Iowa's Offense Shines in First B1G Win

The Iowa Hawkeyes, after their 7-0 start to the 2025-26 season - also their first under head coach Ben McCollum - have had the latter half of this past week to recover from what was a brutal, blowout loss to the No. 7 Michigan State Spartans. In the 71-52 rout, McCollum’s revamped Hawkeyes roster looked truly lost for the first time this year; to make matters worse, it was their opening matchup in the B1G.

An Immediate Rebound Game

Not an ideal start to conference play, to say the least. All the same, Iowa’s next duel came at home against the Maryland Terrapins, who, from tipoff, offered a much more appealing opportunity to the Hawkeyes.

Iowa returned home for the matchup after the aforementioned loss, being played in a hostile environment, and returned to being favored by the national media prior to the battle. Everything appeared to be leaning in Iowa’s favor for a rebound, and the team, especially the offense, didn’t take their second game in-conference for granted.

In fact, the Hawkeyes wasted no time in running away with a victory that was equally as, if not more, convincing than their defeat away from home. To a final score of 83-64, the black and gold overwhelmed the visiting Terrapins by way of their primary scoring option.

Saturday Afternoon Dub. 👏 pic.twitter.com/sAQ6Dw0ISh
— Iowa Men’s Basketball (@IowaHoops) December 6, 2025

Scoring From Stirtz

Through his normally minutes-heavy measures (38 this time around), senior guard Bennett Stirtz led the way in what was a properly responsive scoring performance from the Hawkeyes. Spurred by Stirtz’s 25-point personal tally, Iowa shot a blazing 54% from the field and, impressively, 40.9% from long range.

Iowa forward Alvaro Folgueiras (7) high-fives Iowa guard Bennett Stirtz (14) during a basketball game against the Maryland Terrapins Dec. 6, 2025 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. | Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

These metrics, compared to Maryland’s 36.2%/30% split the other way, tell the game’s entire story without the need for dramatics. It was a plain old runaway for the home team, and one the Hawkeyes desperately needed to keep their young campaign on track.

Now with a B1G win under their belt and having moved to 8-1 overall, the Hawkeyes have surely quelled the worries of fans concerned with the team overall and, especially, their recent offensive woes.

Going forward, Iowa and Ben McCollum are firmly in competition as a “dark horse” in the B1G; even if they fail to ultimately overcome the conference’s “top dogs”, their early success under a new coach should have the fanbase thrilled.

Even more so when this team and their production are compared to what the program had grown used to as of late.

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