Iowa Overcomes Historically Bad Offensive Performance vs. Nebraska

Despite shooting just 17-51 from the field, the Iowa Hawkeyes found a way to knock off No. 9 Nebraska.

A court storm was in order, and rightfully so, after the Hawkeyes took care of business, 57-52, despite shooting just 33% from the field.

ESPN posted a graphic after the game that prior to this contest unranked teams were just 2-245 against a Top 10 opponent when shooting 33% or worse in a game.

Somehow, Iowa found a way to win. The Hawkeyes improved to 19-7 (9-6) and managed to snap their two game losing streak.

Iowa's Offense was Nowhere to be Found

Iowa football has won so many games with these weird offensive stats over the years, it was MBB turn tonight. KF smiling at home😂 pic.twitter.com/2puBSpTa4x
— Hawkeye Historian (@Hawk_Historian) February 18, 2026

To no surprise, Bennett Stirtz led the way with 25 points. He's now been the team's leading scorer in their last 10 games and has eight games this year where he's scored 25+. Stirtz is a future NBA draft pick, no doubt about it, but his supporting cast is seemingly nowhere to be found.

Stirtz himself was just 8-22 from the field but it's not like anyone else was that much better. Cooper Koch was just 3-10 as those two combined to be 4-15 from three point range. Shockingly, no other player attempted more than five field goals.

Tavion Banks was just 1-5 while Kael Combs was 1-3. Bench players Isaia Howard went 1-5, Tate Sage was 1-3 while Alvaro Folgueiras was 2-3.

At the end of the day, Iowa held Nebraska to 41% from the field. They were a staggering 5-24 from three-point range and that was a huge factor in this game. Not only that, but the Cornhuskers were just 11-14 from the charity stripe while Iowa drilled 17 of their 18 attempts.

Ben McCollum on Iowa's Offense

Ben McCollum: “We set offensive basketball back 30 years but we got the win.”
— Quinn Douglas (@Quinn_Douglas_) February 18, 2026

"We set offensive basketball back 30 years but we got the win," McCollum said on the postgame show.

While he isn't wrong, the first year head coach knew this was the type of lineup he wanted to run. His defense first mentality has led him to victory time and time again, and that proved to be the difference against the nation's No. 9 team.

Regardless, a win is a win. Iowa has plenty of room to improve after this one but no one can take away the fact they secured not only their first ranked win in years, but their first Top 10 win in quite some time. This is one that will stick with Iowa for awhile as they look to carry that momentum into their final five regular season games.

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