Iowa beats Washington 84-74, extends win streak to 5 games

SEATTLE (AP) — Bennett Stirtz hit four 3-pointers and finished with 22 points, Alvaro Folgueiras scored 16 points, and Iowa beat Washington 84-74 on Wednesday night for its fifth consecutive win.

Tavion Banks had 11 points and Cooper Koch also scored 11, all in the second half, for Iowa (16-5, 6-4 Big Ten). Banks missed a free throw with 29 seconds left in the first half to break his streak of 30 consecutive made free throws — four shy of the program record set by Chris Street (1993) and Jordan Bohannon (2018).

Hannes Steinbach had 20 points and 12 rebounds for Washington (12-11, 4.-8) and his 15 double-doubles this season are the most by a freshman in program history. Isaiah Stewart had 14 double-doubles for the Huskies in 2019-20.

Zoom Diallo had 16 points, a career-high 12 assists and six rebounds and Wesley Yates III scored 15 points for Washington.

Franck Kepnang threw down a dunk that gave the Huskies a seven-point lead with 18:41 left in the game but they went without a field goal for the next seven-plus minutes. Washington was 0 for 6 from the field and committed two turnovers during an 18-4 Iowa run that made it 63-56 with 12:59 to play and the Hawkeyes led the rest of the way.

Washington shot 76.9% (20 of 26) in the first half — the third-best shooting half in the Big Ten since the 2018-19 season — but made just 9 of 25 (36%) from the field after halftime.

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH BEN MCCOLLUM
“I thought we picked up the defense. I didn’t think I had a great game plan, going in I thought it was good. We kind of adjusted our ball screen coverage a little bit and obviously that didn’t work very well. We made some adjustments at halftime; I thought we gave more effort after halftime too.

Does it matter you’re on the road that long and there’s some concentration things? Yeah, a little bit. Our offense was so good. I thought our offense was really dialed in, really tuned in. Defensively, we just weren’t our best. It’s kind of the road in the Big Ten. [Washington] is a really talented team, I mean they are massive. It’s a good win and certainly ready to go home.”

IOWA GAME NOTES

The Hawkeyes rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to win their fifth straight game, downing Washington, 84-74, on Wednesday night at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle. Iowa outscored the Huskies, 43-26, in the second half.
The victory is Iowa’s 17th win of the season (seventh in Big Ten play), matching the team’s 2024-25 win totals in both categories.
The win is Iowa’s second Quad 1 victory of the season, and it is the team’s seventh Quad 1/2 win.
Iowa has won three straight Big Ten road games for the first time since the 2021-22 season (at Maryland, at Ohio State, at Nebraska).
It was the team’s second victory of the season when trailing at the break.
Iowa’s 17-5 record is the team’s best start through 22 games since the 2018-19 season.
The Hawkeyes had four players land in double figures: Bennett Stirtz (22), Alvaro Folgueiras (16), Tavion Banks (11), Cooper Koch (11)
Stirtz recorded his fifth consecutive 20-point game, going 8-of-13 from the floor and 4-of-8 from 3-point range. He also had five assists and one steal in 40 minutes.
- It is his team-leading 12th 20-point game this season and his 32nd over the past two seasons. It is the second time in his career he has scored 20+ in five straight games.
- Stirtz is the first Hawkeye since Tony Perkins (1/24/24-2/2/24) to score 20+ points in five straight contests.
- It is the sixth game Stirtz has made four or more 3-pointers and his 14th game with at least five assists.
- It is the eighth time this season Stirtz has played all 40 minutes.
Folgueiras finished with 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting with 12 coming in the first half.
- Iowa is 11-0 when Folgueiras scores in double figures.
Koch scored all 11 points in the second half to land in double figures for the second straight game and for the seventh time this season. He was 4-of-7 from the floor with two 3-pointers.
The Hawkeyes erased the seven-point halftime deficit by opening the second half on a 13-4 run to even the game at 54.
- Over the first seven minutes of the second half, Iowa went on a 22-6 run to open a 63-56 lead.
- The Hawkeyes held Washington without a field goal for a 7 1/2-minute stretch.
After giving up 48 points in the first half on 76.9 percent (20-of-26) shooting and 75 percent from 3-point range (6-of-8), Iowa held Washington to 26 second-half points on 36 percent shooting (12.5 percent from 3).
The Hawkeyes held Washington to 74 points – four below its season average.
- Every Iowa opponent has been held below its season scoring average this season.
- The Hawkeyes are one of two teams nationally to hold their opponents below their season scoring average in every game.
Iowa forced 12 Washington turnovers, turning the miscues into 22 points.
- The Hawkeyes had a season-low four turnovers.
The Huskies finished with 15 fastbreak points – a high for an Iowa opponent – and outrebounded the Hawkeyes, 28-19.
Iowa shot 59.6 percent from the field (31-of-52) and 47.4 percent (9-of-19) from 3-point range.
- The team shot 59.3 percent (64-of-108) during the two games in the Pacific Northwest.
The Hawkeyes are 13-0 this season when attempting more free throws than their opponent (Iowa had 21 attempts; UW had 11).
Iowa is 15-0 this season when leading the game at the 10-minute mark.
Senior Tavion Banks went 1-of-2 from the free throw line with 29 seconds remaining in the first half, snapping his string of 30 consecutive makes.
Washington used an 11-0 run over a 3-minute stretch to build an 18-10 lead. The Huskies held Iowa scoreless for more than four minutes.
- The Hawkeyes followed with a 21-10 spurt to take a 31-28 lead, but Washington made 11 of its final 12 field goals of the first half to take a 48-41 lead into the locker room.
- The 48 points are tied for the most points Iowa has allowed in a half this season.