Iowa started so slow it looked like it would be colder inside Carver Hawkeye Arena than outside as Ohio State cruised to a 14-2 lead. Head Coach Ben McCollum called a time out to reset the Hawkeyes and they went on a 18-0 run including a Bennett Stirtz three with 9:33 left in the first half to put Iowa ahead. They didn’t trail again and with the win, the Hawkeyes look to get a double bye in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament.
After falling behind by 12, Iowa closed the half on a 35-9 run and held Ohio State to 2-of-14 shooting during that stretch. After 20 minutes, Iowa led 37-23, holding the Buckeyes to their lowest first-half scoring total of the season.
Ohio State trimmed the deficit to 10 early in the second half before Iowa responded with an 11-2 run to push the lead to 19. Back-to-back dunks from senior Tavion Banks and junior Alvaro Folgueiras gave the Hawkeyes a 66-43 advantage, matching their largest lead of the game. Iowa maintained control the rest of the way and never trailed in the second half.
Head Coach Ben McCollum, one of two Iowa head coaches (Dr. Tom Davis) to win 20 games in his first season, commented “Ohio State has been playing as well as any team in the league, we obviously had a heightened awareness to what they did. I thought we executed our game plan, for the most part throughout the game. I think to start, it wasn’t our best start, but that’s kind of par for the course right now. It’s just like oh, we’re going to start bad and then maybe we’ll make a comeback. But then after that we buckled down defensively. I thought we controlled the game, offensively. We did a good job, and again, we appreciate the crowd everybody that comes and cheers, we appreciate it all.”
Stirtz led all scorers with 22 points, shooting 8-of-11 from the field and 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. He added three assists and two steals. Folgueiras recorded a season-high 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting and grabbed five rebounds. Manyawu finished with 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while Banks rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points.
Iowa shot 27-of-47 (57.4 percent) from the field and 5-of-18 (27.8 percent) from 3-point range. The Hawkeyes converted 15-of-17 (88.2 percent) from the free throw line. Iowa outscored the Buckeyes in the paint, 44-18, and won the rebounding battle, 28-23 in notching their 20th win of the season. Its their first 20 win campaign since 2021-22.
After falling behind 14-2 to start the game, Iowa outscored the Buckeyes, 35-9, over the final 15 minutes of the first half to take a 37-23 lead into the break. Iowa never led by fewer than 10 points in the second half. It is the first time this season that the Buckeyes have lost back-to-back games.
The Hawkeyes return to action Saturday, facing Penn State at 11 a.m. (CT) in University Park. Hear the game on the Voice of Muscatine, KWPC starting at 10 a.m. with Gary Dolphin and Bobby Hansen. Hawkeye coverage is brought to you by Ed Morse Chevy, Buick, GMC and Muscatine Power and Water.
