MBB Notes - Senior Night vs. No. 3 Michigan

 

OPPONENT	#3 Michigan at Iowa
DATE	Thursday, March 5
LOCATION	Iowa City, Iowa | Carver-Hawkeye Arena
KICKOFF	7 p.m. (CT)
TV	NBC Sports Network/Peacock
RADIO	Hawkeye Radio Network

 

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 includes1 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.
TV: Thursday’s game will be televised on the NBC Sports Network/Peacock with Paul Burmeister (play-by-play) and Jess Settles (color) on the call.

OPENING TIP
• The Hawkeyes host No. 3 Michigan on Thursday on Senior Night In Iowa City.  It is Iowa’s third game against a top-five ranked opponent and fifth against a top 10 foe this season.
• Iowa will recognize six seniors on Senior Night -- Tavion Banks, Brendan Hausen and Bennett Stirtz along with managers Max Aulwes, Matthew Boylen and Colby Calvert. 
• Iowa notched its first 20-win season since 2021-22 in its 74-57 victory over Ohio State on Feb. 25 in Iowa City. 
• It is head coach Ben McCollum’s 15th straight 20-win season and he is now one of two Hawkeye head coaches (Dr. Tom Davis) to win at least 20 games in year one.
• Iowa posted a signature victory, downing No. 9 Nebraska, 57-52, on Feb. 17 in Iowa City. It was the program’s first top 10 home win since 2019.
• Senior Bennett Stirtz has scored 30+ points three times and 20+ points in 10 of the last 12 games (17 times this season; tied for second-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 is second in the Big Ten in scoring in league-only games, averaging 22.9 points to go along with 3.8 assists, 2.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals with a .520/.388/.841 shooting clip. He has three 30-point and 12 20-point contests in league play.
• Over his last 11 games, Stirtz has played 40 minutes seven times and has been on the court for all but 5:05 of the possible 440 minutes of game action.
• Stirtz has been named to the Naismith Trophy College Player of the Year Late-Season Team, the Wooden Award Late Midseason Top 20 and the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Top 10 lists.
• Junior Alvaro Folgueiras scored a season-high 20 points, making 8-of-10 field goals, to go along with four rebounds and five assists in Iowa’s win over Ohio State. The Hawkeyes are 12-1 when Folgueiras lands in double figures.
• Iowa ranks 22nd nationally in field goal percentage, shooting 49.5 percent.  The team also is 21st in effective field goal percentage (.568).
• The Hawkeyes are allowing 65 points per game -- the fewest in the Big Ten and 11th-fewest nationally. Iowa has held eight opponents at 60 points or less this season -- the most since 2014-15.
• Iowa has held all but two opponents below its team season scoring average on the year.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN
• The Wolverines clinched the Big Ten regular season title with an 84-70 road win at No. 10 Illinois on Friday night in Champaign.  Michigan is 27-2 overall and 17-1 in Big Ten play.
• Michigan has won 13 straight Big Ten games since losing  91-88 to Wisconsin on Jan. 10 in Ann Arbor.  The team’s only other loss came against No. 3 Duke, 68-63, in Washington D.C. on Feb. 21.
• The Wolverines have four players averaging in double figures and seven players averaging at least 7.2 points per game for a team that scores 89 points per contest -- eighth-best nationally.  Michigan is shooting 51 percent (eighth in the nation) as a team and 36 percent from long range. 
• Michigan has scored 90+ points 11 times and 100+ seven times.  The Wolverines’ scoring margin is +20.2, which ranks fourth in the nation.
• Yaxel Lendeborg leads the team, averaging 14.3 points to go along with 7.3 rebounds while shooting 49.8 percent from the field.  He also averages 3.3 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.2 steals and has made 40 3s.
• Morez Johnson, Jr., averages 13.4 points and a team-high 7.4 rebounds, while shooting 65.2 percent (seventh-best nationally), while Aday Mara averages 11.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.6 blocks (fourth in nation) and 2.4 assists with a team-high 67.7 field goal percentage.  Point guard Elliot Cadeau averages 10.1 points and 5.5 assists and has made 48 3s.   
• Michigan’s defense limits opponents to 68.7 points and a .378/.296 percentages from the floor and long range.  The Wolverines are +9.2 on the glass and average six steals and 5.9 blocks per game.  
• The Wolverines rank first or second in the Big Ten in 14 different categories.  Michigan ranks in the top 10 in the nation in 10 different categories.

SERIES HISTORY
• Thursday’s game is the 169th meeting all-time between Iowa and Michigan, dating back to 1921.  The Wolverines lead the series, 100-68.
• Iowa has won three of the last five in the series, but the Wolverines won the most recent contest, 85-83, on Dec. 7, 2024, in Ann Arbor.
• Michigan has won nine of the last 14 contests since the Hawkeyes won five straight from 2014-17.
• Iowa is 43-40 all-time against the Wolverines in Iowa City, but Michigan has split the last six inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena, including winning 90-80 on Dec. 10, 2023.
• The Nittany Lions are 15-10 against Iowa in University Park.  Penn State has won three straight and five of the last six in Happy Valley dating back to the 2014-15 season.

LAST GAME: PENN STATE 71, IOWA 69
The Nittany Lions finished the game on a 9-2 run, rallying from a five-point deficit to down Iowa, 71-69, on Feb. 28 inside the Bryce Jordan Center.  Penn State shot 64.1 percent from the field and 60 percent from 3-point range after entering the contest shooting just 38.1 percent from long range.  
• The win was Penn State’s third in Big Ten play.
• Two Hawkeyes landed in double figures with Cooper Koch leading the way with a career-high 18 points courtesy of a career-best five 3-pointers.  Bennett Stirtz scored 16 points.
• Iowa lost the game despite being even on the glass, forcing seven more turnovers and having 18 more field goal attempts.

IOWA'S BENNETT STIRTZ IS...
• tied for seventh among active players (all levels) with 2,213 career points.  He eclipsed the 2,000-point mark on Feb. 1 at Oregon.
• the only player in the nation with 595+ points, 130+ assists, 70 3-pointers, 65+ rebounds and 40+ steals.
• one of three players in the nation with 595+ points, 130+ assists,  65+ rebounds and 40+ steals.
• the only player in the Big Ten (one of two power conference players) with 595+ points and 130+ assists.  
• is 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.
• averaging 22.9 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 Hawkeyes 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).

IOWA IS... 
• 17-3 when scoring 70+ points this season.  The three losses were at No. 5 Purdue, at Maryland and at No. 24 Wisconsin.
• 16-1 when allowing fewer than 69 points this season.
• 15-0 when shooting more free throws than its opponents.
• 16-1 when leading with 10 minutes to play.
• 15-1 when having a higher field goal percentage.
• 15-2 when out-rebounding its opponent.
• 17-4 when leading at halftime.
• 12-1 when junior Alvaro Folgueiras scores in double figures.

MARQUEE WIN; RANKED DUB
Iowa’s 57-52 victory over No. 9 Nebraska on Feb. 17 snapped the program’s 13-game losing streak to ranked opponents, dating back to the 2023-24 season.
• The win was the program’s first over a ranked foe since beating No. 20 Wisconsin on Feb. 17, 2024.  
• It was the first win over a top 10 ranked opponent since March 13, 2022, (No. 9 Purdue) and the first home win over a top 10 ranked foe since downing No. 5 Michigan on Feb. 1, 2019.
• It was Iowa’s 75th win all-time against a top 10 opponent.
• Senior Bennett Stirtz scored 25 points in the victory, becoming the first Hawkeye since Mike Gesell against No. 1 Michigan State to tally 25+ points in a win against a top 10 opponent (Dec. 29, 2015).

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

Dr. Tom Davis (1986-87) - 30
Ben McCollum (2025-26) - 20