Hawkeyes Top USC, 73-72

 IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa men’s basketball team defeated USC, 73-72, on Wednesday night on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena marking its third consecutive win. The Hawkeyes improve to 15-5 on the season and 5-4 in conference play.

The Hawkeyes started cold from the floor, missing their first nine shot attempts from the field and not making its first field goal until the 11:45 mark of the first half. The USC lead grew to, 14-3, before the Hawkeye offense settled in and cut the deficit to four, behind a 6-0 run. 

The Trojans would respond to the Iowa run, building their lead back up. Prior to the end of the half, Iowa would use a 9-0 run to, briefly, take its first lead of the game, 27-26. USC would score on the following possession, giving the Trojans a 28-27 lead after 20 minutes.

Seniors Tavion Banks and Bennett Stirtz paced Iowa in the first half with eight points apiece. Banks led the team on the glass with five rebounds while redshirt freshman Cooper Koch pulled in four rebounds. The Hawkeyes shot just 8-of-28 (28.6 percent) from the field and 1-of-11 (9.1 percent) from beyond the arc. Iowa was efficient at the free throw line shooting 10-of-11 (90.9 percent).

The Hawkeyes started the second half hot, making 9-of-13 shots, including 6-of-8 from beyond the arc as they erased their halftime deficit to build a 17-point lead, 53-36, just before the midway point of the second half. In that span the Hawkeyes used a 17-2 and 10-0 run to help build the lead.

After leading by 16 with five minutes remaining in the game, USC used a 13-0 run, getting all 13 points from Kam Woods, to cut the Iowa led to just three with three minutes remaining. A 3-pointer from junior Alvaro Folgueiras would end the USC run and move Iowa’s lead back to six with two minutes remaining.

USC took one-point lead with eight seconds remaining before Stirtz drew a foul with four seconds remaining, and went on to make both free throws, to give Iowa a one-point lead. USC’s 3-point shot attempt at the buzzer was off the mark as the Hawkeyes won, 73-72.

Banks and Stirtz led Iowa with 20 points apiece, while Banks also led Iowa on the glass with seven rebounds. Folgueiras added 14 points and three rebounds to round out Hawkeyes in double digits. As a team, Iowa shot, 23-of-55 (41.8 percent) from the field and 8-of-25 (32 percent) from 3-point range. The Hawkeyes shot 19-of-22 (86.4 percent) from the free-throw line. Iowa’s bench outscored USC, 22-6.

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH BEN MCCOLLUM
“I don’t know if it was just the days off that started us slow, but we started slow. I think I just had to go back to my Division II days and go crazy for a while and it seemed to work, so maybe I just need to coach like that from now on. I thought we got stops, I thought our game plan was excellent, I thought they kind of punished our game plan down the stretch there, while we were putting coverage on certain people, we weren’t as in coverage on Kam Woods. He was able to get to his spots and be able to finish. Obviously, it got him going, hit a few 3s, it became an issue for us.

"All-in-all good win. They are a good team. One of the most talented teams in the conference by far and away, and we’ll take it.”

GAME NOTES

• Iowa overcame a slow start and a furious Trojan rally to win its third straight game, downing USC, 73-72, on Wednesday night inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
• Senior Bennett Stirtz made two free throws with 4.6 seconds left to give the Hawkeyes the one-point win.
• The Hawkeyes move to 5-4 in Big Ten play, sitting above .500 for the second time this season.
• After scoring 27 points (and trailing 28-27) in the first 20 minutes, Iowa scored 20 of the first 24 points of the second half to open a 47-32 lead.
  • The Hawkeyes outscored the Trojans, 29-12 over the first nine minutes.  Iowa withstood a 31-17 run to close out the game over the final 10 minutes.
• Iowa had three players land in double figures: Bennett Stirtz (20), Tavion Banks (20), Alvaro Folgueiras (14)
• Stirtz recorded his third straight 20-point game and his 10th of the season. He also had three rebounds and three steals in 40 minutes.
  • It was his second straight game playing 40 minutes (seventh time this season). 
• Banks recorded his second 20-point game of the season -- his second in three games. He made 5-of-11 field goals and had a team-high seven rebounds and two steals.
  • Banks went 8-of-8 from the free throw line, extending his season streak to 30 consecutive free throw makes dating back to Dec. 20.
• Folgueiras reached double figures for the first time since Jan. 3 – his ninth game in double digits this season. He also had five rebounds.
  • Iowa is 9-0 when Folgueiras scores in double figures.
• Iowa held USC to 72 points in the game – 10 below its season average.  The Hawkeyes have held every opponent this season below its season scoring average.
• The Hawkeyes improve to 11-1 inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena this season.
• Iowa outrebounded USC, 32-29. The Hawkeyes are 12-2 when winning the rebounding battle.
• The Hawkeyes went 19-of-22 from the free throw line; USC was 11-of-16. 
• Iowa fell behind 10-0 over the first four minutes, committing four turnovers and missing its first four shots. USC made 4-of-5 field goals to open the contest.
  • The Hawkeyes didn’t score their first point until the 13:46 mark of the first half and trailed 18-8 with 9:39 left in the half.
  • Trailing 24-14, Iowa closed out the first half with a 13-4 run and trailed 28-27 at the break.  The Hawkeyes made three of their final four shots of the half after going 5-of-23 to start the game.

UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes return to action Sunday, traveling to Eugene to face Oregon at 7 p.m. (CT).