Three Takeaways From Iowa's First NCAA Tournament Win in Five Years

First year head coach Ben McCollum came to the Iowa Hawkeyes with a mission to make the NCAA Tournament.

Not only did he do so in his first season, but he also came out with a win. The No. 9 Hawkeyes had their work cut out for them against No. 8 Clemson, but in the end they prevailed, 67-61. This marks Iowa's first NCAA Tournament victory since March 20, 2021.

It was a relateively off night for senior guard Bennett Stirtz, but thankfully his supporting cast stepped up in a big way.

Everyone expects No. 1 Florida to make it out of the first round, which would set up a huge game against the Gators in the second round. Iowa would surely have their work cut out for them, but they've proven they're more than up for the challenge.

1. Iowa Didn't Trail For A Second

THE 9-SEED HAWKEYES OUTLAST THE 8-SEED TIGERS, 67-61 🤯

Iowa advances past the First Round for the first time since 2021 🙌 pic.twitter.com/i37dMn6GQJ
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) March 21, 2026

To say Iowa controlled this game would be an understatement. Clemson wasn't able to get off to a great start, and that's something McCollum's squad took advantage of. The Tigers fought until the very end, though it was too little too late as they were never able to get over the hump.

Iowa made plenty of mistakes, but at the end of the day this was an extremely solid all-around performance. McCollum will likely say otherwise, but at least he's keeping his team grounded ahead of their expected date with Florida.

2. Iowa Cleaned Up On The Glass

Shockingly, the Hawkeyes won the rebounding battle and it wasn't particularly close. This isn't always their strong suit, but for once they were clear winners in this department. Not only did they have more overall rebounds, but they grabbed 15 offensive boards which made a huge difference in the outcome.

3. Bennett Stirtz Needed His Supporting Cast

Bennett Stirtz gets his first bucket from deep to fall 😮‍💨#MarchMadness @IowaHoops pic.twitter.com/BLe4Jv30Zl
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 20, 2026

Stirtz has been superhuman all year long, but he had an off night in this one. Clemson kept him in check, as McCollum's right-hand man ended the night with just 16 points. That may be impressive to some, but for Stirtz that's an extremely low number.

The senior guard once again played the full 40 minutes, marking the 15th time he's done so this season. That said, Stirtz was just 4-17 from the field in this one as he only made three of his 10 three-point attempts.

Kael Combs led the way with 15 points while Alvaro Folgueiras contributed 14 huge bench points. Iowa was 24-31 from the free throw line in this game, with that trio combining for 15 of those.

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