The Hawkeyes fought hard, but dropped another close decision to a top-10 team. Iowa has lost six of eight to close the regular season.
LINCOLN - With 1:47 remaining in its regular season finale against No. 9 Nebraska on Sunday afternoon, Iowa basketball looked dead in the water.
The underdog Hawkeyes were fighting hard with the Cornhuskers, but it felt like Nebraska had done enough to put the Hawkeyes away.
Not so fast.
Iowa pulled off five consecutive points to cut the deficit to one, and miraculously sent the game to overtime on a Kael Combs triple with 2.7 left in regulation.
The Hawkeyes had a chance to secure an improbable road win, but like the 2017 and 2019 teams, the 2026 squad dropped an overtime game inside Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Instead of a regular season sweep of the Huskers, head coach Ben McCollum is forced to go back to the drawing board. Iowa closed the regular season losing six of its final eight games after an 18-5 start.
"Close is not good enough, so we need to continue get better. It'd be nice to have our backs against the wall in the conference tournament, and we're excited to move forward," McCollum said after the game.
Here are three observations from Iowa's loss:
Turnovers, turnovers, and more turnovers
The Hawkeyes haven't been a turnover-prone team this season, but they picked a bad time to start getting careless with the basketball. Nebraska's game plan was to fluster star point Bennett Stirtz, and the strategy worked to perfection.
Taking away Stirtz from the play forced Combs and some of Iowa's other guards to take over the ball-handling duties, and it resulted in a season-high `17 turnovers. The Cornhuskers did play tenacious defense at times, but Iowa forced too many tough entry passes. When they did connect, the Hawks usually found themselves trapped in the corner with nowhere to go.
McCollum praised Nebraska's defense, but he was primarily frustrated with how his offense handled the pressure.
"They obviously rotate pretty good, fly around deflections," McCollum said. "I just thought our offense was really inept to both."
Combs and Koch power Hawkeyes
Eight Hawkeyes saw action in this one, but it was far from a balanced scoring attack. Six of the eight players that played combined for a measly 39 points. That figure won't win many college basketball games, but Iowa didn't have to worry about being run out of the gym because it had Cooper Koch and Combs on the roster.
The duo have been mainstays in the Hawkeyes' starting five all season, but Sunday's game was different. Koch and Combs combined for 36 points, and they were the reason why this game even went to overtime.
Koch has struggled from deep this year, but he made a career-high five triples (four in the second half) to keep Nebraska from pulling away. The redshirt freshman was key for Iowa, but nobody had a greater impact than Combs.
Prior to Sunday's game, Combs's last time reaching double figures was on Jan. 14 against Purdue (16 points). He surpassed that figure against the Huskers, scoring 18 points.
11 of those points came in the second half, with eight coming in the final two minutes of regulation. After missing a chance to even things up at the free throw line, Combs nailed an open three in the closing seconds of regulation to tie the game.
Nebraska's emphasis on guarding Stirtz certainly helped Koch and Combs get open looks, but seeing more consistency from other shooters not named Stirtz could give the Hawkeyes a chance to win a few games in March.
Howard for Banks
Iowa's rolled with the same starting five of Stirtz, Cam Manyawu, Koch, Combs, and Tavion Banks for most of the season, but sophomore forward Isaia Howard earned the nod against the Huskers.
The move was a surprise to many Hawkeye fans, and McCollum revealed the decision was because of disciplinary reasons - not poor play.
"Just program violation rules, not a big deal. A non-story, really, just more trying to uplift the program," McCollum said.
Up Next
Iowa will be the No. 9 seed in the 2026 Big Ten Men's Basketball tournament. The Hawkeyes earned a first round bye and won't have to play until Wednesday, where they'll play the winner of the Maryland/Oregon game at 11:00 a.m. CST at the United Center in Chicago.