Hawkeyes Advance in the NCAA Tournament

TAMPA, Fla. – The ninth-seeded University of Iowa men’s basketball team defeated eighth-seeded Clemson, 67-61, on Friday night at Benchmark International Arena in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Hawkeyes never trailed and advance to the Round of 32.

Iowa opened the game on a 12-4 run as Clemson started 1-of-6 from the field, missing four straight shots over the first five minutes. The Hawkeyes extended their lead to 22-10, their largest of the first half, forcing a Clemson timeout as the Tigers started just 4-of-19 from the field and 1-of-7 from 3-point range. During that stretch, Iowa held Clemson scoreless for more than two-and-a-half minutes.

The Hawkeyes then endured a scoring drought of nearly three minutes, while Clemson closed the half making five of its final six field goals. Iowa took a 32-25 lead into halftime.

Junior Kael Combs led Iowa at the break with 11 points on perfect shooting, including 2-of-2 from beyond the arc. Senior Bennett Stirtz added eight points, two assists, and two steals. Iowa shot 41.7 percent (10-of-24) from the field and 33.3 percent (5-of-15) from 3-point range, while converting 7-of-9 (77.8 percent) from the free throw line. The Hawkeyes also held an 18-13 rebounding advantage in the first half.

Clemson cut the deficit to 35-33 with 14 minutes remaining in the second half as Iowa went scoreless for more than five minutes, missing eight consecutive field goals. Stirtz ended the drought with a 3-pointer, sparking a 7-0 run that pushed the Hawkeye lead back to nine with under 12 minutes to play.

Iowa extended its lead to 51-37 with eight minutes remaining, its largest of the game, before Clemson trimmed the margin to four in the final 90 seconds. The Hawkeyes sealed the victory at the free throw line to secure their first NCAA Tournament win since 2021.

Stirtz led Iowa with 16 points and five assists. Combs added 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting and grabbed four rebounds. Junior Alvaro Folgueiras also reached double figures with 14 points, four rebounds, and a perfect 7-of-7 performance from the free throw line.

Iowa finished the game shooting 38.3 percent (18-of-47) from the field and 28 percent (7-of-25) from 3-point range. The Hawkeyes converted 24-of-31 (77.4 percent) from the free throw line and outrebounded Clemson, 40-27.

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH BEN MCCOLLUM
“First off, congrats to Clemson. They had a phenomenal year. It's unfortunate that their big guy ended up getting injured. Obviously, I thought he would have helped them. I thought they had a great game plan. They're super physical defensively. They keep the game, obviously, pretty close with their tempo, and so do we. So, it was a good matchup both directions, very similar styles.

Proud of our guys. Sometimes it's not always pretty. Sometimes we don't always work with a high level of intelligence. But no one will question our fight. That's what we recruited. And I don't mean they're dumb players. They're not dumb players; they're smart players. But sometimes we do things that are just, like, out of this world.

What we never forget to do is fight, though. That's probably more what the compliment is meant to be. Certainly, loved coaching them tonight. I'm going to love coaching them again on Sunday. It's still win or go home, and we're excited about the chance.”

  

GAME NOTES

• 9 seed Iowa picked up its first NCAA Tournament victory since 2021, downing eighth-seeded Clemson, 67-61, on Friday night at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Fla.
• Head coach Ben McCollum is one of two Iowa head coaches to lead the Hawkeyes to an NCAA Tournament win in his first season. 
  • It’s Iowa’s first win over a power conference team in the NCAA Tournament since March 13, 1999 (Arkansas).
• The Hawkeyes are now 32-31 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. 
  • McCollum is now 2-1 in Division I March Madness and 37-8 in NCAA postseason play.
• Iowa’s 22 victories are the most for the program since the 2021-22 season.
• The Hawkeyes never trailed in the game and led for 38:59 of the possible 40 minutes.
• Clemson scored eight of the first 11 points of the second half to cut its deficit to 35-33 with 14:09 to play before the Hawkeyes responded with a 9-0 spurt o push their lead to 44-33 with 11:33 remaining.
  • Iowa led by as many as 14 (54-40) with 7:32 left before Clemson mounted a rally closing to within four with 1:28 remaining.
• The Hawkeyes had three players land in double figures: Bennett Stirtz (16), Kael Combs (15), Alvaro Folgueiras (14)
• Stirtz finished with 16 points on 4-of-17 shooting to go along with five rebounds and two assists.
  • With his 16 points, Stirtz moved into fifth place on Iowa’s single season scoring list with 677 points.
  • He has been in double figures in 32 of Iowa’s 34 games.
• Combs finished with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting with two 3-pointers and four rebounds.
  • He scored 11 first-half points, making all four field goals, including two 3-pointers 
  • Combs has been in double figures in his last two NCAA Tournament games; he scored 13 points and had five rebounds last season in the Round of 32 against Texas Tech (while at Drake).
  • Combs has been in double figures six times this season.   
• Folguerias finished with 14 points on 3-of-8 shooting and went 7-of-7 from the free throw line.
  • Iowa is now 13-1 this season when Folgueiras scores in double figures.
• Junior Cam Manyawu grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds, tying a season-high by a Hawkeye this season.
  • It was his first double-digit rebound game this season (16th of his career).
• Iowa won despite having a lower field goal percentage (.383 to .407) and a lower 3-point percentage (.280 to .346).
• The Hawkeyes dominated on the glass, out-rebounding the Tigers, 40-24, including 15 offensive rebounds, which led to a 16-4 advantage in second-chance points.
• Iowa made 24 free throws to eight for Clemson and had 31 attempts to the Tigers 12.
  • Iowa is 16-0 this season when having more free throw attempts than its opposition.
• The Hawkeyes jumped out to an 18-8 lead over the first eight minutes, making six of their first 10 shots.  
  • Combs made his first three shots, including a pair of 3-point field goals, scoring eight of Iowa’s first 15 points.
• Iowa’s defense limited the Tigers to 4-of-19 shooting (21.1 percent) over the first 12 minutes and 37 percent (10-of-27) in the first half, taking a 32-25 lead into the break.

UP NEXT
Iowa will return to action Sunday, facing either top-seeded Florida or 16th-seeded Prairie View A&M in the Round of 32. Start time and television information will be released later this evening.