Iowa forward Alvaro Folgueiras (7) dunks over Nebraska forward Berke Buyuktuncel during the second half of the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament Thursday, March 26, 2026, in Houston (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

KRISTIE RIEKEN | Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) — Alvaro Folgueiras converted a critical three-point play when Nebraska only had four defenders on the floor, and ninth-seeded Iowa continued its unpredictable NCAA Tournament run under first-year coach Ben McCollum, beating Nebraska 77-71 in a South Region semifinal on Thursday night.

Bennett Stirtz scored 20 points and Folgueiras had 16 for the Hawkeyes (24-12), who knocked off top-seeded Florida in the second round on Folgueiras’ 3-pointer in the closing seconds.

Iowa will face another Big Ten rival, Illinois, on Saturday for a spot in the Final Four. McCollum, who won four Division II national titles at Northwest Missouri State, has now led Iowa to its fifth Elite Eight and first since 1987.

Iowa became the lowest-seeded team from the Big Ten to reach a regional final since seeding began in 1979.

“Cinderella, whatever they want to call us, just we’re in the Elite Eight,” McCollum said. “That’s what they need to call us.”

Fourth-seeded Nebraska (28-7) took an early 10-point lead against its conference foe, and Iowa tied it four times but never led until Stirtz buried a 3-pointer to make it 68-65 with 2:10 to go. Sage Tate hit another 3 to cap a 9-0 run and put Iowa ahead 71-65.

The Cornhuskers got within three on a second-chance 3 by Braden Frager, but they were disorganized on the inbound play, leaving Folgueiras unguarded near the rim. He slammed it home — popping up screaming after he finished through contact as Iowa fans roared — and converted the free throw for a six-point lead.

Another dunk by Folgueiras with 34 seconds left made it 76-68.

For Stirtz and McCollum, this March Madness run continues a journey that began at Northwest Missouri State and continued last season at Drake before the pair both moved on to Iowa.

“It’s been a hell of a ride,” McCollum said. “But it’s far from over.”

Stirtz credited McCollum for turning him into a “great person off the court and a great player on the court,” but he had trouble sharing too much more about his coach.

“I don’t want to talk about it that much. I get emotional,” he said. “That’s just another topic for after the season that we can look at. Right now, just focus on the next game.”

Iowa transfer Pryce Sandfort made six 3s and scored 25 points for Nebraska, which won the first two March Madness games in program history to get this far. Frager added 16 points for coach Fred Hoiberg’s Cornhuskers, who delighted a traveling contingent of red-clad fans throughout their tournament run.

“These guys will be a part of history of Nebraska basketball forever, for winning the first NCAA tournament game, getting to the Sweet 16, most wins in the history of the program, highest ranking,” Hoiberg said. “They just did so many things to elevate our program. I’m really proud of them.”

Iowa’s second-half rally was fueled by Nebraska’s cold shooting: The Huskers were 9 of 32 (28.1%) after halftime, with most of those attempts coming beyond the arc, where they made just 6 of 24.

“We missed some good looks,” Hoiberg said. “I’ll go back and watch it at some point and see what we could have done better, but (it) seemed like they made all the open shots at the end, we didn’t. Again, that happens in this game. Unfortunately, that was the result tonight.”

The teams split their previous meetings this season, but it will be the Hawkeyes who move on and try to represent the Big Ten in the Final Four. One way or another, the league is guaranteed to win the South this year.

Coaches praise each other

Hoiberg raved about the job McCollum has done in his first season at Iowa and throughout his career.

“I’ve got so much respect for Ben with how he has run his programs,” Hoiberg said. “And obviously, it doesn’t matter the level, he’s going to continue to be successful wherever he is, and he’s proven that. He’s proven that at the D-II level, he proved it at a mid-major, and now he’s proving it in the Big Ten at a high-major level.”

McCollum had a similar sentiment for Hoiberg and his team.

“They completely turned everything around from the previous season, and they have absolutely nothing to hang their heads about or anything,” McCollum said. “I have the utmost respect for them, all their players, and especially coach Hoiberg.”

HEAR FROM IOWA HEAD COACH BEN MCCOLLUM
“Yeah, I think to start we weren’t fantastic to start. They had an elite game plan to start. They played with elite pace. They adjusted their defense quite a bit. I think a lot of people will talk about the rivalry. I was around it when I was in Iowa, you know, and grew up in Iowa and understand the rivalry and whatnot. It’s nice to have — I guess if you would a call it rival that runs such a class program.

I think Coach Hoiberg, they have got great kids. They completely turned everything around from the previous season, and they have absolutely nothing to hang their heads about or anything. I have the utmost respect for them, all their players, and especially Coach Hoiberg. Heck of a season. I know it’s no consolation, but we still want to beat ’em every time and they want to beat us every time.

But from and internal perspective, there’s not a lot of bad blood there. It’s actually a lot of respect. I was really pleased with our second-half performance. I thought we actually decided we were going to try — not try. They had a lot to do with it, but kind of. Yeah, they’re smiling over there because they saw me break my marker.

And I thought our kids did a good job of executing offensively in both halves. We spent a lot of time trying to make sure that we could score, and you saw the result of that. We didn’t defend. But we were able to score, so we were able to stay in the game long enough and then get enough stops and had some big possessions down the stretch. Really good program win for everybody, coaches, managers, everybody included.”

IOWA GAME NOTES

• The ninth-seeded Hawkeyes advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1987 with a 77-71 victory over fourth-seeded Nebraska in the South Regional Semifinal at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
• The Hawkeyes have defeated three straight higher seeded teams – No. 8 Clemson, No. 1 Florida, No. 4 Nebraska en route to the South Region Final.
• As a No. 9 seed, Iowa is the lowest seed in the Big Ten to reach the Elite Eight.
  • The last No. 9 seed to advance to the Elite Eight was Florida Atlantic in 2023.
  • Iowa is the sixth nine seed to advance to the Elite Eight.
  • Two times in NCAA Tournament history has a No. 9 seed made the Final Four. 
• The Hawkeyes have won three NCAA Tournament games in the last seven days; Iowa had won three in the previous 20 years.
• Iowa moves to 7-1 on neutral courts this season.
• The victory is the Hawkeyes’ 24th of the season — tied for the fifth-most in a single season in program history.
• After trailing 46-43 at the half, the Hawkeyes fought back to tie the game at 50, the first time the game was tied since it was scoreless. The game was tied three times (53, 62, 65).
  • Iowa took its first lead at the 2:10 mark when Bennett Stirtz connected on a late shot clock 3-pointer, giving the Hawkeyes a 68-65 lead.
  • The Hawkeyes led by as many as nine in the final minute.
• Iowa had four players finish in double figures: Bennett Stirtz (20), Tate Sage (19), Alvaro Folgueiras (16), Cooper Koch (11)
• Stirtz finished with 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting (3-of-9 3PT) to go along with four assists and two rebounds.
  • It was his 19th 20-point game this season and 53rd of his career.
  • It was his 17th game this season playing 40 or more minutes (57 times in his career).
  • He is the first Hawkeye with 20 points/4 assists in an NCAA Tournament since Dean Oliver in the Round of 32 vs. Kentucky in 2001.
  • Stirtz didn’t commit a turnover for the 12th time this season.
• Sage posted career-highs in points (19), rebounds (8) and assists (3), making 6-of-10 field goals, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range.  His six field goals are a career-high, while his four 3s tie a career-best.
  • Sage’s 19 points are tied for the most in an NCAA Tournament game by a Hawkeye freshman all-time, tying Joe Wieskamp (2019) and Guy Rucker (1997).
• Folgueiras made 6-of-7 field goals, including two 3s and had three steals.  He has scored 14+ points in all three NCAA Tournament games.
• Koch made three triples en route to his 11-point outing and had five rebounds. 
• Iowa made 13 3-pointers, the most in an NCAA Tournament game in program history.  The previous record was 12 against UAB in 1999.  The team’s 30 attempts were also a team NCAA Tournament record.
• After giving up 46 points in the first half, Iowa’s defense limited the Huskers to 25 second-half points on 28.1 percent shooting (25 percent from 3-point range).
• Iowa committed just five turnovers in the game against a Husker defense that forced 13 a game.
• The Hawkeyes won despite being out-rebounded, 35-26. 
• Nebraska jumped out to a double-digit lead over the first five minutes, making six of its first 10 field goals. The Hawkeyes responded with an 8-0 spurt to climb to within two at 19-17 before Braden Frager drilled three consecutive 3-pointers to push the Huskers’ lead to 25-17 at the 11:57 mark.
• Iowa fell behind by 10 three more times in the first half before closing with a 13-4 run, including a Sage 3-pointer at the buzzer to make the score 46-43.
  • Offense was the name of the game in the first half with Iowa shooting 60 percent (15-of-25) from the floor and 63.6 percent (7-of-11) from 3-point range.  Nebraska shot 57.7 percent (15-of-26) and 50 percent from long range (7-of-14).

Up Next

The Hawkeyes will play the winner of the Illinois-Houston game on Saturday at 5:09 p.m. (CT).