Iowa City Today

The University of Iowa men’s basketball team secured a 77-58 victory over Western Illinois on Friday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, improving their season record to 2-0.

Iowa overcame an early deficit with a 9-0 run in the first half, taking advantage of multiple turnovers by Western Illinois. The Hawkeyes led by eight points at halftime, with strong performances from Bennett Stirtz and Alvaro Folgueiras. Stirtz scored 13 points and contributed six assists and two steals in the opening half, while Folgueiras added 11 points, three rebounds, three assists, and three steals.

In the second half, Iowa widened its lead with a decisive 10-1 run. The Hawkeyes’ defense held Western Illinois without a field goal for more than seven minutes during this stretch. Stirtz finished as the top scorer with 24 points on efficient shooting and went perfect from the free-throw line. He also tallied seven assists and two steals while playing all 40 minutes.

As a team, Iowa shot 52 percent from the field and made ten three-pointers. Their defense limited Western Illinois to just six field goals in the second half. The Hawkeyes assisted on most of their baskets and kept turnovers low.

Head coach Ben McCollum commented on his team's performance: “I’m actually prouder of this game than I am the first game. I think it’s more difficult for a team, when you’re not totally teed up, I thought we were pretty teed up, but it wasn’t like it was the other day. On top of it, their style of play, they don’t really pass a whole lot. They kind of just run the shot clock down, isolation, get a shot. It kind of sucks the life out of the game because you can’t get a run going. That was a great game plan by them. Defensively, they guard you but they sit four to five feet off you so you're kind of in between what your supposed to do. That was a great game plan.

"I was proud of the fact that we weren’t at our best and we still won the game and won it by 20. It was fun. I appreciate the fans again. Let’s keep coming, let’s keep getting this thing going. Hopefully we’ll have some more runs, runs get the fans excited, so we certainly appreciate all that.”

Stirtz has now led Iowa in scoring for two consecutive games and recorded his 34th career game with at least 20 points. He has reached double figures in scoring for eleven straight games dating back to last season.

Folgueiras contributed 13 points along with five assists and five rebounds in addition to his defensive contributions.

Iowa will next play Xavier at home on November 14 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.