Hawkeyes fight off a slow start, pick up an 81-62 win over Xavier

After facing a couple of mid-major opponents to open the season, Ben McCollum and the Hawkeyes faced their first high-major test of the season on Friday night. The visiting Xavier Musketeers kept it close early, but a big run to close the half put Iowa in control and they hung on for an 81-62 win. With the win, the move to 3-0 on the season.

“We were able to build a big lead in the second half and then just kind of hung on,” said McCollum. “Probably should have been a little bit more impose your will in that second half, but all in all, good game and proud of our guys.”

It was a less-than-ideal start for the Hawkeyes, with a few ill-advised shots and a few turnovers. Isaia Howard was quickly set on the bench, in favor of Kael Combs, after three turnovers in the first 94 seconds, but Iowa had five turnovers in the first 11 minutes. Meanwhile, Xavier went off script with their starting lineup and knocked five triples, including one by Roddie Anderson III to draw within 5:45 with under six minutes to play in the first half.

“I thought our kids, to start, had a lot of slippage. Game slippage. They were excited about their first Power Five competition and had some uncharacteristic turnovers and just missed on some execution,” said McCollum. “Our ball screen coverage wasn’t great, partly because they played a little different lineup than we expected…things defensively calmed down after that eight-to-ten-minute stretch.”

While the Hawkeyes tried to play their way through a slow and sometimes sloppy start, Xavier was doing them a favor by racking up fouls. When Iowa started to click on the offensive end, they were able to get to the line as well. Tavion Banks knocked down an open three, followed by a Cam Manyawu basket inside to make it 40-29. Five more made free throws in the final 61 seconds helped close out an 18-4 run that sent Iowa to the locker room with a 45-29 advantage.

“I thought we attacked the paint pretty well when we didn’t pass the ball to the other team,” said McCollum. “We attacked the paint, and we were able to punish some of their coverage stuff. I thought our gameplan offensively was good and defensively, it just took us a little time to execute it.”

Leading 47-32 early in the second half, the Musketeers were handed a bit of life with what would become a six-point possession. Cooper Koch was tagged with an intentional foul trying to stop a transition break, but Jovan Milicevic finished at the rim. Two made free throws and a made jumper by Filip Borovicanin cut the deficit to 47-38 with nearly 18 minutes to play.

All of the sudden, the Hawkeyes had to rebuild their lead. They quickly answered with a Cam Manyawu layup, an Alvaro Folguerias and-one, as well as a pair of free throws from Kael Combs for a 7-0 run to make it 54-38. Although Iowa was never able to impose their will really put the game away, the lead never dipped below 14 points the rest of the way.

The Hawkeyes dominated Xavier in the paint, outscoring them 50-26, while they outrebounded the Musketeers 41-24, including team-high nine rebounds from Cam Manyawu. Stirtz and Folgueiras added eight boards apiece as well.

“It’s one of those things that we feel like is a controllable thing,” said McCollum. “In the Big Ten, if you don’t rebound, you’re not going to win any games. You’ve got to make sure that you’re getting 50/50 balls and getting after it. I thought our kids, even late into that second half (did that). Alvaro had some huge rebounds. Tavion in the first half had some big boards where he just went and got it. Those are big time plays that you need to have happen.”

On the night, the Hawkeyes shot 56.9% (29/51) from the floor, 27.3% (3/11) from three-point range and 74.1% (20/27) at the free throw line. Bennett Stirtz led the way with a game-high 21 points, eight rebounds and three assists, while Tavion Banks added 13 points and five rebounds. Kael Combs played 32 minutes off the bench, tallying 11 points and a game-high four assists.

“We needed extra ball handling tonight against that pressure, just to relieve Bennett,” said McCollum. “(Combs) is another point guard. I think when you have two point guards out there consistently, it’s really beneficial for your team and we’re pretty good when we have two point guards because it moves Bennett off the ball some, he can score a little bit more, then move him back on the ball some too.”

Defensively, the Hawkeyes held Xavier to 39.0% (23/59) on the night, including 24.2% (8/33) from three-point range. Although they forced just 12 turnovers, Iowa was able to turn it into 18 points, outscoring the Musketeers 22-17 in points off turnovers/second chance points.

“We had a lot of busted coverage defensively, but I thought all in all, we gave some effort and got big defensive rebounds…we did guard the ball. I thought we won a lot of our one-on-one matchups. I thought our hand activity was pretty good. It’s a solid day, not our best, but we’re getting better.”

Up Next: The Hawkeyes will return to action on Tuesday night when they host the Southeast Missouri Redhawks at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Tipoff is set for 7:30pm CT on the Big Ten Network.