SEATTLE, WA. — The first half felt both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time, if that makes any sense.
A 48-41 shootout with little defense and lots of scoring is the type of style Iowa basketball was accustomed to playing under the previous regime. So in that sense, Iowa’s first-half performance against Washington wasn’t a foreign sight.
But specifically to Ben McCollum-coached Hawkeyes, it was jarring. Iowa’s defensive prowess has been a welcome development for a program that needed an overhaul on that side of the floor.
But Iowa’s defense lacked severely against Washington in the first 20 minutes. The Huskies put on a ridiculous offensive display in the first half, shooting 77% from the field and 75% from deep. There was a stretch in which the Huskies made 15-of-16 from the field, including 11 in a row.
And then came halftime.
“I don’t know if we can share that one,” McCollum said with a smile when asked of his halftime message.
Bennett Stirtz painted a clearer picture.
“Coach chewed us out at halftime and we deserved it,” Stirtz said. “We gave up 48 points.”
But it wasn’t just a stern message, McCollum also adjusted Iowa’s ball-screen coverage.
“First half we were not aggressive with our ball-screen coverage,” McCollum said. “We were sitting back, kind of letting them dictate what happened. I thought they had a really good gameplan, too. I thought they got downhill and attacked us quite a bit. Their athleticism and then obviously those big guys are enormous. In the second half, we adjusted their coverage and then we played a little harder defensively. You kind of saw the result of that.”
Those results were resounding.
Iowa’s defense returned to its typical form, and water found its level. The Huskies shot just 36% from the field and 13% from deep in the second half. Meanwhile, Iowa’s offense continued operate like a well-oiled machine as the Hawkeyes finished the game at 60% from the field and 47% from deep.
Iowa’s offensive efficiency and second-half defensive turnaround combined to generate a 17-point difference in favor of the Hawkeyes after the break. The thorough domination in the second half helped turn a deficit into an 84-74 victory.
“We just adjusted our (defensive) coverages and played better,” McCollum said. “That’s what it was.”
‘Playing (for) more than just for money’
What Iowa just did is not easy.
The Hawkeyes swept a road trip that included being away from Iowa for close to a week, operating two time zones away from Central time and playing two Big Ten opponents in a span of four days. To make matters more difficult, the last leg of that road marathon against Washington tipped off around 8 p.m. Pacific time.
And yet, Iowa did not seem fazed. Instead, the Hawkeyes won both games by double figures. The win over Washington is a coveted Quad I victory, which provides a boost to Iowa’s NCAA Tournament resume.
“I told them to not say a word about it or pout about it,” McCollum said about the unfavorable circumstances his team faced. “I told them we wanted it (tipoff vs. Washington) later. We want it later. Let’s make it harder. That’s how you’ve got to address these things. That’s how you have to approach them. You can’t sit there and worry about circumstances that you don’t control. Just go play the game and see what happens.”
Alvaro Folgueiras, a native of Spain, gave a slightly different perspective to the late start.
“It was great because now my family’s waking up in Spain,” Folgueiras said. “So it was nice. They did not stay up until 5 a.m. Now the game starts at 5 a.m., and then they can watch it. Start the day great because we won.”
Iowa has won five Big Ten games in a row. The last time Iowa did so was in 2022, right before the Hawkeyes went on the memorable run to win the Big Ten Tournament. Fittingly, both of those teams won three of those five games on the road. This season’s Iowa team has knocked off Indiana, Oregon and Washington away from home.
“We’re just all unselfish,” Stirtz said of Iowa’s character. “We care more about winning than getting more money, things like that.”
That would’ve been a borderline laughable line to hear a decade ago. But now in the NIL and revenue-sharing era, it’s a relevant topic.
To Stirtz’s point, Iowa truly looks like a team that is bought into winning. There were so many players who contributed to the Hawkeyes’ victory over Washington.
After scoring a career-high 32 points over Oregon, Stirtz was magnificent again, scoring 22 points on 8-of-13 from the field and 4-of-8 from deep. Folgueiras, who had 16 points off the bench, has continued his recent upward trajectory. Cooper Koch guarded bigger players and scored all 11 of his points in the second half. Tate Sage and Isaia Howard each had seven points off the bench. Cam Manyawu had four of his team-high five rebounds in the second half. Tavion Banks had 11 points.
You get the point here.
Iowa is playing like a team, not just a bunch of disconnected parts, which can happen in the modern era of college athletics, where there are conflicting priorities and agendas.
“We just all stick together,” Stirtz said. “We’re playing (for) more than just for money or individual stuff, individual awards. We’re playing for wins.”
Tavion Banks falls four free throws short of Chris Street/Jordan Bohannon record
Tavion Banks’ streak of consecutive made free throws came to end at 30 when he missed his first attempt against Washington. It was his first missed free throw since Dec. 20 against Bucknell.
Banks was within striking distance of the program’s all-time record of 34, which is held by Jordan Bohannon and Chris Street. In 2018, Bohannon missed a free throw on purpose so he wouldn’t have sole possession of the program record, instead using it as a way to pay his respect to the late Hawkeye legend.
In McCollum eyes, Street’s place in the record books is not really about the free throws themselves.
“The way he played means a lot more than 34 free throws if that makes sense,” McCollum said. “It certainly means a lot more to our program than that.”
As Banks climbed toward the record, memories of Street, along with Bohannon’s gesture, came back to the surface.
McCollum provided a peek of what it was like to be in that moral dilemma, should Banks have gotten the chance to break the record.
“I will tell you this, it’s pretty stressful for Tavion, simply because he’s worked really hard to improve some of those things throughout his career,” McCollum said. “And so then he’s stressed because it’s like, man, what if it’s a close game? What if this? Am I supposed to do this? Am I supposed to miss? Because it’s just one of those things.”
“He did a good job of helping himself through (the stress),” McCollum said of Banks. “He’s a pretty deep thinker. He can process a lot of that stuff. Part of it is it’s not really his cross to bear. It would’ve been my decision one way or the other. That’s how we would’ve done it.”
Packing Carver-Hawkeye Arena again
Not to get too ahead of ourselves, because Iowa has two more games before this, but the Hawkeyes announced that the Valentine’s Day tilt against Purdue at Carver-Hawkeye Arena is sold out.
Since his introductory press conference in March, McCollum has been outspoken about filling up Carver-Hawkeye Arena. So this is a benchmark in McCollum’s first season at the helm. It’s Iowa’s first home sellout since the regular-season finale against Illinois in 2024, a game in which there were a healthy number of Fighting Illini fans.
It’s possible that Iowa could enter that matchup on a seven-game winning streak. The Hawkeyes should be the favorites in each of their next two games — Northwestern (home) and Maryland (away). There are no guarantees in the Big Ten, but the Hawkeyes could head into the game against Purdue at 19-5 overall and 9-4 in Big Ten play, which would make for a massive matchup.
“I’m happy for our guys,” McCollum said of the sellout vs. Purdue. “I think, ultimately, what we’re really trying to get to is consistency with that. But, again, we’ve appreciated the days that are 5,000. We appreciate the days that are 6,000. We appreciate the days there’s (10,000). Whoever wants to come, come. We’re super fired up. Ultimately, yeah, we want to get it to that level every game and create that home-court advantage and just create a fun atmosphere for everybody. But we’re certainly pleased with the people that have shown up to this point.”
Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at ttachman@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: The many layers of Iowa basketball’s riveting win over Washington
Reporting by Tyler Tachman, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
