For a college basketball team being in its first season of a rebuild in the NIL era, the Iowa men’s basketball team is having a great season. In fact, to say this team is overachieving isn’t a reach at all.
Look at the makeup of this roster. Of all the players on this roster, only two, Brendan Hausen and Cooper Koch, came into this season with Power Four experience. Ben McCollum was coaching Division II basketball two years ago at Northwest Missouri State. His best player, Bennett Stirtz, was alongside him the past three years, along with four other players from last year’s 31-4 Drake squad.
With that being said, this team has no business being 19-7 while competing in one of the nation’s premier athletic conferences in the Big Ten. Not only that, but the Hawkeyes are one of the more efficient teams on both sides of the court in all of college basketball.
As of Feb. 22, Iowa ranks inside the top-35 in Division I in both offensive and defensive efficiency, according to KenPom rankings.
Those efficiency numbers are due to McCollum preaching a team-first brand of basketball. As of Feb. 18, Iowa tops the Big Ten and sits 10th nationally with 64.4 points allowed per game and are one of two teams in the country to hold every opponent under their season average — the University of Northern Iowa being the only other school.
Iowa’s best team stat, at least offensively, is that it sits eighth in the country in effective field goal percentage, proving that its offense generates efficient looks on almost every possession down the floor.
Outside of Stirtz’s 20.5 scoring average, Tavion Banks is the only other teammate of his to average double-digit scoring at 10.7 points per game. No one on this year’s Iowa team averages more than five rebounds or one block a game. It’s very rare to see a team boasting a winning record in the Big Ten with such lack of play statistics in today’s game.
Looking at the stats tell one side of the story. Unlike the run-and-gun, heavy three-point shooting game today, this year’s Hawkeyes team plays a
slower-paced style that flourishes off ball movement, inside shooting, and versatile defense.
What McCollum has done this season, coaching this squad to what is panning out to be a successful first year with the program, has been incredible — on pace for 20 wins, bringing fans back into Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and producing a surefire NBA draft pick in Stirtz.
Regardless of how far Iowa makes it in the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Tournament, pending qualification, Hawkeye fans should feel the utmost confidence that he’s the right guy for the job for the foreseeable future.
Women’s basketball: No excuses, just adjustments
The Iowa women’s basketball team lives between the absolutes. Nine consecutive wins to open the season and all is good, but losses to ranked Iowa State and UConn make possible postseason glory fleeting.
Then another eight consecutive victories capped off with a drubbing of a ranked Ohio State team, a triumph dampened by a season-ending ACL tear for starting guard Taylor McCabe. The roller coaster began again, and now the Hawkeyes are back again searching for equilibrium. With a 22-5 record and a second-place position in the Big Ten, it appears they’ve found it.
“It can be hard to navigate, but I think our players stayed the course,” Iowa head coach Jan Jensen said. “We understood we were reforming.”
Such a reformation process centered upon defense. McCabe’s final season didn’t boast much offensively, with her field goal and three-point percentages hovering at career lows, but she still averaged a career-high in minutes per game. Her reputation as a shooter, owning a career 40 percent mark from long range, helped space the floor and her defense often went unnoticed until her injury.
In the three games that followed, Iowa conceded 81, 88, and 91 points, which, outside of the UConn loss, sit atop in most opponent points allowed. Jensen said her team gave an “uninspiring” performance against Minnesota.
Jensen wanted assertiveness and awareness and saw both attributes bloom in Iowa’s next set of games — another three-game win streak. The spark started in the second quarter against Washington, where Iowa allowed just five points after conceding 25 in the first frame. Jensen maintained the performance was partly due to bad luck on the Huskies, who made just two field goals but also committed eight turnovers.
“That’s what it’s going to take from here on out,” Jensen said. “And if we can stay locked in and understand who’s doing what and when, then I think our defense can be pretty solid.”
Sophomore guard Taylor Stremlow served as one spark to this turnaround. She delivered three steals in the win over Nebraska and a late block against Washington. She started the last four games for the Hawkeyes after swapping places with freshman Addie Deal, who saw her scoring plummet when promoted to the starting lineup.
With Deal coming off the bench as she’s done since the beginning of the season, the guard better understands the pace of play and flow of the game, allowing for a smoother transition. The more experienced Stremlow is similarly skilled at shooting, with a career-high 51 percent from the floor and 39 percent from deep this season. The extra year lends to a greater awareness and comfortability Iowa needs from a starter.
As the regular season draws to a close, Jensen is more knowledgeable on her lineup variability, whether it’s adjusting for defense, height, or just the ability to navigate screens.
The loss of McCabe is no doubt a hit to Iowa’s depth. With Emely Rodriguez out since November — Jensen still frames the situation as a back injury — the Hawkeyes usually feature three freshmen coming off the bench in Deal, center Layla Hays, and forward Journey Houston. Yet Jensen remains optimistic contributions will continue, even in the clutch of the postseason.