Hawkeyes Survive Sluggish Start, Rally Late to Edge USC in Thriller
IOWA CITY - For 20 minutes, Iowa men’s basketball looked like a team still stuck in warmups. For the final 20, they looked like a team that refused to lose.
After falling behind by double digits early and going nearly seven minutes without a single point, the Hawkeyes flipped the script in dramatic fashion, clawing back from an 11-point hole to take control - only to need a pair of clutch free throws from Bennett Stirtz in the final seconds to seal a 73-72 win over USC.
It was a game that tested Iowa’s resilience, and they passed - barely.
“We started slow, and then I think I had to just go back to my (Division II) days and just go crazy for a while,” Iowa head coach Ben McCollum said postgame. “And that seemed to work.”
A First Half to Forget
The opening stretch was about as rough as it gets. Iowa didn’t just stumble out of the gate - they face-planted.
The Trojans opened with a 10-0 run, completely disrupting Iowa’s offensive rhythm. It took a free throw from Tate Sage nearly seven minutes in to get the Hawkeyes on the board.
Their first field goal didn’t come until the nine-minute mark, when freshman Cooper Koch knocked down a three.
At one point, Iowa was shooting just 28 percent from the field and had only one made three-pointer - Koch’s triple. They were losing the battle on the boards, getting outpaced in nearly every statistical category, and looked out of sync on both ends.
“We were a little rusty,” Stirtz admitted. “But we still got to come out ready to play at the end of the day. Just try and not let that happen again.”
Still, in the final two minutes of the first half, Iowa found a spark. A quick nine-point burst cut the deficit to just one at the break, and suddenly the momentum had shifted.
Second-Half Surge
That late first-half run wasn’t a fluke - it was a preview. Coming out of the locker room, Iowa hit another gear. Over a 3:45 stretch, the Hawkeyes poured in a 17-2 run to flip the game entirely, turning an early double-digit deficit into a double-digit lead.
Stirtz, who had eight points in the first half, finished with a team-high 20 points and three rebounds, including the two free throws that iced the win. His steady presence in the backcourt proved crucial, especially when the game tightened late.
Tavion Banks matched Stirtz with 20 points of his own and added seven rebounds before fouling out with just over three minutes to go. His absence forced Iowa to bring Koch back into the game as USC made its final push.
Alvaro Folgueiras also stepped up in a big way, chipping in 14 points and five rebounds in 27 minutes. McCollum was quick to praise the forward’s aggressiveness and energy.
“I need that from him more often,” McCollum said. “I thought he got to the rim better today.
He didn’t just settle and float around. He actually cut, attacked, and defended at an elite level.”
USC’s Woods Catches Fire
While Iowa was building its lead, USC guard Kam Woods was busy putting on a second-half clinic. Woods went off for a season-high 33 points, making all but three of his field goals after halftime. At one point, he hit 17 straight shots.
“We tried putting different guys on him, it didn’t work,” Stirtz said. “I think he had 25 points on the season and he had 33 tonight. So it’s a credit to him.”
Chad Baker-Mazara added 13 for the Trojans but struggled with turnovers, coughing it up seven times. Still, USC hung around and nearly stole the win in the final minute.
Game on the Line
With under a minute to play and Iowa clinging to a one-point lead, USC trapped Stirtz near the scorer’s table, hoping to force a turnover. Instead, the whistle blew - foul. Stirtz stepped to the line with the game in his hands.
“I didn’t have any doubt that he wasn’t going to make it,” Folgueiras said.
He didn’t miss. And just like that, Iowa escaped with a win that looked anything but certain for most of the afternoon.
What’s Next
The Hawkeyes now hit the road for a West Coast swing, with matchups against Oregon on Feb. 1 and Washington on Feb. 4. If they want to keep this momentum going, they’ll need to bottle up that second-half energy - and leave the slow starts behind.