C.J. Cox, Gicarri Harris lead No. 13 Purdue past Iowa, 78-57

Purdue center Daniel Jacobson, top left, grabs a rebound over Iowa guard Isaia Howard (23) and forward Cam Manyawu, top right, during the first half of an NCAA basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Iowa City, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

JOHN BOHNENKAMP | Associated Press

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — C.J. Cox and Gicarri Harris each had 14 points to help No. 13 Purdue beat Iowa 78-57 on Saturday.

The Boilermakers (20-5, 11-3 Big Ten), wrapping up a stretch of six of eight games on the road, extended their winning streak to four with an efficient offense that consistently found openings. Purdue, which leads the nation in assists per game, had 20 assists on 25 field goals, with Braden Smith having 12 of those.

Iowa (18-7, 8-6), which had won six of seven, lost for the second time this week. The Hawkeyes lost 77-70 at Maryland on Wednesday night, and were looking to bounce back in front of their first sellout home crowd of the season. Instead, they couldn’t make shots.

Trey Kaufman-Renn had 12 points and 12 rebounds for Purdue. Fletcher Loyer added 12 points.

Bennett Stirtz led Iowa with 19 points. The Hawkeyes shot 37.7% from the field, a percentage raised by a late stretch in which they made nine of their last 13 shots.

Purdue built a 36-25 halftime lead behind a 15-2 run.

HEAR FROM IOWA HEAD COACH BEN MCCOLLUM
“It felt like we connected to the community. It was awesome that they showed up. We just weren’t great. But [Purdue] was really good too. I thought they were pretty tuned up, I thought they got shockingly better after they loss to Indiana. They changed some things. They are a completely different team than we played the first time. I told our guys, they have scars, that was the team, Braden and Fletcher, were on that team that got beat in the first round [in the NCAA Tournament]. They got scars from that and that makes them tougher.

They are a tough team, and I thought they played great. I didn’t think we played great, I didn’t think we scored it great; I thought that hurt our defense a shocking amount. I thought they were in transition a lot. I thought we had a good game plan we just couldn’t set our defense because they were in transition so much and then they got too many offensive rebounds to start and I thought that really hurt us as well.”

IOWA GAME NOTES

The Hawkeyes dropped just their second home game of the season, falling 78-57 to No. 13/12 Purdue on Saturday afternoon in front of a sold-out Carver-Hawkeye Arena crowd of 14,998.
The Boilermakers led 36-25 at the break and opened the second half with an 11-2 run to open a 47-27 lead with 16:30 to play.
Purdue led by as many as 27 (58-31) in the game; Iowa never got any closer than 16 points.
Iowa had one player in double figures: Bennett Stirtz (19)
- Stirtz went 7-of-12 from the field and 2-of-6 from long range. He also had five rebounds.
- The guard didn’t commit a turnover for the ninth game this season.
Freshman Trevin Jirak scored six points on 1-of-4 shooting and made 3-of-4 free throws in 10 minutes.
- It was his first game with significant minutes since Dec. 29 against UMass Lowell.
Iowa is now 12-2 at home this season.
The Hawkeyes committed just six turnovers – their fifth straight game with single digit turnovers.
Iowa was outrebounded, 38-30.
The Hawkeyes shot 37.7 (20-of-53) from the field – a season low field goal percentage.
Saturday’s game was the first sellout of the Ben McCollum era with 14,998 fans in attendance.
Purdue used a 12-0 run over a 3:48 stretch to build a 19-7 lead at the 10:47 mark in the first half. The Boilermakers led by as many as 15 (30-15) before taking a 36-25 lead into the locker room.
- Iowa shot 28.6 percent from the field in the first half, making 8-of-28 field goals (two 3-pointers).