Tavion Banks and Bennett Stirtz tied for a team-high 20 points. Iowa is 15-5 overall and 5-4 in league play.
It was a tale of two halves inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Wednesday. Iowa men's basketball couldn't score a field goal until the 11:54 mark of the first half, but somehow managed to stay within a point at the intermission.
The Hawkeyes carried that into a second half-onslaught, jumping out to a 17-point lead before almost blowing it and hanging on for dear life at the final buzzer.
But as they say, a win is a win, and the 73-72 triumph improves Iowa to 15-5 overall and 5-4 in Big Ten play.
Seniors Tavion Banks and Bennett Stirtz tied for a team-high 20 points. The only other Hawkeye to reach double figures was Alvaro Folguieras, who chipped in 14 big points off the bench.
First Half
Though Iowa had eight days to prepare for this one, it was USC who came out as the aggressor on three days rest. The Hawkeyes were out of sorts from the get-go, and that was because they couldn't take care of the ball. Tavion Banks accounted for two of those turnovers, and before anyone had broken a sweat, the Trojans led 10-0.
Iowa's first field goal of the contes didn't come until the 11:54 mark - a Cooper Koch triple - but that was enough to ignite the small Wednesday night Carver-Hawkeye Arena crowd. The Hawkeyes trimmed the USC lead down to six, but some poor defensive possessions resulted in the Trojans pushing their edge back up to 10.
Iowa head coach Ben McCollum called a timeout after that, and whatever the first-year coach said was enough to turn the Hawkeyes' defense around. Iowa made things uncomfortable for USC's shooters, which caused turnovers that led to easy buckets.
26-year-old Chad Baker-Mazara knocked in a pair of triples to silence the crowd, but the Hawkeyes continued to use their defense to stay in the ballgame. A Bennett Stirtz transition dunk gave Iowa its first lead of the game with just over a minute remaining in the period, but USC responded with an open layup to reclaim the lead and go into halftime with a 28-27 lead.
The Hawkeyes shot a putrid 8/28 (28.6%) from the floor in the half, with Koch's triple being the lone outside shot. Iowa's offense is usually one of the nation's most efficient, but the shooting struggles left it at just .771 points per possession.
Second Half
Contrary to the first, the Hawkeyes opened the second half on a 10-5 scoring run. The defense remained stout, but the early catalyst for Iowa's second half offense was Banks. The senior registered eight points in the first, but three turnovers put a damper in that performance.
Instead of giving the ball away to the Trojans, Banks took the ball away from them. A crucial steal and slam was all the Hawks needed to bring themselves to life. After hitting just one three-pointer in the first, Iowa couldn't miss in the second half, making 6 of its first 8 attempts from downtown to build a 56-40 lead with 10:51 to play.
USC responded by making five of its next six field goal attempts to trim the lead down to 13 with 7:21 to go, and slowly continued to chip away at the lead from there. Iowa's defenders had a difficult time staying in front of the Trojan guards, leading to several and-one opportunities. A corner three sliced the Hawkeyes' lead down to 66-61 at the final media timeout.
Iowa fans groaned as the shot clock winded down on its next offensive possession, but Alvaro Folguieras' triple late on the timer pushed the Hawkeyes' lead back up to six. Just when it seemed USC's luck had ran out, they continued to rally.
After registering six points in the first half, Trojan guard Kam Woods couldn't miss at the end of regulation. He made a pair of free throws to cut Iowa's lead down to one, and it was up to the Hawkeyes to score and put the game away.
Stirtz's desperation three fell short, and USC took the lead with a putback layup on its next possession. The Trojans quickly double-teamed Stirtz, but fouled him in the process. The senior knocked down both foul shots to give Iowa the lead, and it came down to one final USC possession.
Woods had an open look for the win, but his shot clanked off the front of the rim, and the Hawkeyes survived.
Up Next
Iowa returns to action this Sunday, Feb. 1, for a road matchup against the Oregon Ducks. Injuries have destroyed Oregon's season, as it sits at 8-12 overall and 1-8 in Big Ten play.
Tip off from Eugene is set for 7 p.m. CST on FS1.