Iowa vs. UCLA men’s basketball glance: Time/TV/game info (Jan. 3, 2026)

What: No. 25 Iowa (11-2, 1-1) vs. UCLA (10-3, 2-0), men’s basketball

When/where: Saturday, 5 p.m., Carver-Hawkeye Arena

TV: Peacock (Paul Burmeister, Jess Settles)

Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network affiliates

Series: Iowa leads, 5-4

Iowa’s next game: Tuesday, Jan. 6, against Minnesota at Minneapolis, 7 p.m. (Big Ten Network)

What to know: It’s a whiteout at Carver, with fans asked to wear white shirts to the game. Rally towels also will be handed out.

Iowa is coming off a 90-62 win Monday afternoon over Massachusetts-Lowell. The Hawkeyes shot 69.2 percent from the field in the first half (18 of 26), most all of those buckets coming from close range.

Bennett Stirtz led the way with 22 points and eight assists, the assist total giving him 500 for his career at Iowa, Drake and Northwest Missouri State. He leads Iowa in scoring this season at 17.1 points per game.

The Hawkeyes still do not have another player who averages double figures in scoring this season, though guard Tavion Banks and forward Alvaro Folgueiras are creeping closer at 9.5 points per game. Folgueiras has scored 13, 17 and 14 points, respectively, in Iowa’s last three games, hitting 17 of 26 shots from the field, providing a huge lift off the bench.

This is Iowa’s best start since the 2020-21 season. Its 10-1 record in non-conference play is its best mark since it went 10-1 in the 2021-22 season.

The Hawkeyes are giving up an average of 60.1 points per game, which leads the Big Ten and is fourth nationally. Contrarily, they have scored 90-plus points six times this season.

Iowa’s early Big Ten games were a loss at seventh-ranked Michigan State (72-51) and a win at home over Maryland (83-64). UCLA, meanwhile, won its two early Big Ten games, winning at Washington (82-80) and beating Oregon at home (74-63).

The Bruins’ three losses have been at neutral sites to Arizona (69-65), California (80-72) and Gonzaga (82-72). Their last game was a 97-65 win Dec. 23 at home against California-Riverside.

UCLA’s leading scorer is 6-foot-9 forward Tyler Bilodeau, an Oregon State transfer who scores at a 19.0 clip per game. That ranks seventh in the Big Ten.

Skyy Clark, a 6-3 guard, is next at 14.2 ppg, coming into this week leading the Big Ten in 3-point field-goal shooting (49.3 percent). Point guard Donovan Dent averages 12.6 points and leads the team in assists.

“They’re a very athletic team,” said Iowa’s Cam Manyawu. “Ball screen heavy, well coached, so it will be a fight. They’re very good. Also on defense, they have a zone they’ll get into. They’ll press, so we’ll be ready for that.”

“They’re good,” Iowa Coach Ben McCollum. “The two guards, Donovan Dent and Skyy Clark, are really good. They’ve got a good inside presence, a couple of decent wings that are good athletes, good 3-and-D guys. They’ll be a problem.”