MBB Notes -- Rutgers

 

OPPONENT	Rutgers at RV/#23 Iowa
DATE	Tuesday, Jan. 20
LOCATION	Iowa City, Iowa | Carver-Hawkeye Arena
KICKOFF	7:37 p.m. (CT)
TV	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 includes1 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 Kevin Kugler (play-by-play) and Shon Morris (color) on the call.

OPENING TIP
• Iowa has won five straight and eight of the last nine in the series against Rutgers, including four consecutive meetings inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
• The Hawkeyes picked up their first road win of the season (and first Quad 1 victory), downing Indiana, 74-57, on Saturday in Bloomington.
• Seniors Bennett Stirtz (27) and Tavion Banks (26) combined for 53 of Iowa’s 74 points, nearly outscoring the Hoosiers by themselves.  They were 15-of-25 from the field and 19-of-20 from the free throw stripe.
• Stirtz and Banks are the first Hawkeye duo to score 25+ on the road since Feb. 10, 2022, when Jordan Bohannon and Keegan Murray both netted 30 points in a road victory at Maryland.
• Banks, whose 26 points at Indiana were a Division I career high, has made 21 consecutive free throws dating back to Dec. 20.
• Four of Iowa’s five losses have come against top 20 opponents and four of the five defeats have come on the road.
• The Hawkeyes got a career-high 16 points and four 3-point field goals from junior guard Kael Combs in the road loss at No. 5 Purdue.  Combs has posted career highs in scoring in twice of the team’s last four games.
• Stirtz is averaging 20.7 points, four assists, 2.1 rebounds and 0.9 steals in Big Ten play, while shooting 47.5 percent from the field and 37 percent from 3-point range. He has a team-high 20 3-pointers.
• Iowa ranks 13th nationally in field goal percentage, shooting 51.1 percent.  The team also is 12th in effective field goal percentage (.587).
• The Hawkeyes are allowing 62.4 points per game -- the fewest in the Big Ten and fifth-fewest nationally. Iowa has held six opponents under 60 points this season; the past three seasons the team held opponents under 60 points five times combined.
• Iowa has held every opponent below its team season scoring average on the year.
• Amongst active players, Stirtz is the only player nationally ranked in the top 10 in points (1,946) and assists (522) and he is one of six to have 1,500 points and 350 assists. 

SCOUTING RUTGERS
• The Scarlet Knights have dropped three of five games since the calendar turned to 2026, seeing their record fall to 9-9 overall and 5-5 in Big Ten play.
• Rutgers has home Big Ten wins over Oregon (88-85) and Northwestern (77-75), both in overtime.  The Scarlet Knights lost at Wisconsin, 96-87, on Saturday.
• The Scarlet Knights are 0-4 in true road games this season and 1-6 in road/neutral contests away from Piscataway.
• Two Rutgers players -- Tariq Francis and Dylan Grant --  average in double figures.  Francis leads the team with a 15.3 scoring average to go along with 42 assists and 19 steals.  He is shooting 44.3 percent from the field and 87.8 from the free throw stripe.  Grant averages 11.8 points and 4.9 boards.
• Jamichael Davis averages 7.9 points and has a team-best 49 assists, while Emmanuel Ogbole leads the team in rebounding , pulling in 6.7 per game.
• Rutgers averages 70.7 points, while giving up 74.4 points this season.  The Scarlet Knights shoot 40.8 percent from the field, but just 32.3 percent from long range, averaging 6.6 3-pointers per game.
• The Scarlet Knights are -0.3 on the glass and have only five more assists than turnovers (199-to-194) on the season.  

SERIES HISTORY
• Tuesday’s game is the 18th meeting in the all-time series between Iowa and Rutgers.  The Hawkeyes lead, 14-3.
• Iowa has won five straight and eight of the last nine in the series, dating back to the 2019-20 campaign.  The Hawkeyes won 84-73 in Piscataway last season.
• The Hawkeyes have won four straight meetings inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.  Iowa is 6-1 against the Scarlet Knights in Iowa City.
• Rutgers’ lone win in the Hawkeye State came on March 2, 2019, winning 86-72 in the regular season home finale.

 

LAST GAME: IOWA 74, INDIANA 57
The Hawkeyes picked up their first road victory and first Quad 1 win, downing Indiana, 74-57, on Saturday in Bloomington.  Iowa never trailed in the game and led by as many as 20 points in the second half.
• Senior Bennett Stirtz (27) and senior Tavion Banks (26) combined for 53 points, nearly outscoring the Hoosiers by themselves.  The duo was 15-of-25 from the floor and 19-of-20 from the free throw line.
• Iowa held Indiana without a field goal for a nine-minute stretch in the second half and the Hoosiers’ 57 points were a season low -- 26 points below their season average.

MORE NOTABLES
• Freshman guard Peyton McCollum suffered a foot injury in practice on Jan. 8 that will require him to miss the remainder of the 2025-26 season.   
• The Hawkeyes climbed as high as No. 19 in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches’ Polls on Jan. 5.  It was Iowa’s highest ranking since being 16th in the final poll during the 2021-22 season.
• Iowa made its debut in the AP poll in Week 8.  It was the program’s first time in the AP poll since Nov. 21, 2022 (No. 25 ranking). 
• The Hawkeyes have been in the Coaches’ Poll in each of the last seven weeks.
• In Big Ten play, Hawkeye opponents have attempted 44 more free throw attempts (107 to 151) and made 32 more free throws (82 to 114).  Iowa has been whistled for 17 more fouls than its opponents.
• Iowa used its third starting lineup of the season, inserting Alvaro Folgueiras into the lineup in place of Tavion Banks on Jan. 11 against Illinois (due to Banks’ being sick).  It was Folgueiras’ first start as a Hawkeye.
• Senior Bennett Stirtz won his 100th career game on Dec. 14 in the victory over Western Michigan.  During his collegiate career, Stirtz has posted a 104-17 record (.860 winning percentage).
• During the month of December, Iowa was the second-most efficient team in the country based on efficiency data by Torvik (trailing only Michigan).
• The Hawkeyes finished 10-1 in nonconference play -- the best record in non-league play since the 2021-22 season (10-1).
• Senior Bennett Stirtz is the 10th-most valuable player to his team nationally by Evan Miya.  He has been KenPom’s Game MVP nine times this season -- tied for the sixth-most in the nation.
• The Hawkeyes allowed just 39 points -- the fewest since 2013 (vs. UNC Wilmington) -- against Bucknell.   The .597 points allowed per possession was the fewest by the team since 2013.
• Iowa was +20 on the glass in the win over Bucknell, its largest rebounding advantage of the season.  The Hawkeyes have won the rebounding battle in 13 games (11-2 record).
• The Hawkeyes are averaging 33.2 points in the paint this season.  Iowa has scored 50 or more points in the paint in three games, including a season-high 54 points in the win over UMass Lowell on Dec. 29.
• Senior Brendan Hausen scored a season-high 13 points and made a season-best four 3-pointers on Dec. 14 against Western Michigan. Hausen has made 18 field goals this season with 16 coming from long range.  
• The Hawkeyes made a season-high 14 3-point field goals with six different players making at least one in the win over Western Michigan.  Iowa is second in the Big Ten (and ranks 28th nationally) with a .377 3-point field goal percentage.
• Iowa has made 10 or more 3-pointers in five contests and eight or more 11 times.
• The Hawkeyes attempted 44 free throws (made 36) in the season-opening win over Robert Morris.  Iowa has made 25 or more free throws in three games this season.
• Iowa has attempted more free throws than its opponent in 11 games this season.  The team has shot above 90 percent from the foul stripe twice this season -- a season-high 91.7 percent (22-of-24) in the win over UMass Lowell on Dec. 29 and 91.3 (21-of-23) percent in the victory at Indiana on Jan. 17.
• It was the first time since 2019 that Iowa has shot at least 90 percent from the free throw line on the road (minimum 20 attempts).