Bennett Stirtz recorded a new career-high of 36 points to give Iowa its sixth straight victory.
Iowa basketball held on for a 76-70 triumph over visiting Northwestern at Carver-Hawkeye Arena Sunday.
Senior point guard Bennett Stirtz recorded a new career-high 36 points, and the Hawkeyes needed every single one of them. Fellow senior Tavion Banks was the only other Hawkeye to reach double figures (13 points).
Iowa improves to 18-5 overall and 8-4 in Big Ten play with the triumph, its sixth straight. That's the first time the Hawkeyes have won six consecutive contests since the 2015-15 season.
First Half
Super Bowl Sunday may have prevented Iowa's student section from filling up, but it didn't stop the student-athletes from making plays on the court. Northwestern came into this game fresh off a 40-point beating at Illinois, but it still played with plenty of fight early on.
The Hawkeyes made just 4 of their first 12 field goals to begin this one, and fell into a four-minute field goal drought midway through the period. Strong defense on Wildcat star Nick Martinelli kept the game tied at 13 with 11:25 left in the period, but the Iowa faithful remained nervous.
The Hawkeyes didn't record a field goal until the 8:12 mark, but their offense remained dysfunctional for the entire first half. Iowa finished with a 44% clip from the floor (1.219 points per possession) while going 0/5 from distance.
The only thing the Hawkeyes did well in the half was get to the free throw line. Iowa was already in the bonus by the halfway point of the frame, but it struggled to convert those gifts into points, missing five attempts.
A technical foul on Northwestern's Jayden Reid helped provide a much-needed boost for the Hawkeyes, as they made their final five field goals of the half to take a 39-35 lead into the locker room.
Second Half
Bennett Stirtz's three in the early minutes of the second half was Iowa's first of the game, and the Hawkeyes looked much more connected than they did in the first. Iowa started 5/9 (55%) from the floor and never looked back.
Northwestern stayed close for the early portion of the period, but a 7-0 Hawkeye run gave them their largest lead of the day (11 points) up to that point, and the Wildcats were forced to call a timeout.
Iowa's lead hovered around 10 points over the next few minutes, and it just couldn't seem to pull away. Head coach Ben McCollum was displeased with some of the offensive sets during this sequence, and his defense struggled to play defense without fouling, which allowed Northwestern to get back to within three, 56-53.
Had Stirtz not been in a Hawkeye uniform, that lead could've been easily extinguished. Iowa needed its senior point guard to make plays down the stretch, and Stirtz delivered. One week after setting a new career-high with 32 points at Oregon, his triple with 3:31 left put him on the doorstep of surpassing that (30 points), and it gave the Hawkeyes a 68-59 cushion with 3:38 left.
Northwestern again cut its deficit down to just three with a little over a minute remaining, but it couldn't stop Stirtz from getting open looks at the rim. His final bucket gave Iowa a five-point edge, and the Hawks were able to ice the game at the line.
Up Next
The Hawkeyes return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 11, for a road matchup at Maryland. The Terrapins have suffered a rough campaign under first-year coach Buzz Williams, and come in at 9-14 overall and 2-10 in Big Ten play.
Tip off from College Park is set for 5 p.m. CST on FS1.