Hawkeyes Take Down No. 9 Nebraska, 57-52

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa men’s basketball team defeated No. 9 Nebraska, 57-52, on Tuesday night on Mediacom court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena to earn its first win over a ranked opponent since Feb. 17, 2024. The Hawkeyes improved to 19-7 on the season and 9-6 in conference play.

The opening 15 minutes of the game was back-and-forth as neither team led by more than four. The Hawkeyes used an 11-0 run as they held Nebraska scoreless for over 3 1/2 minutes as they built a 30-21 lead. The Iowa defense forced the Cornhuskers to miss five straight field goals in that span. A 3-pointer from senior Bennett Stirtz gave Iowa a 10-point lead -- its biggest lead of the game, but back-to-back Husker buckets cut the deficit to 33-28 at the break.

Stirtz paced Iowa with 13 points, while junior Alvaro Folgueiras added seven in the first half. The Hawkeyes shot 10-of-23 (43.5 percent) from the field and 3-of-10 from 3-point range and was perfect from the free throw line (10-of-10). Iowa outrebounded Nebraska, 19-6, in the opening 20 minutes, and didn’t allow a single offensive rebound.

The Huskers used a 13-6 run out of the break to build a 41-39 lead with 13 minutes left. Both teams then exchanged leads for the next eight minutes as Iowa led 47-45 with six minutes remaining. Leading by three with 36 seconds remaining, Stirtz got fouled on a 3-point attempt and he made all three free throws to give Iowa a six-point cushion.

A Nebraska 3-pointer on the following possession cut the Iowa lead back to three before redshirt freshman Cooper Koch and senior Tavion Banks both sunk a pair of free throws to ice the game away, giving Iowa its first top 10 win at home since Feb. 1, 2019.

Stirtz led all scorers with 25 points, collecting two rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two blocks. Koch added 10 points to go along with four rebounds. Banks led the Hawkeyes on the glass, with 10 rebounds, tying a season high.

The Hawkeyes shot 17-of-51 (33.3 percent) from the field and 6-of-23 (26.1 percent) from beyond the arc. Iowa missed just one free throw, converting on 17-of-18 (94.4 percent) from the free throw line. The Hawkeyes dominated the glass, outrebounding Nebraska, 37-24.

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH BEN MCCOLLUM
“First off, this is what it can be. You know, obviously, we’ve said it every single time we have a positive like this happen, we always make sure that everybody knows that this is what it can be. It can be this every night, it can be fun, like this. We appreciate, again, the crowd support, the energy. I think that willed us to victory. I really do. It was awesome. I thought it was really cool that the students showed up, we appreciate that. We also appreciate, we had an alum here, Aaron White. I think he’s going to come to every single game from here on out, make sure that we’re winning; he might be our good luck charm.

Nebraska is a really good basketball team. I thought they had a great game plan, particularly defensively. They are super physical and it was a good game. One thing, I do want to make sure that people understand, Payton and Pryce. Payton obviously played here four years, he’s a former player, he’s a Hawkeye. The Sandfort family means a lot to us, Pryce included. He left, but it was because of a coaching change, so it’s totally understandable. He played great, he’s having a great season, and the Sandfort family and all of them are very, very welcome here and certainly appreciate everything they’ve done.”

GAME NOTES

• The Hawkeyes recorded their 19th win, downing No. 9 Nebraska, 57-52, on Tuesday night inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena for the first ranked win of the Ben McCollum era.
  • The 57 points are Iowa's fewest in a win since Iowa defeated Northern Iowa, 51-39, on Dec. 7, 2012.
  • The 52 points are the fewest points scored by an Iowa opponent in Big Ten play since they allowed 48 vs. Rutgers on Jan. 19, 2022.
• The win is Iowa’s first over a ranked opponent since beating No. 20 Wisconsin on Feb. 17, 2024.
  • It is Iowa’s first victory over a top 10 ranked foe since March 13, 2022 (No. 9 Purdue) and the program’s first win over a top 10 ranked opponent in Iowa City since downing No. 5 Michigan on Feb. 1, 2019.
  • The victory is Iowa’s 75th win all-time against a top 10 ranked opponent.  
• It is Iowa’s third Quad 1 win of the season, giving the team a combined eight Quad 1 & Quad 2 victories.
• Iowa had two players land in double figures: Bennett Stirtz (25), Cooper Koch (10)
  • Stirtz recorded his eighth 20-point game in his last nine contests, finishing with 25 points on 8-of-22 shooting to go along with two rebounds, two steals, and two blocks.
  • It was his 15th 20-point game of the season (10th in Big Ten play).
  • He played all 40 minutes for the 10th time this season and the 50th time in his career. 
• Tavion Banks led all players with 10 rebounds.
  • The 10 rebounds tie a season high.
• The Hawkeyes held Nebraska to a season low 52 points – 27 below their season average.
  • Iowa has held all but one opponent under its season scoring average.
• Iowa dominated the rebounding battle, outrebounding the Huskers, 37-24.
  • It was the largest rebounding margin for Iowa in Big Ten play this season.
  • The Hawkeyes are 14-2 when winning the rebounding battle.  
• Iowa limited the Huskers to five 3-point field goals, tying a season low, and a .208 3-point percentage.
• The Hawkeyes went 17-of-18 from the free throw line.  
  • Iowa is 15-0 when shooting more free throws than its opponent.
• The Hawkeyes improve to 13-2 inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena this season.
• Iowa used an 11-0 and 13-2 run over a 3:50 stretch to build a 30-21 lead with 1:35 left in first half to force a Nebraska timeout.
  • The Hawkeyes led by as many as 10 points (33-23) in the first half before Nebraska scored the final five points, including hitting a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make the score 33-28 at the break.

UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes return to action Sunday, traveling to Madison to meet No. 24/25 Wisconsin at 3 p.m. (CT). The game will be televised on FS1.