Iowa's Ben McCollum Points Out Biggest Issue from Rutgers Win

The Iowa Hawkeyes, following their home win over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, get to enjoy a full-week break before returning to the miserably challenging B1G basketball landscape. Improving to 4-4 in the conference with the victory (14-5 overall) things seem to be on the up-and-up for an Iowa team just a handful of contests removed from a three-game losing streak.

Yet, even given the baseline value of any and all conference wins, Rutgers (9-10, 2-7) playing the black and gold close on their home floor is a sort of bad omen for Iowa's progress. With a 68-62 final score, the Hawkeyes narrowly pulled out what was a back-and-forth battle with a bottom-five team in the B1G.

Following the game, and ahead of Iowa's extended rest before taking on the USC Trojans (also at home), Hawkeyes head coach Ben McCollum examined his team's performance. Despite the win, the notoriously hard-nosed coach wasn't completely satisfied with the final result.

Playing Hard Ball

"Sometimes you have to win games when you don't play your best," McCollum remarked. "We didn't play our best."

In their win, Iowa allowed 29 rebounds to Rutgers - only pulling in 19 - and turned the ball over 12 times.

The Hawkeyes only had 12 assists. It's a win, sure, but scoring less than 70 points, losing the brawl on the boards by double-digits and tallying as many overall turnovers as assists will lose any team most games.

Iowa's Ben McCollum on postgame radio tonight: “Sometimes you have to win games when you don’t play your best. We didn’t play our best. Our concentration was probably the biggest issue. I thought our effort was actually good; I think we were ready to play.”
— Chad Leistikow🆑 (@ChadLeistikow) January 21, 2026

"Our concentration was probably the biggest issue," McCollum continued. "I thought our effort was actually good; I think we were ready to play."

Whether the Hawkeyes' struggles are to be blamed on the time of year, their impending hiatus or something else less clear, the team failing to run away from Rutgers just one game after dominating the Indiana Hoosiers on the road is a puzzling change of pace.

The Schedule Steepens

As McCollum's team progresses through conference play, competition will, for the most part, eclipse the strength of that of the Scarlet Knights. In addition to two straight road matches following the USC duel (at Oregon and Washington, respectively), Iowa is approaching a rematch with the No. 4 Purdue Boilermakers.

As their schedule steepens prior to March, Iowa will have to come down with the bouts that they're expected to win, at the very least.

Another couple of true road wins to add to their currently lonely tally certainly wouldn't hurt McCollum and company's NCAA Tournament odds, either.

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