How Iowa men’s basketball plans to take its lessons learned last week to take on No. 4 Iowa State

IOWA CITY — It’ll be loud inside Hilton Coliseum Thursday night, there’s no beating around the bush. It’s a rowdy place to play a basketball game.

Iowa men’s basketball has already played in a rowdy place this season: in East Lansing against No. 7 Michigan State last week.

The Hawkeyes were smothered in a 19-point loss to the Spartans, but took away a few lessons learned.

First, run the offense with no fear. Second, the atmosphere can be overwhelming, but it can’t get to Iowa’s heads.

Now, the Hawkeyes have to apply those lessons against No. 4 Iowa State.

“They're both great environments,” guard Cooper Koch said. “So I think going in, (Michigan State) was a first real, true road game. It really helps us for the environment that we're going to see at Hilton.”

Thursday’s game marks the second time in as many seasons where Iowa faces a Cyclones team ranked inside the top 10 by the Associated Press. The Hawkeyes lead the all-time series against their rival, 48-30, but Iowa State holds the two-game advantage over the last few seasons.

This will be Koch’s first time playing against Iowa State. He was dressed for last year’s game in Iowa City, but didn’t get into the game. He knows what to expect, partially from his dad, J.R., who played for the Hawkeyes from 1995-99.

But for guard Bennett Stirtz, this is the first real taste he’s getting of the Cy-Hawk rivalry. Stirtz has done some research, he said, and watched the football edition back in September, but getting a taste from the jump adds to the excitement.

“I feel like it makes me a little bit more anxious,” Stirtz said. “But when the ball tips, it all goes away.”

Iowa’s biggest struggle against Michigan State was finding consistency in a tough environment. The Spartans’ defense prevented the Hawkeyes from installing a handful of plays they wanted to run.

Head coach Ben McCollum said some of that falls on him, and it’s part of his reflection he’s working on.

“I think it's going to help a lot,” McCollum said. “I think that part of it is just helping our staff, included just with the preparation piece of it just making sure you don't overthink it or try to grip the game ... we had a good game plan going in Michigan State, we just didn't execute it. So we need to make sure that we can execute this one.”

The Cyclones are returning home after knocking off top-ranked Purdue last weekend, which helped boost Iowa State inside the country’s top five.

It adds to the intensity of Thursday’s game, but also re-emphasizes the desire to play Iowa basketball, not Iowa State’s game.

“We've all played in loud environments, and most of us have all our all of our lives,” Stirtz said. “So we're just looking forward to it and just embracing that.”

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