ed Role, Bucky O’Connor and Dr. Tom Davis.
• The Hawkeyes are leading the nation with a .576 field goal percentage, which includes a .655 effective field goal percentage.  Iowa is shooting 70 percent on two-point field goals.
• Iowa’s reserves have scored 50 points in consecutive games and the bench players are averaging 40 points during the team’s first five games.
• Senior guard Bennett Stirz is averaging 17.6 points with .574/.450/.893 shooting splits, while averaging 6.2 assists, three rebounds and 1.8 steals. He ranks in the top 15 in the Big Ten in points, assists and steals. 
• Amongst active players, Stirtz is the only player nationally ranked in the top 10 in points (1,706) and assists (463) and he is one of six to have 1,500 points and 350 assists. 
• Senior Tavion Banks posted Iowa’s first double-double of the season (18th of his career), finishing with 16 points and 10 rebounds on Nov. 20 against Chicago State.
• Junior Alvaro Folgueiras is averaging 12.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.4 steals.  He has 16 assists and zero turnovers in five games, while shooting 65.6 percent from the field and 52.6 percent from 3-point range. 
• Iowa is receiving votes in both the Associated Press and Coaches’ rankings in Week 3.  The Hawkeyes are 38th in both polls.
• 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 Wooden, Naismith, Oscar Robertson Trophy and NABC Division I National Player of the Year Watch List.

SCOUTING OLE MISS
• The Rebels bring a 5-0 record into the Acrisure Classic with all five victories coming at home.  Ole Miss’ best win came on Nov. 11 -- an 83-77 victory over Memphis.
• Ole Miss has three players averaging in double figures with Illias Kamardine leading the way at 15.8 points to go along with a team-high 26 assists, nine steals and 10 3-pointers.
• Malik Dia (14.4) and A.J. Storr (14.4) are also in double figures.  Storr is shooting 60 percent (9-of-15) from 3-point range to lead the team.  James Scott averages a team-high 6.8 rebounds.
• The Rebels are averaging 82.2 points, while shooting 46.8 percent as a team and 37.8 percent from 3-point range.  
• Ole Miss averages 40.8 rebounds and is +6.6 on the glass, while committing just nine turnovers per contest.
• Storr played in the Big Ten at Wisconsin two seasons ago and was at Kansas in 2024-25.  
• Chris Beard is in his third season at Ole Miss.  He led the Rebels to the Sweet 16 last season.

SERIES HISTORY
• Tuesday’s game is the first meeting between Iowa and Ole Miss in series history.
• The Hawkeyes have played 59 games against current members of the Southeastern Conference. Iowa is 30-29 against the SEC all-time.
• It is Iowa’s first game against an SEC opponent since the 2023 NCAA Tournament -- an 83-75 loss to Auburn in the Round of 64. (Iowa played Oklahoma in San Diego in 2023 -- a year before the Sooners joined the SEC.)
• The Hawkeyes’ last victory over an SEC opponent came in 2010 -- a 55-47 victory over Alabama in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, in the Paradise Jam.
• Iowa is 1-0 all-time against Grand Canyon, winning 86-74 in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament. The Hawkeyes were a No. 2 seed.
• Iowa is 1-2 all-time against Utah, splitting games in each of the last two seasons.  The Hawkeyes lost 91-82 in the NIT in Salt Lake City in 2024 before winning a neutral site game, 95-88, in Sioux Falls, S.D., last season.

LAST GAME: IOWA 81, XAVIER 62
The Hawkeyes shot 57 percent for the game, including 70 percent in the second half, in a 93-54 win over Chicago State on Nov. 20.  Iowa had four players finish in double figures in the game with senior Tavion Banks posting the team’s first double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds).
• Iowa made a season-high 12 3-pointers in the game and limited Chicago State to a .182 (2-of-11) clip from long range.
• The Cougars’ 54 points, including 24 in the first half, were both season lows by an Iowa opponent.

MORE NOTABLES
• Iowa begins a five-game stretch where it will play four (potentially five) Power 5 opponents in a five-game stretch with neutral site games against Ole Miss and Utah or Grand Canyon, the Big Ten opener at Michigan State, Maryland and at Iowa State.
• The Hawkeyes are averaging 40.4 points in the paint this season.
• Iowa altered its starting lineup for the first time this season against Chicago State. Junior guard Kael Combs made his first start of the season (second of his career), replacing Isaia Howard.
• Iowa has had freshmen post double-digit scoring outputs in the last two contest - Trevin Jirak (10 points vs. SEMO), Tate Sage (12 points vs. Chicago State).
• Senior Brendan Hausen has made six 3-pointers over his last two games against SEMO and Chicago State.  All seven of Hausen’s field goals this season have come from 3-point range.
• Combs finished with 11 points -- one off a career-high -- and four assists against Xavier, playing a season-high 32 minutes.  Combs has 17 assists to five turnovers in five games.
• The Hawkeyes have shot 50 percent or better from the field in all nine of 10 halves this season, including a season-high 70 percent in the second half against Chicago State.
• Iowa is third in the Big Ten and 25th nationally in 3-point field goal percentage (.405).  The team has made 10 or more 3-pointers in three contests.
• Iowa has the fourth-best scoring defense in the conference, allowing 64.8 points per game.  The Hawkeyes are forcing 16.5 turnovers per games -- third-most in the Big Ten.
• Iowa is leading the Big Ten in steals at 8.8 per game with Bennett Stirtz ranking eighth-most individually with nine steals.  The Hawkeyes have had 10+ steals in two games this season.
• The Hawkeyes attempted 44 free throws (made 36) in the season-opening win over Robert Morris.  Iowa, who has made 25 or more free throws in three games this season, is averaging 23 makes per game -- third-most in the Big Ten and sixth-most nationally.
• Iowa has attempted more free throws than its opponent in all five games this season.
• Director of basketball operations Kyle Denning is the lone holdover on Iowa’s staff.  Denning is in his 11th season with the program and fourth in his current position.