By Hawk Fanatic

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa men’s basketball team defended its homecourt against No. 9 Nebraska on Tuesday, winning 57-52 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Senior point guard Bennett Stirtz scored 25 points and also sparked the Hawkeyes on defense with two steals and two blocks while playing the entire 40 minutes.

Iowa snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 19-7 overall and 9-6 in the Big Ten, while Nebraska fell to  23-4 and 11-4.

It was also Iowa’s first win over a ranked opponent under first-year head coach Ben McCollum.

“It was awesome, our guys battled the whole night,” McCollum said on the Big Ten Network post-game interview. “Obviously, we had a rough stretch there, but we battled defensively most importantly and came up with the win.”

The 52 points are the fewest points scored by an Iowa opponent in Big Ten play since Iowa allowed 48 versus Rutgers on Jan. 19, 2022.

The 57 points are Iowa’s fewest in a win since Iowa defeated Northern Iowa, 51-39, on Dec. 12, 2012.

The Iowa fans, mostly UI students, showed their appreciation by rushing the court afterwards.

Former Hawkeye Pryce Sandfort scored 13 points in his return to Carver-Hawkeye Arena, making 3-of-7 field-goal attempts. The 6-foot-7 Sandfort, who is from Waukee,  played his first two seasons at Iowa, but then transferred to Nebraska after Fran McCaffery was fired as the Iowa head coach the day after last season ended.

The Hawkeyes had a 37-24 rebounding advantage in Tuesday’s win and also made 17-of-18 free throws. Junior forward Tavion Banks led Iowa with 10 rebounds.

Iowa only shot 33.3 percent from the field, making 17-of-51 field-goal attempts, but made up for its shooting woes on defense.

Iowa will hit the road again for its next game on Sunday at Wisconsin.

Editor’s note: More coverage coming from Mike @Hlas later.