By Hawk Fanatic

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa men’s basketball coach Ben McCollum and freshman forward Trey Thompson both met with the media Tuesday morning.

The Hawkeyes (19-8, 9-7) will face Ohio State (17-10, 9-7) on Wednesday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena with the winner moving ahead of the loser in the Big Ten standings, while also helping its NCAA Tournament chances.

The game will feature two of the Big Ten’s top points guards in Iowa senior Bennett Stirtz and Ohio State senior Bruce Thornton.

Iowa just faced a talented point guard in Wisconsin senior Nick Boyd this past Sunday, and it didn’t go well for the Hawkeyes as Boyd nearly recorded the third-triple double in program history as he finished with 27 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists in his team’s 84-71 victory in Madison, Wisconsin.

McCollum said Tuesday that Boyd and Thornton are different in how they play their position, but each is highly effective in his own way.

“With Boyd, it’s just a little more transition, get to his left, get down hill,” McCollum said. “Thornton plays with a level of patience, poise and physicality. It’s hard to speed him up. He’s pretty good.

“Now Boyd is obviously good, too. It’s just polar opposite type of players.”

Thornton, who is listed at 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds, is averaging 20.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game.

Thompson, meanwhile, met with the media for about 10 minutes on Tuesday, addressing multiple topics.

A 6-8 freshman from Greenville, Tennessee, Thompson is being redshirted this season, a decision that was made partly due to him having had mononucleosis earlier in the season.

By taking a redshirt, Thompson has focused on getting stronger and has gained about 20 pounds of muscle since coming to Iowa. He also has worked hard to improve defensively in practice where he often guards Stirtz.

“Being sick for a month-and-a-half, it wasn’t ideal,” Thompson said. “But I came here to get better and develop and that’s what I’m doing every day here. The weight room pushes me. Practice every single days pushes me. And I’m very thankful for the opportunity be here.”

Thompson was so looking forward to being a Hawkeye that he reclassified to the 2025 recruiting class.

He came ready to play offensively, but his defense needed to improve according to McCollum, who explained why Tuesday.

“He could have played from an emotional perspective as well, he’s very mature kid in regards to that stuff,” McCollum said. “Great energy, very conscientious person.

“I just think when you play at a smaller school and you’re bigger, you guard a lot of forwards. So you’re now aware; at this level you’re going to have to guard a (power forward), sometimes a (small forward) that can really get down hill. So he ends up getting here and takes a little time from the defensive perspective and wasn’t quite there just defensively. But was always there offensively.

“So then you’re, ‘okay, we don’t want to burn your year and have you play two minutes.”

Thompson will have four seasons of eligibility heading into next season.

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Ohio State (17-10, 9-7) vs. Iowa (19-8, 9-7)

When: Wednesday, 8 p.m.

Where: Carver-Hawkeye Arena

TV: Big Ten Network

Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network