Iowa’s Star Guard Continues to Struggle in Big Games

The Iowa Hawkeyes, now two games removed from a win, under .500 in the B1G and almost certainly facing a fallout from their current AP Top 25 ranking, are on their worst skid of the season so far.

In the wake of their latest loss at the hands of the No. 16 Illinois Fighting Illini, in which the Hawkeyes trailed for most of the contest and, at one point, were down nearly 20 points, one specific shortcoming stood out in a sea of failures.

Senior guard Bennett Stirtz - the arguable face of Iowa's team and program at this current juncture - scored just 12 points of the team's poor total of 69.

Shooting just 5-for-17 from the field, Stirtz shooting low percentages and failing to find his footing in yet another crucial game has caused many to call his position at the top into question. Yet, after the contest, head coach Ben McCollum stood in his guard's defense.

Iowa guard Bennett Stirtz (14) waits to check back into the game against the Illinois Fighting Illini Jan. 11, 2026 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. | Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Coach Weighs In

“No, he's not the problem,” McCollum said, trying to get ahead of the hate that Stirtz would inevitably, and already has received. “It's that the floor shrinks when he comes off screens, and we're not doing a good job of getting to the secondary actions after that.”

Not only was Stirtz's final tally underwhelming, but in a full 20 first-half minutes, the senior scored just five points on 2-for-8 shooting from the field. Even if Stirtz can't be blamed for Iowa's overarching woes, his subpar play under brighter lights has formed a pattern that can't be ignored.

Kylan Boswell was an absolute menace on defense today 🔒

Held Bennett Stirtz to 12 points on 5/17 shooting (29 FG%) and added in three steals of his own.

pic.twitter.com/gwKHscRanE
— Nathan (@PFGNathan) January 11, 2026

“Sometimes when you have a player of his caliber, you search for him a little bit too much, and it doesn't naturally flow,” McCollum continued. “And I think we probably searched for him too much, and then when you search for him, then all five guys shrink.”

When Everybody Shrinks

Having had a collegiate career defined by playing under Coach McCollum thus far - growing within his system and winning through it - Stirtz being the main option on a Hawkeyes team bound by that very same system is no surprise.

Even if it is true that Iowa looked to him too much against the Fighting Illini, that reliance is the result of a roster built around him. Stirtz was and is supposed to be the main option since he followed McCollum to the program from Drake; just because that isn't working now, doesn't mean that the team's very structure isn't predicated on it.

Iowa has a problem with their north star and, so long as he continues to dim, the team will suffer for it.

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