No. 25 Iowa men’s basketball’s win over UCLA amplifies its confidence through lessons learned

IOWA CITY — In a game where No. 25 Iowa men’s basketball controlled its destiny, a cautionary tale rose from Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The excitement of Saturday’s 74-61 win over UCLA certainly captured Hawkeye fans’ attention. With its electric first half, it was easy to get lost in the exhilarating feel of Iowa playing smooth, cohesive basketball.

As the game went on, however, the Bruins started chipping away at a double-digit Iowa halftime lead. UCLA forced Iowa into some foul trouble, and made it as close as a four point game.

Iowa won by 13 when it was all said and done, but the Hawkeyes learned a lesson — Big Ten times can change in the blink of an eye.

“Yeah, we could lose some games like that if we're not ready to go,” guard Bennett Stirtz said. “We’ve got to play for a full 40 minutes.”

The Hawkeyes had allowed five-straight baskets by UCLA to start the second half. Stirtz said part of the reason the offense slowed was that he didn’t feel like he was aggressive enough — both in facilitating the offense and taking his own shots.

The Bruins’ Donovan Dent became a problem pretty quickly. He finished the game with 25 points, two points behind game-leader Stirtz’s 27 on the night. Dent also rarely went to the free throw line, missing seven shots from the field the whole game.

Stirtz, in comparison, missed just twice.

“You kind of knew they'd make a run, so it's tricky,” Iowa head coach Ben McCollum said. “You don't know if it was just a run that they should have made earlier, or if you let off the gas.”

Once Iowa started getting the stops it wanted, getting shots like those opening 20 minutes, the Hawkeyes’ lead grew back. Iowa has proven it can string together fast-paced, highlight-quality scoring runs in the blink of an eye — like 7-0 run between Stirtz and forward Tavion Banks to close out the game.

By no means did Iowa play a bad second half against UCLA, let alone a bad game. It’s still something to learn from for this team, who faces Minnesota on the road Tuesday and hosts No. 20 Illinois on Sunday.

It’s something that can be fixed while watching film and in practice, McCollum’s favorite place to be. Iowa’s shown it can learn from its mistakes — big or small — and apply it to its next opponent.

But learning that lesson, surrounded by a nearly-full Carver-Hawkeye Arena gave the Hawkeyes hope for what they’ve been striving for — a true, home court basketball environment throughout Big Ten play.

They already said the fans added extra points to their final score. Who knows what another lesson learned could add, too?

“That's why it's important to have a crowd is in these kind of games, it gets you 10 points,” McCollum said. “Just the atmosphere, the energy, people standing, people cheering. They're a fun group to watch. They're a fun group to be proud of.”

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