Iowa Guard Reaches Career Milestone vs. Oregon

When Ben McCollum was announced as the next Iowa Hawkeyes head coach, the first thing he did was bring Bennett Stirtz with him.

Iowa's senior guard started his career at Northwest Missouri State before joining McCollum at Drake. After one year with the Bulldogs, Stirtz completed his climb by announcing he'd be playing in the B1G.

Without Stirtz, who knows how this Iowa team would look. The 6'4'' 190-pound guard is by far this team's best player, and he could be a first round NBA Draft pick.

Scouts have touted Stirtz as a Top 25 player in the country, and his latest accomplishment is further proof of that. Coming off a career high 32 point performance against Oregon, Stirtz reached 2,000 points in his illustrious career.

Bennett Stirtz Reaches 2,000 Career Points

2K CAREER POINTS FOR NO. 14 🔥 pic.twitter.com/xM3S37jObk
— Iowa Men’s Basketball (@IowaHoops) February 2, 2026

2022-23 marked the first time Stirtz saw the court with the Bearcats. Northwest Missouri State was a safe bet for the Missouri native to begin his career, and eventually it turned into a whole lot more.

Stirtz put up 429 points in his freshman season, adding 516 the year after. In his two years with the Bearcats, he scored 945 points, averaging 13.9 points per season.

From there, Stirtz took off. His one and done year with Drake resulted in a 19.2 point per game average as he scored 673 points that year. Stirtz was a huge reason for the Bulldogs success, as he is here with the Hawkeyes.

Now, coming off a 32 point effort against the Ducks, Stirtz will go down in the history books as college basketball's latest 2,000 point scorer. In an era where so many players only play a year or two and then move on, Stirtz proved that hard work pays off.

Stirtz Historic Career

Iowa G Bennett Stirt — Iowa guard Bennett Stirtz (14) reacts after knocking down a 3-pointer against the USC Trojans Jan. 28, 2026 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. | Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The craziest part of all of this is the fact that Stirtz is nowhere near done. Depending on the severity of Tavion Banks injury, Stirtz could be in a place where he's somehow asked to carve out an even bigger role on this team.

He's mirroring his numbers last year with a 19.0 points per game average. He currently has 400 points with the Hawkeyes as he's up to 2,018 in his career. It's not like Stirtz will have a chance to be Iowa's all-time leading scorer, but either way it's crazy to think a kid from Missouri was able to work his way up to this level despite no one thinking anything of him three plus years ago.

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