SUMMARY VIDEO

Summary: In Ben McCollum's first season at Iowa, he underwent a major roster overhaul after numerous player exits through graduation and the transfer portal. Key contributors such as Payton Sandfort, Owen Freeman, Josh Dix, and several others left the program, forcing a near-complete rebuild. McCollum relied heavily on the transfer portal, especially players who followed him from Drake, including Bennett Stirtz, Cam Manyawu, Tavion Banks, Kael Combs, Isaia Howard, and Joey Matteoni, helping quickly install his system with familiar talent. Drake had won their conference and advanced to the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament in March 2025.
The Hawkeyes exceeded expectations on the court, finishing 24–13 overall and 10–10 in Big Ten play while earning an at-large NCAA Tournament bid. They played close with the top teams in the conference, nearly upsetting Iowa State, Michigan and Illinois, and defeating #9 Nebraska at home and taking them to overtime on the road. After a solid but uneven regular season, Iowa caught fire in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 9 seed, defeating No. 8 seed Clemson, then upsetting No. 1 seed and defending champion Florida to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since the 1998-99 season. They defeated Nebraska again to reach the program’s first Elite Eight since 1987 before losing again to Illinois. The postseason run highlighted McCollum’s immediate impact and marked Iowa’s deepest tournament run in decades. The team finished ranked #15 in the AP poll.
Bennett Stirtz emerged as the team’s biggest star and lived up to the preseason hype, earning first-team All-Big Ten honors from the media (second team by coaches), the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, and All-America recognition while averaging just over 20 points per game. He also earned conference Player of the Week recognition during the season and became the first Hawkeye since 2023 to earn first-team All-Big Ten honors.

Conference: Big Ten

Head Coach: Ben McCollum

Assistant Coaches: Josh Sash, Bryston Williams, Luke Barnwell, Connor Wheeler

Wikipedia Page for 2025-2026 Iowa Basketball Season Summary

Wikipedia Season Summary Page
2025-2026 Iowa Basketball Season Detailed Game Stats

Season Detailed Game Stats
Final/Official Season Stats
Interactive Season Stats (may be incomplete)
2025-2026 Iowa Basketball Team Roster

Full Team Roster

Official 2025-2026 Iowa Basketball Media Guide

Date	Opponent / Score	Hilites	Full Game
11/4/2025	Iowa vs Robert Morris W 101 - 69 Attendance: 9,232
11/7/2025	Iowa vs Western Illinois W 77 - 58 Attendance: 10,978
11/14/2025	Iowa vs Xavier W 81 - 62 Attendance: 11,678
11/18/2025	Iowa vs Southeast Missouri State W 99 - 70 Attendance: 9,302
11/20/2025	Iowa vs Chicago State W 93 - 54 Attendance: 9,265
11/25/2025	Iowa vs Mississippi Acrisure Classic W 74 - 69
11/26/2025	Iowa vs Grand Canyon Acrisure Classic W 59 - 46
12/2/2025	Iowa @ #7 Michigan State L 52 - 71 Attendance: 14,797
12/6/2025	Iowa vs Maryland W 83 - 64 Attendance: 10,956
12/11/2025	Iowa @ #4 Iowa State L 62 - 66 Attendance: 14,267
12/14/2025	Iowa vs Western Michigan W 91 - 51 Attendance: 10,341
12/20/2025	Iowa vs Bucknell W 94 - 39 Attendance: 8,177
12/29/2025	#25 Iowa vs Massachusetts Lowell W 90 - 62 Attendance: 11,324
1/3/2026	#25 Iowa vs UCLA W 74 - 61 Attendance: 12,657
1/6/2026	#19 Iowa @ Minnesota L 67 - 70 Attendance: 8,976
1/11/2026	#19 Iowa vs #16 Illinois L 69 - 75 Attendance: 13,559
1/14/2026	Iowa @ #5 Purdue L 72 - 79 Attendance: 14,876
1/17/2026	Iowa @ Indiana W 74 - 57 Attendance: 17,222
1/20/2026	Iowa vs Rutgers W 68 - 62 Attendance: 9,778
1/28/2026	Iowa vs USC W 73 - 72 Attendance: 10,512
2/1/2026	Iowa @ Oregon W 84 - 66 Attendance: 5,807
2/4/2026	Iowa @ Washington W 84 - 74 Attendance: 6,904
2/8/2026	Iowa vs Northwestern W 76 - 70 Attendance: 11,474
2/11/2026	#25 Iowa @ Maryland L 70 - 77 Attendance: 12,055
2/14/2026	Iowa vs #13 Purdue L 57 - 78 Attendance: 14,998
2/17/2026	Iowa vs #9 Nebraska W 57 - 52 Attendance: 11,483
2/22/2026	Iowa @ #24 Wisconsin L 71 - 84 Attendance: 16,838
2/25/2026	Iowa vs Ohio State W 74 - 57 Attendance: 10,368
2/28/2026	Iowa @ Penn State L 69 - 71 Attendance: 6,922
3/5/2026	Iowa vs #3 Michigan L 68 - 71 Attendance: 13,854
3/8/2026	Iowa @ #9 Nebraska L 75 - 84 Attendance: 15,340
3/11/2026	Iowa vs Maryland Big Ten Tournament 2nd Round W 75 - 64 Attendance: 15,661
3/12/2026	Iowa vs Ohio State Big Ten Tournament 3rd Round L 69 - 72 Attendance: 16,157
3/20/2026	Iowa vs Clemson NCAA Tournament 1st Round W 67 - 61 Attendance: 20,112
3/22/2026	Iowa vs #4 Florida NCAA Tournament 2nd Round W 73 - 72 Attendance: 14,717
3/26/2026	Iowa vs #11 Nebraska NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinals W 77 - 71 Attendance: 17,307
3/28/2026	Iowa vs #13 Illinois NCAA Tournament Regional Finals L 59 - 71