Bennett Stirtz Career High Guides Iowa Past Oregon

Earlier in the day the Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team fell to UCLA, 88-65. Just hours later, the men's team pulled out an 84-66 win over Oregon.

Iowa had no business losing to the Ducks and they made sure they didn't play with their food.

While all eyes are on the Tavion Banks injury, it's worth noting how much of an impact Bennett Stirtz has on this team.

Stirtz is far from perfect, but he was named a Top 25 player in college basketball for a reason and he proved that by putting up a career high 32 points as he led the team to victory.

Bennett Stirtz Career High: 32 Points

Big Night for Bennett 🙂‍↕️@bennett_stirtz x #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/aQyjJKmV4F
— Iowa Men’s Basketball (@IowaHoops) February 2, 2026

The Drake transfer shot 12-15 from the field for one of the best performances of his entire career. He'll have a few more chances to top this number, but that's going to be extremely hard to do as he nearly put up half the number of points Oregon had as an entire team.

Without Banks, Stirtz knew the team needed an extra boost. They got that from guys like Alvaro Folguerias and Isaia Howard off the bench, and Brendan Hausen deserves his flowers as well. At the end of the day though, it was Stirtz that stole the show.

To no surprise, his 32 points were a game high. No Ducks player finished with more than 18 as Stirtz had just 16 fewer points than their starting five combined. Not only did he score left and right, but he continued to be the team's facilitator as he led the way with seven assists. If there was ever any discussion that he's a ball-hog, he quickly put that to rest.

Stirtz Continues To Dominate Weaker Opponents

Sleep well, Hawkeyes 🖤 pic.twitter.com/Q8BfTe5mb5
— Iowa Men’s Basketball (@IowaHoops) February 2, 2026

One of the biggest "flaws" of Stirtz game is the fact he struggles against great teams. That's not to say he goes radio silent and contributes nothing, but Iowa fans now expect him to put up these numbers against a team that is 8-14 while it'd be a miracle if he could do that against a ranked opponent.

Either way, Stirtz gets the job done. Iowa needed someone to do a little extra since Banks played just 11 minutes, and Stirtz was ready to pull that weight. He sat for just two minutes in this one as he's now scored 20+ points in four straight games and seven of his last nine dating back to December 29.

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