Hawkeyes Down the Ducks, 84-66

EUGENE, Ore. – The University of Iowa men’s basketball team defeated Oregon, 84-66, on Sunday night at Matthew Knight Arena to mark its fourth consecutive win. The Hawkeyes improve to 16-5 on the season and 6-4 in conference play.

The first eight minutes of the game was back and forth, featuring 10 lead changes and five ties. Back-to-back 3-pointers from senior Bennett Stirtz would give Iowa a four-point cushion with nine minutes remaining in the half. The Hawkeyes would use a, 20-5, run over the final 12 minutes of the half to create a, 35-26, lead at the break.

Stirtz paced the Hawkeyes with 11 points to go along with three assists. The Liberty, Missouri, native shot 4-of-5 from the field and 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Junior Alvaro Folgueiras added eight points, four rebounds, and two steals. Seven different Hawkeyes scored in the first 20 minutes.

As a team, Iowa shot 15-of-30 from the field and 5-of-14 (35.7 percent) from 3-point range while attempting just one free throw. Iowa’s bench added 13 points while the Hawkeyes committed just one turnover in the first 20 minutes.

Oregon cut Iowa’s lead to just five, four-minutes into the half and then the Hawkeyes took control for the remainder of the game. A pair of free-throws from sophomore Isaia Howard gave Iowa a 12-point lead with eight minutes to play, then the Hawkeyes led by nine or more the remainder of the game. Iowa stretched its lead to as many as 20, defeating the Ducks, 84-66.

Stirtz eclipsed the 2,000-career point mark with his career-high 32-point performance. He added seven assists and two steals, while shooting 12-of-15 from the field, 4-of-6 from 3-point range, and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. Folgueiras added 15 points, eight rebounds, and three assists while shooting 6-of-9 from the floor. Senior Brendan Hausen contributed 11 points shooting 3-of-6 from 3-point range while redshirt freshman Cooper Koch rounded out Hawkeyes in double digits with 10 points, three rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

The Hawkeyes shot 33-of-56 (58.9 percent) from the floor and 10-of-22 (45.5 percent) from beyond the arc. Iowa converted 8-of-10 from the free-throw line. Iowa’s bench added 34 points while the Hawkeyes committed a season low, five turnovers.

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH BEN MCCOLLUM
“I thought they did a great job. Defensively we were really engaged and then particularly offensively, we’ve been working on it for quite a few games, just being able to get more drives that are away from a ball screen. I thought we’ve been pretty ball screen dependent, which is what we do, but we have to punish things away from the actual pick-and-roll, too. We did much better tonight of doing that. We’re still a long ways away and are a major work in progress, but I was really pleased with it."

GAME NOTES

• The Hawkeyes pushed their winning streak to four games with an 84-66 victory over Oregon on Sunday night at Matthew Knight Arena.  It was the team’s first ever win in Eugene.
• Iowa has won four straight games in Big Ten play for the first time since the 2022-23 season. 
• The 16-5 record is the team’s best through 21 games since the 2018-19 season.
• The victory is the team’s second straight true road win after starting the season with four straight losses.
• Four Hawkeyes reached double figures: Bennett Stirtz (32), Alvaro Folgueiras (15), Brendan Hausen (11), Cooper Koch (10)
• Stirtz had a career-high 32 points, making 12-of-15 field goals, 4-of-6 3-pointers and all four free throws. He also had seven assists and two steals without committing a turnover (his seventh such game this season). 
  • Stirtz, who scored 15 points in the first nine minutes of the second half, hit the 30-point mark for the third time in his career.  His 12 field goals were also a career high.
  • Stirtz’s 32 points are the most by a Hawkeye since Tony Perkins (32 vs. Illinois) on Feb. 4, 2023.
  • He is the first Iowa player to have 30+ points, 5+ assists and zero turnovers since Jordan Bohannon at Maryland (2/10/22). He is the first player in the StatHead era to have 30+ points, six assists and zero turnovers.
  • It is the third time in Stirtz’s career that he has scored 20+ points in four consecutive games.
  • Stirtz is the first Hawkeye since the 2023-24 season to score 20+ in four straight games (Tony Perkins, 1/24/24-2/24/24).
  • Stirtz’s field goal at the 15:53 mark of the second half put him over the 2,000-point mark for his collegiate career.  He is eighth among active scorers in collegiate basketball (all levels) with 2,020 points.
• Folgueiras reached double figures for the second straight game and for the 10th time this season.  He also had a team-high eight rebounds, tying a season-high.
  • Iowa is 10-0 when Folgueiras scores in double digits. 
• Koch scored in double figures for the first time since Jan. 11.  He made three 3-point field goals.
• Hausen reached double digits for the third time this season (first since Dec. 14).  He went 4-of-7 from the floor with three 3-point field goals.
• Iowa shot 58.9 percent from the field, including 69.2 percent (18-of-26) in its 49-point second half.  Iowa scored 1.474 points per possession in the game.
• The Hawkeyes made at least 10 3-pointers for the sixth time this season.
• Iowa’s defense didn’t allow a fastbreak point for the second time this season. Oregon’s 66 points were six points below its season average.
  • The Hawkeyes have held every opponent under its season scoring average.
• Iowa trailed 17-15 at the 12:15 mark of the first half before using a 17-4 run over an eight-minute stretch to open a 32-21 lead. Stirtz had three 3-pointers during the stretch.

UP NEXT
Iowa returns to action Wednesday, facing Washington in Seattle at 10 p.m. (CT). The game will be televised on BTN.