By Robert Lastella
Iowa Head Coach Ben McCollum and star Hawkeyes guard Bennett Stirtz have combined to earn 114 wins across four seasons at three different schools, but none may have been bigger and more angst-inducing than win number 114.
That 114th win was a bitter battle to the very end against the defending national champion Florida Gators in the Round of 32, but as they have done throughout their career, McCollum and Stirtz found a way, knocking off the Gators 73-72 in a game which came down to the last possession and punching their ticket to the sweet 16.
Despite having a significant size disadvantage against Florida, Iowa didn’t let that bother them, they played with a sense of physicality that, at times, the Gators weren’t able to match. Iowa outscored Florida 32-30 in the paint, and they were even on the boards at 28 apiece.
Florida made numerous runs throughout the game to stop surges from Iowa, and the Hawkeyes found themselves trailing at numerous points over the final two minutes. But Iowa stayed patient, they worked the clock, found high-quality shots, and put themselves in a position to have a shot to take the lead on the second-to-last possession of the game.
Photo by Christian Proscia
With less than 10 seconds to play and trailing by two, Iowa had to go the full length of the court with a chance to either tie or take the lead. While they could have opted to go for the tie, Stirtz was able to dodge an attempted foul from UF, locate an open Alvaro Folgueiras in the corner, and the rest quickly became history, as Folguerias drained it to give Iowa a 73-72 lead with 4 seconds to play.
The Gators attempted to go the length of the court on their last possession; however, Xaivian Lee lost the ball on an attempted pass as the final buzzer sounded, sealing the deal on a Sweet 16 trip for the Hawkeyes.
Stirtz has been the vessel that the Hawkeye offense has run through, so it would have been easy for him to call his own number with the game on the line, but that was far from the case. Instead, Stirtz found Folgueiras, who Stirtz said told him to get him the ball, because he was going to make it, and that is what he did.
“Yeah, the play was drawn up for me to get downhill, and then this dude came up to me and he's like, I'm going to be ready, and I'm going to make it. That's what he actually did,” Stirtz said.
It sounds like a scene out of a movie, but that is reality for an Iowa squad that has developed an immense amount of trust in each other, in large part due to the McCollum system. The confidence in each other, according to Stirtz, comes from the bond they developed throughout the season, which was aided by a culture which McCollum has been building for years.
Photo by Christian Proscia
“It's just the journey we've been on this season, and it started in the summer. It's just a bond we have throughout however many months we've been together. Six guys came from Drake, and we just bonded super quick, and we just love hanging out with each other. I don't know, we're unselfish, too, so we like seeing other people succeed more than ourselves. That's what also makes it so special,” Stirtz said.
There weren’t many who gave Iowa much of a chance coming into this game against the defending national champions, but that was never a concern for the Hawkeyes, who just simply trusted in each other.
Iowa did what they have done throughout, getting a team effort from four players in double figures. They were led by Tavion Banks, who finished with 20 points, and he was joined by Folgueiras, who finished with 14, Stirtz, who added 13, and Cooper Koch, who chipped in 12 points, all coming on his four triples.
Florida’s talented front court looked to be a serious issue for Iowa, on paper, but in reality, it was Iowa who threw the first punch, and the Gators were caught trying to fight back.
That first punch was almost a literal one, as Alvaro Folgueiras got tangled up with Alex Condon and both were issued a technical foul. Although it looked like Folgueiras threw a punch, it never landed; he remained in the game and was able to be a difference maker for the Hawkeyes.
Photo by Christian Proscia
Photo by Christian Proscia
That bru-ha-ha raised emotions inside of Benchmark International Arena; however, both sides remained level-headed throughout the remainder of the contest. While that moment certainly led to some intensity, Iowa didn’t let it overcome them, and that is in part to the mentality they came into the game with.
According to Cam Manyawu, Iowa expected a physical game coming into this one, so they embraced the idea of being more physical than the Gators.
“We went in with the mentality of bullying the bullies. They are the bullies in their league. So we came in with that mentality, we really made an emphasis to box out and hit, that was something we focused on going into the game, and we were able to execute that,” Manyawu said.
After the game, Florida Head Coach Todd Golden noted the difference in physicality out of the gates, mentioning that, especially in the first half, it was Iowa who was setting the tone. It is one thing to say you are going to be physical, but to have a national champion Head Coach admit that his team got punked is the ultimate confirmation that what Iowa did worked.
The way Iowa plays on both ends of the court isn’t the flashiest brand of basketball, and to some, it could be classified as boring. While some may think that way, Iowa’s entire roster is bought into what McCollum is trying to build, and on Sunday night, it resulted in one of the biggest upsets of the entire NCAA tournament to this point.
In his first year with Iowa, Ben McCollum has the Hawkeyes headed to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1999. Winning at this level was obviously the goal for McCollum when he took the job; Ben reaching this level of success in his first year wasn’t something many were expecting.
Many, including McCollum, who has worked hard at establishing a culture at Iowa that has been built across three different programs, note that he always expects to win.
“I don't know that winning necessarily dictates what kind of culture you have, per se. I think over time, you create a culture. Culture to me is just the people involved, and it's an unwritten rule that everybody follows. You don't just create it. You have to get the right people to be in the system. We do have the right people. Probably still can't sustain itself yet. We've got to keep getting the right people, McCollum said.
“Did I know we were going to win like this? I didn't think we were going to lose… That's probably my mentality. I'm a realist still. You don't just go win every game. Sometimes you do, but I think our culture is getting there.”
Iowa has knocked off the defending national champions, and the sky is now the limit for Ben McCollum and his Hawkeyes. They will head to Houston, where they will take on Nebraska on Thursday at 7:30 PM EST, an intense matchup that will pit two Big 10 foes against each other with a spot in the Elite Eight on the line.
Photo by Christian Proscia