By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Ben McCollum will have a massive hole to fill at point guard after Bennett Stirtz uses up his eligibility this season.

Stirtz has been McCollum’s starting point guard for going on four seasons and for three different teams: Northwest Missouri State, Drake and Iowa, which faces No. 1 seed Florida in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday in Tampa, Florida.

The outcome of Sunday’s game will either be Stirtz’s biggest win in college, or the end to his storybook career.

Either way, McCollum still has to prepare for life after Stirtz by adding at least one, or maybe even two point guards in this current recruiting cycle, and preferably one from the transfer portal who already is battle tested.

But McCollum also can take some comfort in knowing that he already has a player on the current roster who is more than capable of playing both guard positions in junior Kael Combs.

The 6-foot-4 Combs scored 15 points in Friday’s 67-61 victory over Clemson in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, including 11 in the first half. He made his first two shots from 3-point range an helped to set the tone early against Clemson.

Combs also scored 18 points in the overtime loss at Nebraska to end the regular season.

And though he’s only scored in double figures six times this season, that is partly due to the role that Combs has played as Stirtz’s backcourt partner.

Combs is third on the team with 76 assists, and he also has 25 steals.

But when pressed into scoring, Combs has shown that he can also meet that challenge on the biggest stage.

As Stirtz struggled make shots in the early stages against Clemson, Combs took it upon himself to pick up the scoring slack.

Combs played with poise against Clemson, but he was also aggressive on offense when his team needed him to be.

Following the win over Clemson, Stirtz was asked how he was able to power through the difficulties that he experienced on offense.

“Yeah, just leaning on our teammates, all my teammates and especially Kael Combs here,” Stirtz said with Combs sitting next to him in the post-game press conference. “It’s easy being on the court with him just because he gets everyone involved. If I can take a break, I can take a break when he’s out there and he’s going.

“But yeah, just leaning on my teammates out there.”

It’s reasonable to assume that Stirtz and Combs will both have to be at or near their best for Iowa to defeat defending national champion Florida on Sunday.

The Hawkeyes haven’t advanced past the second round of the NCAA Tournament since 1999, while Florida has won seven straight NCAA Tournament games dating back to last season.

The Gators advanced to the Round of 32 with a 114-55 victory over Prairie View A&M on Friday night. The 59-point win is the second-largest margin of victory in a men’s NCAA Tournament game all-time.

The win moved Florida’s record to 27-7 and the team finished 16-2 in the Southeastern Conference. Before losing to Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament semifinalist, the Gators were on a 12-game winning streak.

Four of Florida’s seven losses came in the first nine games of the season.

The Gators have five players averaging in double figures and another averaging 9.7 points. All-American Thomas Haugh leads the team with an average of 17 points per game on 46.5 percent shooting to go along with 6.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists.

Stirtz is a master at controlling the pace of games and that will certainly be an emphasis against the Gators, who are just 5-5 in games that  have 65 possessions or fewer.

But Stirtz can’t do it alone, so Combs will also have to assume some of the ball-handling responsibilities in halfcourt sets as Iowa tries to control the clock.

The fact that Florida has a significant size advantage will put even more pressure on the Iowa guards to control the pace of the game, and to play at a high level overall.

“I mean, we would all like to play fast, but I think our advantage is playing slow and getting the best shot we can,” Stirtz said. “But if we need to play fast, we can. I just think it helps us win more games, just playing that pace really gives us an advantage.”

McCollum tried to sort of downplay how much Iowa focuses on slowing down the pace of gmes.

“Whatever puts the ball in the basket more than they do,” McCollum said Saturday. “So if it’s slow or fast is irrelevant, it’s just a matter if we can put the ball in the basket more than they do. I don’t think we probably focus on it as much as most people think. I think it just naturally happens, probably two reasons. One, it’s probably more difficult for us to get a quick shot, and then two, I think our defense dictates a little bit of the tempo as well.

“We try not to give up as much easy early shots as most do, so you’re having to work a little bit longer in the shot clock as well. I don’t know, they play fast regardless, so they overpower you and they’re pretty good at it. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.”

A win over the Gators would not only keep Stirtz’s Hawkeye career going, it would also send Iowa to the Sweet 16 for the first time since the 1998-99 season.

The Hawkeyes have been in this position many times before; one win from making the Sweet 16, but with a No. 1 seed standing in the way.

It will almost certainly take Iowa’s best effort to beat the Gators.

Stirtz said Iowa’s team chemistry played a key factor in the win over Clemson.

He and Combs are among six former Drake players that followed McCollum to Iowa, and five of them have played significant roles this season.

“Hopefully it plays out well. We’re going to need all of it,” Ben McCollum said of team chemistry. “I think that when you play a team like Florida that’s super physical, really well-coached, play extremely hard, and they’re national champions. I think it’s difficult. You have to connect and make sure the guns are pointed out, not in.

“I think our guys are connected, but we’ll find out tomorrow.”

Iowa (22-12) vs. Florida (27-7)

When: Sunday, 6:10 p.m. CST

Where: Tampa, Florida, Benchmark international Arena (20,500)

What: NCAA Tournament second-round game

TV: TBS

Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network

Series history: Sunday’s game is the first meeting in the all-time series between Iowa and Florida. It is the first time Iowa has played the defending National Champion in the NCAA Tournament since 1956 when the Hawkeyes faced undefeated, Bill Russell-led San Francisco.
The Dons won, 83-71.

The Hawkeyes are 1-0 against SEC opponents this season, downing Ole Miss, 74-69, on Nov. 25 at the Acrisure Classic in Palm Springs.

Iowa is 4-6 all-time in NCAA Tournament play against SEC opponents, dropping its last four contests. The Hawkeyes’ last win over an SEC opponent in March Madness came against Arkansas, 82-72, on March 13, 1999.