By Hawk Fanatic

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa women’s basketball team handled its first significant step up in competition by winning both of its games at the WBCA State Farm Showcase this past week in Orlando, Florida.

The Iowa men’s basketball team will now try to do the same, but on the other side of the country.

The 5-0 Hawkeyes will face 5-0 Ole Miss on Tuesday in Palm Springs, California as part of the Acrisure Classic. It will be the first meeting between the two programs.

The winner will face the winner of the other game in the event between Utah and Grand Canyon on Wednesday, while the teams that lose on Tuesday will also face each other on Wednesday.

Iowa won its first five games under new head coach Ben McCollum by no fewer than 19 points, but all but one of the opponents were mid-major programs that had little to no chance of winning.

The exception was thought to be Xavier, though Iowa defeated the Muskateers 81-62 on Nov. 14 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The Hawkeyes lead the nation with a .576 field goal percentage, which includes a .655 effective field goal percentage. Iowa is shooting 70 percent on two-point field goals.

Iowa’s reserves have scored 50 points in consecutive games and the bench players are averaging 40 points during the team’s first five games.

The level of competition obviously has had something to do with achieving those statistics.

But now the challenge climbs up a notch, or two, against a legitimate Power 4 opponent.

McCollum was asked after the 93-54 win over Chicago State last Thursday if he was curious how his team would respond to better competition.

“I’m not real curious. I’m more excited to play,” said McCollum, who led Drake to a 31-4 record in his only season as head coach last season. “I want to compete.

“A lot of these games are scheduled, not all of them. And so now it’s time to compete, and I’m excited. Not real curious, just more so ready to get after it.”

Of Ole Miss’s five wins, the one that stands out is the 83-77 victory over Memphis on Nov. 11.

Ole Miss has three players averaging in double figures with Illias Kamardine leading the way at 15.8 points to go along with a team-high 26 assists, nine steals and 10 3-pointers.

Malik Dia (14.4) and A.J. Storr (14.4) are also in double figures. Storr is shooting 60 percent (9-of-15) from 3-point range to lead the team. James Scott averages a team-high 6.8 rebounds.

Storr played in the Big Ten at Wisconsin two seasons ago and was at Kansas in 2024-25.

The Rebels are averaging 82.2 points, while shooting 46.8 percent as a team and 37.8 percent from 3-point range.

Ole Miss averages 40.8 rebounds and is plus-6.6 on the glass, while committing just nine turnovers per contest.

Chris Beard is in his third season at Ole Miss. He led the Rebels to the Sweet 16 last season.

Iowa, meanwhile, features one of the top collegiate point guard in the country in 6-foot-4 senior Bennett Stirtz, who is one of six former Drake players that followed McCollum to Iowa.

Stirz, who played for McCollum at Drake last season, is averaging 17.6 points with .574/.450/.893 shooting splits, while averaging 6.2 assists, three rebounds and 1.8 steals. He ranks in the top 15 in the Big Ten in points, assists and steals.

Amongst active players, Stirtz is the only player nationally ranked in the top 10 in points (1,706) and assists (463) and he is one of six to have 1,500 points and 350 assists.

Senior forward Tavion Banks, one of the six Drake transfers, posted Iowa’s first double-double of the season (18th of his career), finishing with 16 points and 10 rebounds on Nov. 20 against Chicago State.

Junior Alvaro Folgueiras, a transfer from Robert Morris, is averaging 12.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.4 steals. The 6-10 native of Spain has 16 assists and zero turnovers in five games, while shooting 65.6 percent from the field and 52.6 percent from 3-point range

McCollum is the fourth Iowa coach all-time to open his tenure with five consecutive wins, joining Ed Role, Bucky O’Connor and Dr. Tom Davis.

As for the Iowa women’s basketball team’s recent success, it defeated then-No. 7 Baylor and Miami (Fla.) in the WBCA State Farm Showcase by scores of 57-53 and 64-61, respectively.

The Iowa women’s basketball team has since climbed to No. 11 in this week’s Associated Press poll.

Ole Miss (5-0) vs. Iowa (5-0)

When: Tuesday, 8:30 p.m. CST

Where: Palm Springs, California, Acrisure Arena (11,000)

TV: CBSSN

Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network

All-time series: Tuesday’s game is the first meeting between Iowa and Ole Miss in series history. The Hawkeyes have played 59 games against current members of the Southeastern Conference. Iowa is 30-29 against the SEC all-time.

It is Iowa’s first game against an SEC opponent since the 2023 NCAA Tournament — an 83-75 loss to Auburn in the Round of 64. (Iowa played Oklahoma in San Diego in 2023 — a year before the Sooners joined the SEC.)

The Hawkeyes’ last victory over an SEC opponent came in 2010 — a 55-47 victory over Alabama in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, in the Paradise Jam

Editor’s note: Hawkeyesports.com contributed to this article.