Ben McCollum's sales pitches to Hawkeye fans are paying off, and the crowd responded by helping Iowa pull out a win over UCLA.
Nearly one year ago from today - on Jan. 7 - the Iowa men's basketball team played host to rival Nebraska. While the 2024-25 Hawkeyes ultimately turned into a bad team, they still had a lot to play for at that point.
Iowa was 10-4 overall and 1-2 in Big Ten play heading into the game, and used a dramatic second half comeback to win an overtime thriller, 97-87.
The only problem? Only 7,812 fans were in the building. While a January Iowa snowstorm didn't help people travel to Carver-Hawkeye Arena safely, that was probably the figure that would've showed up anyway. The enthusiasm surrounding Iowa men's basketball was nonexistent, and it eventually led to record-low attendance in CHA.
One year later, the frowns have evolved into jubilant smiles, and it's because of the energy that new head coach Ben McCollum has brought to Iowa City. The Hawkeyes haven't hosted a sellout crowd yet this season, but they're getting close to doing so.
Very close.
The announced attendance for Saturday's game against UCLA was 12,567. Carver-Hawkeye's seating capacity is 14,998, so Iowa is just 2,431 fans away from reaching that elusive sellout status, something it hasn't done since Zach Edey and Purdue visited in Feburary 2024. The Hawkeyes will likely see a capacity crowd for their next home game against hated rival Illinois on Jan. 11, but in order to get there, they have to win.
The story of the 2025-26 Iowa basketball team is far from over - it's just beginning - but the Hawkeyes are slowly starting to turn the tide, and that tidal wave took a huge launch towards the beach after Iowa's 74-61 win over UCLA on Saturday.
The Hawkeyes looked like a top-10 team in the first half after leading 40-18, but looked like what they actually are - a good, but still-improving top-25 team in the second half after nearly blowing their huge lead, but that's just fine. Iowa probably wouldn't have been able to defend the Bruins' athleticism and interior size last season, but the Hawkeyes still managed to out-rebound UCLA by five, 32-27.
But how? Iowa's lack of size down low is obvious when you watch its games, but the Hawkeyes have something that many teams also possess, but Iowa just seems to have it more - heart.
A McCollum-coached basketball team is built on a plethora of things such as tough defense, heavy-motion offense, ball screens, and cutting, but one of my main observations when covering this team is just how hard they play.
Now, I'm never going to say that a college basketball player never puts in effort. Anyone who follows the sport knows how much time and hard work these athletes are putting into their craft.
UCLA certianly played with a ton of fight, which clearly showed as it was making its second half comeback, but McCollum's Hawkeyes always seem to have the necessary fight and grit to win these types of basketball games. They could've easily folded after blowing huge leads in this one as well as the Iowa State game on Dec. 11, but they didn't. Iowa ultimately fell short in Ames, but that resilency paid off on Saturday.
There's still a ton of basketball to be played, but McCollum is definitely on the right track to building something special in Iowa City.
Will it happen in 2026? Who knows. But one thing is for certain - the fans are beginning to buy in to Hawkeye basketball, and Iowa is responding by playing with a ton of passion for its loyal fanbase.