Clemson Basketball: Iowa Hawkeyes – First Look

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - MARCH 12: Bennett Stirtz #14 of the Iowa Hawkeyes dribbles up the court against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the second half during the third round of the 2026 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament at the United Center on March 12, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) | Getty Images

2025-2026 Season

Overall Record: 21-12

Big 10 Record: 10-10

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Previous 3 Games

3/12: L – 69-72 vs Ohio State @ Big 10 Tournament

3/11: W – 75 – 64 vs Maryland @ Big 10 Tournament

3/8: L – 75 – 84 vs Nebraska @ Away

Note: Iowa has lost 7 of its last 10 games heading into the tournament

Iowa Personnel

Starters

Position#PlayerClassHeightWeightMinPtsRebAstPoint Guard14Bennett StirtzSr.6’4″190382035Shooting Guard11Kael CombsJr.6’4″20526632Small Forward6Tavion BanksSr.6’7″215231151Power Forward8Cooper KochFr.6’8″22028842Center3Cam ManyawuJr.6’9″25019751

Bench

Position#PlayerClassHeightWeightMinPtsRebAstWing24Tate SageFr.6’7″21016621Wing23Isaia HowardSo.6’5″21519531Center1Alvaro FolgueirasJr.6’10”23021842Wing15Bendan HausenSr.6’4″22010411

Quick Thoughts

I’ll flesh the rest of this preview out as we get closer to game time, but I wanted to give y’all an early look at Iowa since I’ve already previewed them for the Purdue site this season.

The long and shot of it is this:

Iowa plays lockdown defense, and point guard Bennett Stirtz is the offense. You can beat Iowa with your offense, or you can beat them with your defense if you can contain Stirtz. He’s strong with the ball in his hands and knows exactly where he wants to go to get his shots up. He can drive and score, drive and kick, or launch from three on any given possession.

Dillon Hunter has a chance to make his presence felt in March after missing the tournament with an injury last season. I like the match-up for Clemson because Hunter matches up well with Stirtz on the defensive end. He’s got the length to bother Stirtz when he gets in the lane and goes to his floater or pull-up.

Contain Stirtz (hold him under 20), and I’m not sure Iowa has enough on offense to beat Clemson. If he gets loose, however, Iowa’s defense can take it the rest of the way. They’re aggressive and are the 14th-best team in the nation at turning their opponents over.

The good news is that they’re ice cold coming into the tournament. Their February included losses to bad Maryland and Penn State teams. They are 1-4 in March with their only win coming against the aforementioned awful Maryland basketball squad (suck it, Twerps, I wish nothing but bad on-court things for you … ahem, excuse me, old habit die hard).

I like this matchup for the Tigers.

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