Iowa's Bennett Stirtz Sets Career High and Ties Team Record

While the Iowa Hawkeyes only beat Northwestern by six points, a win is a win.

Bennett Stirtz, to no surprise, was a huge part of that. Iowa's senior guard reached a new career high and tied for the third-most points in a game at Carver.

Carver Hawkeye-Arena is no stranger to prolific scorers, but Stirtz, in his one year with the program, will go down in the history books.

Without his 36 point performance, who knows what would've happened to this Iowa team against a Wildcats squad that fell to 2-11 in conference play. Thankfully, Iowa has nothing to worry about as Stirtz has been a huge part of their recent success.

Career High: 36 Points

💥 36 PTS (career high)
💥 12-20 FG
💥 8-8 FT
💥 4-6 3FG

Bennett Stirtz's career day lifts @IowaHoops to a 76-70 victory over Northwestern 💪 pic.twitter.com/XfZx6oAaKG
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) February 8, 2026

For the fourth time in his last five games, Stirtz played the full 40 minutes. First year head coach Ben McCollum has all the faith in the world in a guy who's played under his guidance for quite some time.

Hawkeyes fans are indebted to McCollum for bringing Stirtz over from Drake. Without the 6'4'' guard, this offense would be nowhere as impactful as it currently is. Sure, Stirtz shot the ball 20 times against Northwestern, but that's exactly what this team needed to pull out the win.

The entire team failed to make a three-pointer in the first half but Stirtz went 4-6 in the second. He drilled all eight of his free throws en route to a 36 point effort that surpassed a career high he set just last week.

Back on February 1, Stirtz dropped 32 points on Oregon in Iowa's 84-66 road win. Having nearly scored half of the Ducks points himself, Stirtz once again pulled out all the stops as he scored over half of what Northwestern had as a team.

36 Points is Tied for Third-Most in CHA History

Came to play. 🔒

36 points ties for the third-most in CHA history by an Iowa Hoops player!@bennett_stirtz x #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/o4ijl9tBGt
— Iowa Men’s Basketball (@IowaHoops) February 8, 2026

When it comes to some of the best Iowa players to ever ball out at home, Stirtz is etching his name closer and closer to some of the greats. Sure, he still has a ways to go if he wants to surpass Caitlin Clark's 49 point performance, but this is still insanely impressive.

To think Stirtz set his career high at Oregon, it's great to see him set a new record at home as well. Iowa has done everything in their power to win a fanbase back that has been clamoring for some quality mens hoops. With McCollum at the helm, that's exactly what they've gotten and Stirtz is as good as it gets.

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