Alvaro Folguieras had arguably one of his best games as a Hawkeye, and he helped Iowa break through from another slow start.
Iowa basketball continued its push for an NCAA tournament bid with a 74-57 triumph over a desperate Ohio State squad at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Wednesday.
Here are three observations from Iowa's win:
Fabulous Folgueiras
After catching fire in late-January, Alvaro Folgueiras cooled off badly to begin the month of February. The junior reached double figures in just four of the month's six games - which included being shutout at Maryland on Feb. 11 - but he picked the perfect time to wake from his slumber.
The Buckeyes came to Iowa City desperate for their first Quadrant 1 win of the season, and it looked like they were on pace to do so early in this one. By the under-16 media timeout, Iowa was already trailing 14-2 and was left without a field goal.
Enter Folgueiras.
The Robert Morris transfer has primarily been a bench player for the Hawkeyes this season. That was the case again on Wednesday, but Folguieras made a case to enter the starting lineup with his performance on this night.
The junior finished with a season-high 20 points, and his presence helped Iowa finish the game on an impressive 72-43 scoring run. Folgueiras made plenty of highlight-reel plays in this one, but none of them topped his enthusiastic slam dunk in the second half.
Folgueiras' brother, Ignacio, was in attendance Wednesday - the first time he's watched his brother play in-person this season. The strong bond between the two was clearly evident during Folgueiras' postgame press conference.
"He's a big part of what I am right now, because having a big brother who can compete with with me, after the fights, after crying every single time," Folgueiras said. "Being two really competitive people will help me to be who I am right now, not just as a player, but as a person too."
26-3 run flips the game around
Slow starts have been an issue for Iowa in recent games - especially at Carver-Hawkeye Arena - and that was again the case on Wednesday. Like the USC and Rutgers games, the Hawkeyes bounced back, only this time in major fashion.
Once the 15:00 mark of the first half hit, Iowa played like a top-15 team. Ohio State's offense went cold, and that was because of the stingy Hawkeye defense. The Buckeyes were often forced into late shot clock situations and contested jumpers, something Iowa didn't do in Sunday's loss to Wisconsin.
"[I] thought we executed our defensive game plan for the most part throughout the game," head coach Ben McCollum said. "I think to start that wasn't our best start, but it's kind of par for the course right now. ..."But then after that [the slow start] we buckled down defensively."
The Hawkeyes turned their excellent defense into great offense, leading to a 26-3 run to push the game their way. Ohio State never threatened after that, shooting just 31% from the floor in the first.
One of the reasons for the spark could've been McCollum's message to his team during the under-16 timeout.
"I think we came out slow on the boards," junior guard Kael Combs said. "Coach Mac got into us a little bit, and then we flipped it around and just settled down and played defense."
20-win season
Winning 20 games is nothing for McCollum (he's won 30-plus games six times in his career), but his inaugural Hawkeye squad reaching the 20-win plateau is significant.
Iowa has 20 wins (20-8) in a season for the first time since it won 26 in the 2021-22 campaign. That's a key benchmark for a program that is desperate to return to national relevance.
McCollum and his players didn't show much of a reaction to the accomplishment, but the coach did show appreciation for former Iowa head coach Tom Davis. McCollum and Davis are the only two coaches in Hawkeye history to win 20 games in their first season.
It's unlikely the 2025-26 Hawkeyes will reach or surpass Davis' 30 wins in 1986-87, but McCollum, a lifelong Iowa fan, is honored to be mentioned alongside the legendary coach.
"I'm not a big that [setting records] but I do respect history, and I respect Coach Davis, and how good of a coach he was," McCollum said. "I respect all the coaches and how good the coaches that were here [at Iowa] and I completely understand all of that stuff and am humbled by it."
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