Hawkeyes Top UMass Lowell in Nonconference Finale

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The 25th-ranked University of Iowa men’s basketball team defeated UMass Lowell, 90-62, in its nonconference finale Monday afternoon on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes move to 11-2 on the season.

The Hawkeyes wasted no time building a lead, starting the game on an 8-0 run before building a 17-4 lead. Junior Cam Manywau led Iowa in the opening minutes with eight points on 4-of-4 shooting to go along with three rebounds.

The Hawkeyes continued building on their lead, leading the River Hawks, 27-8, at the midway point of the first half. Iowa built its biggest lead of the first half, 47-23, with two minutes remaining before taking a 47-30 lead into the break.

Iowa scored 32 of its 47 first-half points in the paint while it had 14 assists on 18 field goals in the first 20 minutes. Senior Bennett Stirtz led the team with 11 points to go along with five assists. Manyawu added 10 points, while grabbing seven rebounds.

The second half would continue to be all Iowa as it used an 8-0 run a few minutes into the half to get its lead back over 20 and not letting it below 20 for the remainder of the game. The Hawkeyes used a 12-1 run with under nine minutes remaining to build a 73-41 advantage. 

Stirtz led Iowa with 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field. His eight assists on the night secured 500 assists for his career. Manyawu added 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting while pulling in nine rebounds and blocking three shots. Junior Alvaro Folgueiras shot 5-of-7 from the field, scoring 14 points, adding two rebounds, a block and a steal. Senior Tavion Banks rounded out Hawkeyes in double digits with 12 points on a perfect 5-of-5 night from the field.

The Hawkeyes shot 32-of-55 (58.2) from the field and 4-of-14 (28.6) from 3-point range. Iowa shot 22-of-24 (91.7) from the charity stripe. Iowa poured in 54 points in the paint while outrebounding the River Hawks, 29-25.

GAME NOTES

• The Hawkeyes closed out nonconference play with a 90-62 victory over UMass Lowell on Monday afternoon inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
• Iowa’s 11-2 start is the program’s best since the 2021-22 season (12-2).
• The Hawkeyes finish regular season nonconference play with a 10-1 mark – the best record in non-league play since the 2021-22 season (10-1).
• Iowa improves to 8-0 inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
• Iowa has won its last three games by a combined 123 points.
• The Hawkeyes had four players finish in double figures: Bennett Stirtz (22), Alvaro Folgueiras (14), Cam Manyawu (14), Tavion Banks (12)
• Stirtz tallied his fifth 20-point game of the season, finishing with 22 points and eight assists.  He was 7-of-13 from the floor and 7-of-7 from the free throw line.
  • Stirtz has seven games with 6+ assists and two games with 8+ assists this season.
• Manyawu finished with 14 points and tied a season high with nine rebounds. He also tied a career high with three blocks.
  • He finished 6-of-8 from the field with his six field goals being a season high.
  • Manyawu scored eight of Iowa’s first 12 points, going 4-of-4 from the floor.
• The Hawkeyes scored 90+ points for the fifth time this season and has held all but one opponent below 70 points.
• Iowa shot 58.2 percent (32-of-55) from the field and had a season-best .917 (22-of-24) free throw percentage.
  • The Hawkeyes have shot better than 50 percent from the field in five consecutive games and in a total of 10 games this season.
• The Hawkeyes had 20 assists to just seven turnovers. 
  • It was Iowa’s fifth game with 20 or more assists and the seventh game with fewer than 10 turnovers.
• Iowa had 10 steals in the game – its fifth game with 10 or more steals this season.
• The Hawkeyes jumped out to an 8-0 and 14-4 lead over the first 4 ½ minutes, making six of its first seven shots. 
  • Iowa never trailed and led by as many as 33 points in the second half.

UP NEXT
Iowa returns to action Jan. 3, hosting UCLA at 5 p.m. (CT) on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Tickets are available at the Iowa Athletics Ticket Office.