Inside The Hawkeyes

Iowa Survives USC Despite Seemingly Forgetting How to Play

A week off certainly didn't favor the Iowa Hawkeyes in their game against USC.
Jordon Lawrenz|
Jan 28, 2026; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Southern California Trojans forward Ezra Ausar (2) and Iowa Hawkeyes forward Cam Manyawu (3) battle for the opening tipoff during the first half at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images
Jan 28, 2026; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Southern California Trojans forward Ezra Ausar (2) and Iowa Hawkeyes forward Cam Manyawu (3) battle for the opening tipoff during the first half at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

In this story:

Iowa Hawkeyes

Having a full week off at this point in the season certainly didn't help the Iowa Hawkeyes.

As a team, they've been extremely healthy for quite some time. Other than a sickness, first year head coach Ben McCollum hasn't had to maneuver a ton of pieces on this roster.

This isn't football where a "Bye week" is supposed to help teams prepare for the rest of the way. The Trojans had played a few games in the span Iowa was just practicing, and that showed at Carver.

An extremely slow start didn't do Iowa any favors, but somehow they were able to get things to go their way down their stretch. It took grit, heart, determination and just about everything in-between.

Sluggish First Half

Even though this was only a one point game at halftime, no one expected that to be the case after the first few minutes. It turned out to be a game of runs, and Iowa basically needed everything to go their way after trailing 10-0 in the first six plus minutes.

Iowa didn't make a field goal until there was 13:04 remaining in the first half. USC at one point led by as many as 11 points, though in the end that didn't matter. They may have only led for 51% of the game, but it sure didn't feel like it.

The Trojans shot the ball 53% from the field which is an unacceptable percentage to go up against. Defense was always going to be a key in this game, but in the end Bennett Stirtz and Tavion Banks scored 20 points each to lead Iowa to a 73-72 victory.

Nearly Fatal Collapse

While sure, the Hawkeyes won by a point, things weren't as pretty as they seemed. McCollum's halftime speech rallied the troops as Iowa would go on to lead by as many as 17 points in the second half. Even though they had that type of lead, it was almost all for nothing.

With eight seconds remaining, USC pulled ahead, 72-71. Thankfully for the Hawkeyes, Stirtz was bailed out with a foul and proved to be lights out from the free throw line. He finished the night a perfect 6-6 from the charity stripe.

Free throws won Iowa this game. His counterpart, Banks, went 8-8 himself. The Hawkeyes made 19 of their 22 attempts while USC went just 11-16. This game was far from pretty, it wasn't perfect by any means, but it's exactly what Iowa needed to shake off the rust.

Don't forget to bookmark Iowa Hawkeyes on SI for the latest news. exclusive interviews, recruiting coverage and more!

Published
Jordon Lawrenz
JORDON LAWRENZ

Jordon Lawrenz serves as the Eastern United States College Recruiting beat writer On SI. Jordon is an accomplished writer covering the NFL, MLB, and college football/basketball. He has contributed to PFSN’s and Heavy’s NFL coverage. Having graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay with a Sports Communication and Journalism degree, Jordon fully embraced the sports writing lifestyle upon his relocation to Florida.

Home/Basketball