Iowa men’s basketball drops third-straight game with loss at No. 5 Purdue

IOWA CITY — Iowa head coach Ben McCollum may get sick of close games against top programs.

Even with a nine-point second half lead, Iowa men’s basketball dropped its third consecutive game to No. 5 Purdue, 79-72. The Hawkeyes are now 0-4 in true road games this season, and have dropped their second-straight matchup against a top five opponent.

“Our kids fight,” McCollum said on the Hawkeye Radio postgame show. “They did tonight in particular ... there were a lot of winning plays, but there was a lot of losing plays.”

For the fourth consecutive game, guard Bennett Stirtz was caught with two fouls in the first half. This time, Stirtz left for the bench less than six minutes into the contest, but played 17 minutes in the opening 20 minutes.

Despite the whistles, the Hawkeyes scored just eight points in the paint that first half. Instead, Iowa shot 70-percent from beyond the arc.

It began with back-to-back triples from Tavion Banks, leading to Iowa sinking all four of its first triples. It notched seven in the first half, and finished the game with 12 made triples.

Iowa led the Boilermakers for half that opening frame. Even though Stirtz had two fouls, center Alvaro Folgeuiras and Purdue’s Gicarri Harris picked up off-setting technical fouls for dead ball contact with eight minutes into the contest.

The Hawkeyes put together a 10-0 run in the early portions of the second half, nearly silencing a Mackey Arena known for its deafening crowds. It brought Iowa’s lead up to nine point — the largest it would be for the black and gold.

The quiet didn’t last very long, though.

Purdue’s Braden Smith, considered one of the best point guards in the country, was held scoreless in the first half. Similar to how the Hawkeyes’ Stirtz finds ways to score points in crunch time, Smith propelled the Boilermakers to regain the lead for a few minutes.

Smith finished the game with 16 points to lead Purdue and eight rebounds.

Stirtz accepted that challenge, and the two point guards began trading buckets. Purdue and Iowa had 11-straight made field goals crossing through the halfway point of the second 20 minutes.

The Hawkeyes’ Kael Combs helped support Stirtz in the point guard showdown, scoring a season-high 16 points, shooting 4-for-4 from beyond the arc. Stirtz led all scorers with 19 points, with forward Cam Manyawu adding another 13 points.

“I’m just getting confidence, more and more every day,” Combs said in the Hawkeye Radio postgame show on his performance. “That’s through my teammates helping and coaches instilling that in me.”

There were nine ties in the game with five minutes still left and 14 lead changes by the final buzzer.

“Coach Mac always says you’re always down 10 on the road,” Combs said. “So we’ve just gotta continue pawning and fighting. You’ve got to fight the home crowd and everything like that.”

Though the idea of a signature win was still just within arms reach, there was one statistic plaguing the Hawkeyes’ chances: free throws. Iowa was 6-for-10 from the charity stripe, despite being in the bonus in the final four minutes of the game. Purdue missed three free throws, but had 22 attempts.

The Boilmakers had their largest lead of the game with three minutes left to play, taking a five-point lead over the Hawkeyes.

“We need to be able to close it and make those big time defensive stops,” McCollum said. “I’m hopeful that we’ll improve that without hurting our offense in practice.”

Banks nailed another triple, his third of the game, for a two-point game. He fouled out seconds later. Purdue responded, widened the gap and left Iowa stuck be just short once again.

The Hawkeyes have a chance to end their road game frustrations against Indiana at Assembly Hall on Saturday afternoon.

“We know we’re close,” Combs said. “But close isn’t cutting it.”

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