MBB Notes: NCAA First Round vs. Clemson

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 includes 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.
National Radio: NCAA Tournament contests will be broadcast on Westwood One on Sirius 209/XM 202. John Sadak (play-by-play) and Tom Crean (color) will be on the call.
TV: Friday’s game will be televised on TNT with Tom McCarthy (play-by-play), Dan Bonner (color), Candace Parker (color) and AJ Ross (sideline) on the call.

OPENING TIP
• Iowa is making its 30th NCAA Tournament all-time and the first since the 2022-23 season.  The Hawkeyes are 31-31 all-time in the Big Dance.
• Head coach Ben McCollum is one of two Iowa head coaches (Dr. Tom Davis) to lead the program to the NCAA Tournament in year one.  McCollum has guided his first two teams to the NCAA Tournament at the Division I level (Drake, 2025). 
• Senior Bennett Stirtz earned first-team All-Big Ten honors by the media and second team by the coaches. He is the first Hawkeye to garner first-team honors since 2023.
• Stirtz has averaged 21 points and six assists in two career NCAA Tournament games at the Division I level.
• The Hawkeyes’ 21 wins this season are the most for the program since 2021-22.
• McCollum has led his team to 15th straight 20-win seasons and he is one of two Hawkeye head coaches (Dr. Tom Davis) to win at least 20 games in his first season.
• Stirtz has scored 30+ points three times and 20+ points in 11 times in the last 16 games (18 times this season; third-most in Big Ten). His 36 points against Northwestern are the most by a Hawkeye since Luka Garza in 2021 and are tied for the fourth-most in a game in Carver-Hawkeye Arena history.
• Stirtz finished third in the Big Ten in scoring in league-only games, averaging 22.2 points to go along with 3.8 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals with a .500/.373/.839 shooting clip. He had three 30-point and 13 20-point contests in league play.
• Over his last 15 games, Stirtz has played 40 minutes nine times and has been on the court for all but 7:58 of the possible 605 minutes of game action.
• Iowa ranks 21st nationally in field goal percentage, shooting 49.1 percent.  The team also is 20th in effective field goal percentage (.519).
• The Hawkeyes are allowing 66 points per game -- the fewest in the Big Ten and 17th-fewest nationally. Iowa has held eight opponents at 60 points or less this season -- the most since 2014-15.
• Iowa has held all but three opponents below its team season scoring average on the year.

IOWA IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
• Iowa is making its 30th NCAA Tournament appearance all-time and the first since the 2022-23 season.  
• The Hawkeyes are a No. 9 seed for the second time in program history.  Iowa was previously a nine seed in 1992 where it defeated Texas (98-92) in the Round of 64 before losing to top-seeded Duke, 75-62.  
• Iowa is 5-6 against ACC teams in the NCAA Tournament.
• Iowa hasn’t advanced to the second weekend of the Big Ten Tournament since the 1998-99 season in Dr. Tom Davis’ final season as head coach.  Cooper Koch’s father, J.R., was a member of that Sweet 16 squad.

IOWA'S NCAA TOURNAMENT EXPERIENCE
• Head coach Ben McCollum is 36-8 (.818) all-time in NCAA Tournament play at the Division I and Division II levels.  He won four NCAA Division II titles at Northwest Missouri State (2017, 2019, 2021, 2022).  
• McCollum is 1-1 in the Division I NCAA Tournament, leading Drake to the second round in 2025.  The Bulldogs upset No. 6 seed Missouri in the Round of 64.
• Iowa has six players on the roster that have a combined 11 games of NCAA Tournament experience -- Bennett Stirtz (2), Cam Manyawu (2), Isaia Howard (2), Kael Combs (2), Tavion Banks (2) and Alvaro Folgueiras (1).
• Stirtz averaged 21 points, six assists and two rebounds during the 2025 NCAA Tournament, shooting 56.7 percent (17-of-30) from the field and 55.6 percent (5-of-9) from long range. He finished with 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting (3-of-3 3PT) and four assists in the win over Missouri in the opening round before scoring 21 points on 9-of-19 shooting with eight assists and three rebounds against Texas Tech.
• Tavion Banks averaged 13 points and 6.5 rebounds in the two games, including a 15 point, nine rebound game against Mizzou, while Kael Combs finished with 13 points and five rebounds against the Red Raiders.
• Folguerias posted a double-double for Robert Morris against second-seeded Alabama in the Round of 64, finishing with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting with 10 rebounds and four assists.

SCOUTING CLEMSON
• The Tigers enter March Madness with a 24-10 overall record and the team finished 12-6 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, tying for fourth place.  Clemson advanced to the semifinals of the ACC Tournament before falling to top-seeded Duke, 73-61.
• Clemson’s second-leading scorer and top rebounder Carter Welling suffered an ACL injury in the ACC Tournament.  He averaged 10.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game and led the team with 24 blocks.
• RJ Godfrey, an honorable mention All-ACC performer, leads the team with an 11.9 scoring average to go along with 5.3 rebounds.  He shoots 61.2 percent from the field.
• The Tigers have nine players averaging at least 5.4 points this season for a team that scores 74.1 points per game.  Dillon Hunter (7.5 points) leads the team with 103 assists, while Jestin Porter (9.6 points) has 42 steals.  
• Clemson shoots 45.3 percent from the field and 34.1 percent fro long range, averaging 8.2 made 3s per contest.  The Tigers have +56 in points at the free throw stripe.
• Defensively, the Tigers are second in the ACC and 27th nationally, allowing 66.7 points.  Opponents shot 41.9 percent from the field and 32.6 percent from 3-point land.
• Clemson has allowed 60 or fewer points seven times this season and 70 or fewer 24 times.
• Brad Brownell is the longest tenured coach in the ACC, as he is wrapping up his 16th year with the Tigers.  The 2026 NCAA Tournament is Clemson’s sixth appearance under Brownell.  He has won 316 games as the Tigers’ head coach and he led the program to the Elite Eight in 2024.

SERIES HISTORY
• Friday’s game is the fifth meeting all-time between Iowa and Clemson that began in 1962.  The Hawkeyes lead the series, 3-1.
• It is the first meeting between the schools in the postseason.
• Iowa won the most recent meeting, winning 74-71 in a semifinal game at the Emerald Coast Classic in Niceville, Florida, on Nov. 25, 2022.  The Hawkeyes’ lone loss came in Iowa City, falling 71-55 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in 2011.

LAST GAME: OHIO STATE 72, IOWA 69
The Hawkeyes nearly erased a 16-point second-half deficit and had a look at a game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer in a 72-69 loss to eighth-seeded Ohio State in the third round of the Big Ten Tournament on March 12.  
• After leading 34-30 at the break, the Buckeyes used a 17-5 run to open a 51-35 lead.  Iowa stormed back with a 10-1 spurt and got to within 70-69 with 39 seconds to play.
• Senior Bennett Stirtz scored 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting as he was the only Hawkeye in double figures.  Iowa made 10 3-pointers in the game. 

IOWA'S BENNETT STIRTZ IS...
• eighth among active players (all levels) with 2,279 career points.  He eclipsed the 2,000-point mark on Feb. 1 at Oregon.
• fifth among NCAA Division I players in active scoring, trailing Graham Ike (Gonzaga), Tucker DeVries (Indiana), Jadin Booth (Samford) and Nijel Pack (Oklahoma).
• a first-team All-Big Ten selection by the media and a second-team honoree by the league coaches.  He is the first Hawkeye to garner first team honors since the 2022-23 season.
• is 14-4 in win or go home games in his collegiate career (4-1 as freshman at Northwest Missouri State, 5-1 as sophomore at Northwest, 4-1 at Drake, 1-1 at Iowa).
• the only player in the nation with 660+ points, 145+ assists, 80+ 3-pointers, 80+ rebounds and 45+ steals.
• the only player in the nation with 660+ points, 145+ assists,  80+ rebounds and 45+ steals.
• the only player in the Big Ten (one of two power conference players) with 660+ points and 145+ assists.  
• the second Iowa player all-time with 600+ points and 100 assists+ in a single season, joining Andre Woolridge.
• the sixth Hawkeye all-time to have 500 points and 100 assists in a single season, joining B.J. Armstrong, Roy Devyn Marble, Ronnie Lester, Dean Oliver and Andre Woolridge.
• averaged 22.2 points in Big Ten play this season.  In the last 20 years, only Luka Garza (26.2 ppg.) in 2019-20 averaged more points than Stirtz in Big Ten contests.
• the first Hawkeye since Keegan Murray (2021-22) to record 500+ points, 60+ 3-pointers and 35+ steals.  He is the first Iowa guard to do it since Matt Gatens (2011-12).
• looking to become the first Hawkeye in 26 years to lead the team in scoring, assists and steals.  Dean Oliver led the team in all three categories during the 1999-00 season. (The last player to lead the team in points and assists was Devyn Marble during the 2012-13 season).

STIRTZ JOINS AN EXCLUSIVE LIST
Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz became the 11th college basketball player to record 2,000+ points, 550+ assists, 450+ rebounds and 225+ steals during his career in Iowa’s game against Michigan on March 5.  He is the first to accomplish the feat since 2022.

MOST WINS BY A FIRST-YEAR HAWKEYE
Ben McCollum is one of two Hawkeye head coaches to win 20 or more games in their first season with the program. 

Dr. Tom Davis (1986-87) - 30
Ben McCollum (2025-26) - 21