Hawkeyes Top Rutgers, 68-62

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa men’s basketball team defeated Rutgers, 68-62, on Tuesday night on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes improve to 14-5 on the season and 4-4 in conference play.

After trailing 5-0 to start the game, the Hawkeyes responded with seven straight points over a three-minute stretch. The Iowa defense held Rutgers scoreless for more than four minutes while holding them without a field goals for more than five minutes.

The game stayed close, with neither team leading by more than five before the Hawkeyes ended the first half on a 13-3 run to take a 31-24 lead into the break.

Seniors Tavion Banks and Bennett Stirtz paced the Hawkeyes with seven points apiece in the first 20 minutes. The Hawkeyes forced 12 Rutgers turnovers in the first half, turning them into 13 points.

Rutgers opened the second half on a 9-0 spurt, erasing its seven-point halftime deficit and taking the lead. With 10 minutes remaining, the Scarlet Knights had a three-point lead. Over the next six minutes, the Hawkeyes outscored Rutgers, 15-8, as they protected a six-point lead with under five minutes to play.

Iowa would protect its lead the rest of the way as a pair of free throws from freshman Tate Sage in the final seconds iced the win. Stirtz led all scorers with 20 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals. Sage marked a career-high 17 points to go along with four 3-pointers. Banks rounded out Hawkeyes in double-digits with 12 points, while sophomore Isaia Howard led Iowa on the glass with a career-high eight rebounds.

The Hawkeyes shot 24-of-51 (47.1 percent) from the field and 7-of-19 (36.8 percent) from 3-point range. Iowa converted on 13-of-16 (81.3 percent) from the free throw line. The Iowa defense forced 19 Rutgers turnovers, scoring 19 points off those turnovers.

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH BEN MCCOLLUM
“To be able to win consistently, you have to win games when you’re just not clicking. It wasn’t clicking for us tonight. I did think we did actually came ready, I thought our effort was actually pretty good. I thought our concentration was poor and that was the difference in what it was, just our concentration our execution with that stuff. But our effort was there, and we did come ready.

The concentration probably stems from us trying to figure out, hey, this is the Big Ten, and what are they, 2-5, or whatever. A 2-5 team in the Big Ten is a good team. They are good and they can be a lot. We need to make sure that we are consistent, the part of it is we’re probably tired with a bunch of games in a row and that sickness for a little bit. We need a break and we need to get back to practice and have some really good practices for a few days, not tomorrow though.”

GAME NOTES

• The Hawkeyes won their second straight game, downing Rutgers, 68-62, on Tuesday night inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.  
• The victory evens Iowa’s record at 4-4 through eight games in Big Ten play.
• Iowa moves to 10-1 at home this season.
• The Hawkeyes had three players land in double figures: Bennett Stirtz (20), Tate Sage (17), Tavion Banks (12)
  • Stirtz recorded his second straight and ninth 20-point game of the season. He scored 13 of his 20 points in the second half.
  • Stirtz also had five assists, four rebounds and two steals in the contest.
• Sage scored a career-high 17 points, making 5-of-7 field goals, including a career-high four 3-pointers. He made four of Iowa’s seven 3-point field goals in the game.
  • Sage is the first Iowa freshman to score 15+ points and have four 3-pointers against a Big Ten opponent since Joe Wieskamp against Ohio State in 2019.
• Stirtz played all 40 minutes for the sixth time this season and for the first time since Dec. 11 at Iowa State.
• Sophomore Isaia Howard finished with a career-high 8 rebounds to lead the team.
• Rutgers scored the first nine points of the second half to erase a seven-point halftime deficit. The Scarlet Knights scored 15 of the first 20 points over the first 7 ½ minutes, taking a 39-36 lead.
• Iowa held Rutgers to 62 points – eight points below its season average.
  • The Hawkeyes have held every opponent below its season scoring average this season.
• Iowa forced 12 turnovers in the first half and 19 for the game.
  • The Hawkeyes are 12-2 on the season when they have fewer turnovers than their opponent.
• The Hawkeyes trailed 18-13 at the 9:19 mark of the first half before outscoring Rutgers, 18-6, to take a 31-24 lead into the break. The Scarlet Knights made just two of their final 10 shots to end the half. 

UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes will have an eight-day break before hosting USC on Jan. 28 inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Tickets are available at hawkeyesports.com.