Ben McCollum Reflects on Iowa's Unacceptable Loss to Penn State

There's a world where the Iowa Hawkeyes would have won three of their last four heading into a meeting with No. 3 Michigan.

Sadly, that's not the world we live in. First year head coach Ben McCollum's squad has dropped four of their last six and these losses couldn't have come at a worse time.

Iowa's recent two-point loss to Penn State is something McCollum called "unacceptable" as he has to reflect on what went wrong in Pennsylvania.

Iowa G Bennett Stirt — Feb 28, 2026; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions guard Dominick Stewart (7) and forward Sasa Ciani (22) defend as Iowa Hawkeyes guard Bennett Stirtz (14) dribbles the ball during the first half at Bryce Jordan Center. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

The Nittany Lions found a way to get the best of Iowa, 71-69, in a game that will live rent-free in McCollum's head for the rest of the year.

Iowa Desperately Wants That Game Back

"You would have liked to win the game, obviously," McCollum said. "You continue to move forward and continue to try to grow. It is, unfortunately, part of the process. It's not acceptable, we don't say 'Oh yeah, it's okay.' We also understand where we're at, and what we need to do to continue to grow and get better. Sometimes things like that happens."

He expanded on the loss, saying "I don't think it was a complete lack of effort. I thought we played at about 95%. Unfortunately, our level of talent doesn't allow us to do that. You can't make some of those little mistakes we made. We shot the ball 18 times more than our opponent. From a 'What you want your team to do' from a coach perspective, that's elite. That means we're getting more possessions. You take luck out of the equaition."

Iowa HC Ben McCollu — Iowa head coach Ben McCollum talks to Iowa guard Kael Combs (11), Iowa guard Bennett Stirtz (14) annd Iowa forward Cooper Koch (8) during a basketball game against the Northwestern Wildcats Feb. 8, 2026 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. | Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Iowa Has No Room For Error vs. Michigan

McCollum referred to the "fine details" as sprint back on defense and contesting shots by putting a hand up. It's the little things that add up overtime, and Iowa had to learn that the hard way against PSU.

"Stuff like that, the fine details," he said. "We just can't afford to not do that. And those are some things that I thought we didn't do down the stretch."

Iowa is currently 20-9 overall but their resume could easily work against them. This is a team that only has won notable win working in their favor, but a bad loss to the Cornhuskers to end the year could derail everything.

A win at No. 24 Wisconsin back on February 22 would've pushed Iowa into "lock" category. Instead, they need a miracle run in the B1G tournament or to pull off a marquee upset against either No. 3 Michigan or No. 9 Nebraska to leave no doubts.

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