By Hawk Fanatic

IOWA CITY, Iowa – For the second straight game, the Iowa men’s basketball team will face a ranked opponent at home with No. 9 Nebraska coming to Iowa City on Tuesday.

It will be another chance for Iowa to earn a signature win in front of its home fans.

But of course, there is also the risk of losing as Iowa did against 13th-ranked Purdue this past Sunday, falling 78-57 before a sellout crowd at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Nebraska under head coach Fred Hoiberg has been arguably the biggest surprise in the Big Ten this season with records of 22-3 overall and 11-3 in conference play.

One of the biggest factors in the turnaround has been former Hawkeye Pryce Sandfort, who leads the team in scoring (17.5 points) and 3-point field goals (88), while averaging 4.6 points on 46.9 percent shooting from the field and 40.2 percent from 3-point range. He is leading the Big Ten in 3-pointers per game (3.52), total 3s (88), 3-point attempts (219) and is second in 3-point percentage.

“He’s done a great job of moving without the basketball and they have a great offensive system for that,” Iowa head coach Ben McCollum said Monday on a zoom. “He’s been excellent throughout the year; he’s one of the more difficult guys to defend.

“And they’re team obviously plays with a lot of energy. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”

Pryce Sandfort, a 6-foot-7 junior forward from Waukee, played his first two seasons at Iowa under former head coach Fran McCaffery, who was fired the day after last season ended.

McCollum tried to convince Pryce Sandfort to stay at Iowa, but with the coaching change, and with his older brother, Payton Sandfort, having used up his eligibility at Iowa, Pryce Sandfort decided to join forces with Fred Hoiberg at Nebraska.

Pryce had considered Nebraska during the recruiting process in high school, but he chose to stay instate and play with his brother at Iowa.

McCollum also had high praise for Nebraska forward Reink Mast, who is in his seventh season in college. Mast averages 14.3 points and a team-high 6.1 rebounds per game, though his impact goes beyond statistics.

“He is different, he’s unique,” McCollum said of Mast. “He can shoot and he can pass. He plays with such maturity; his maturity and his body language and his communication with his teammates.”

Fred Hoiberg’s son, Sam Hoiberg, also has developed into a key backcourt player for the Cornhuskers after starting his career as a walk-on.

Sam Hoiberg averages 9.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.1 steals, while shooting 54.4 percent from the floor. He also has a 5.50 assist-to-turnover ratio — tops in the nation — while also leading the Big Ten in steals.

“Some of the intangible things that those two bring makes their team shockingly better,” McCollum said of Sam Hoiberg and Mast. “And then their shooting, and that’s where you get to Pryce.”

Iowa’s shooting only the other hand, left much to be desired in the loss to Purdue, especially from three where Iowa made just 6-of-22 attempts.

Senior point guard Bennett Stirtz and senior forward Tavion Banks are the only players for Iowa to score in double figures in the last three games. Stirtz reached double figures in all three games, while Banks scored in double of figures in two of the last three games, the exception being the loss to Purdue when he scored nine points.

The lack of consistent scoring has caused Iowa to get off to slow starts recently, including trailing Purdue 30-15 in the first half.

McCollum said Monday that he is considering changing his starting lineup for one of the few times this season, hoping to get an offensive spark.

Iowa has three players that have started all 25 games this season: Stirtz, junior forward Cam Manyawu and redshirt freshman forward Cooper Koch, while Banks and junior guard Kael Combs have started 24 and 21 games, respectively.

McCollum said he even considered switching the starting lineup during Iowa’s recent six-game winning streak.

“And then you’re just like, we’re playing well, you might as well just stick with what you’ve got because we considered it then, too,” McCollum said. “It is probably more a defensive lineup to start and we do get stops with that lineup. But we just don’t score, so then you’re slow starting every time.”

There were approximately 10,500 tickets sold for the Nebraska game as of late Monday afternoon.

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Iowa probable starters

G 11 Kael Combs 6-4 205 Jr.-TR Nixa, Mo. 5.8 2.3 2.3 .481 .355 .886 25.2
Started Iowa’s last 20 games… career-high 16 points, 4 3-ptrs. at Purdue… 58 assists, 32 TOs… Drake & Wyoming transfer.

G 14 Bennett Stirtz 6-4 190 Sr.-TR Liberty, Mo. 20.4 2.5 4.7 .516 .403 .835 36.6
Acrisure Classic MVP… 121 consecutive starts… 6+ assists in 9 games… 20+ pts. in 14 games… 32/6 ast. at MD, 36 pts. vs. NW, 32 pts./7 ast. at Oregon… Bob Cousy Top 10, Wooden Award Top 20.

F 3 Cam Manyawu 6-9 250 Jr.-TR Kansas City, Mo. 6.7 4.4 0.9 .636 .000 .615 18.0
60 consecutive starts…double figures in 6 games… 13 pts., 3 steals at Purdue… Drake & Wyoming transfer… has nine career double-doubles.

F 6 Tavion Banks 6-7 215 Sr.-TR Kansas City, Mo. 10.9 4.6 1.2 .526 .467 .800 22.3
20 pts./7 reb vs. USC… DI career-high 26 points, 8 rebounds at Indiana… double figures in 13 games, 2 20-pt. games… Drake & NW Fla. St. College transfer… MVC Sixth Man of the Year.

F 8 Cooper Koch 6-8 220 RS Fr.-1L Peoria, Ill. 6.7 3.2 1.1 .450 .376 .750 26.0
Double figures twice in last 5 games… 1st career double-double vs. Ole Miss (14 pts./10-reb.)…10+ points in 7 games… 2+ 3PT in 10 contests… lone returning scholarship player.

KEY RESERVES HT. WT. YR.-EXP. HOMETOWN PPG RPG ASST FG% 3FG% FT% MPG

F 7 Alvaro Folgueiras 6-10 230 Jr-TR Malaga, Spain 8.2 3.8 2.4 .493 .360 .692 20.5

G 10 Jacob Koch 6-2 185 So.-1L Iowa City, Iowa 0.4 0.0 0.2 .333 .000 .000 2.1

G 15 Brendan Hausen 6-4 220 Sr.-TR Amarillo, Texas 4.4 0.7 0.5 .347 .349 1.000 10.0

G 23 Isaia Howard 6-5 215 So.-TR Plattsburg, Mo. 5.9 2.9 1.3 .464 .250 .750 19.

G 24 Tate Sage 6-7 210 Fr.-HS Weatherford, Okla. 6.2 2.0 0.9 .515 .400 .708 19.6

C 27 Trevin Jirak 6-11 250 Fr.-HS West Des Moines, Iowa 3.9 1.0 1.1 .500 .188 .652 8.9

F 44 Joey Matteoni 6-9 215 RS Fr.-TR Overland Park, Kan. 1.5 0.6 0.3 .533 .000 .333 3.6

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Nebraska (22-3, 11-3) vs. Iowa (18-7, 8-6)

When: Tuesday, 8 p.m.

Where: Carver-Hawkeye Arena

TV: Big Ten Network

Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network

Series history: Tuesday’s game is the 43rd meeting all-time between Iowa and Nebraska, dating back to 1907. The Hawkeyes lead the all-time series, 27-15. Iowa has won three straight and six of the last eight in the series, dating back to the 2019-20 season.

The Hawkeyes swept the season series during the 2024-25 campaign, winning 97-87 in overtime in Iowa City and 83-68 in Lincoln in a Big Ten Tournament qualifying elimination game.

Iowa is 18-4 against the Cornhuskers in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes have won 10 of the last 11 meetings, dating back to the 2012-13 season.

Tuesday is the first of two meetings between the two teams. The second game will be held March 8 in Lincoln.