Iowa men’s basketball prepares for No. 13 Purdue in the first sellout under Ben McCollum

IOWA CITY — This is what Ben McCollum has wanted since the moment he became Iowa men’s basketball’s head coach: A sold-out Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The first-year coach leads Iowa around the court after every home game, high-fiving fans as a means of saying ‘thank you.’ Iowa created the Hawks Nest, bringing students closer to the court.

The desire to create Iowa’s version of the Big Ten environments have been on McCollum’s mind. It becomes a reality against No. 13 Purdue Saturday afternoon.

But McCollum knows one sellout doesn’t guarantee another. The Hawkeyes will have to show out for Iowa fans, and find a way to combat a team they faced just a month ago. Just the heighten the stakes even more, too, it opens up a chance for Iowa’s first ranked win of the year.

“We don't want it to be dependent upon us winning and losing games,” McCollum said. “I think that the best crowds in the country are the ones that come regardless ... but it doesn’t just happen. It has to be dependent upon the connection that you can create, because you can control it.”

Purdue heads to Iowa City after winning back-to-back games against Oregon and No. 7 Nebraska, snapping a three-game skid that put the Boilermakers outside the Associated Press’ top 10. The Hawkeyes fell to Purdue, 79-72, in their West Lafayette meeting — a game with 14 lead changes and nine ties by the time the buzzer rang out.

Since then the Hawkeyes have gone 6-1, most recently dropping a road contest to Maryland on Wednesday night. The loss to the Terrapins highlighted a flaw Iowa’s faced — having heavy reliance on guard Bennett Stirtz. It’s something McCollum noticed, realized how quickly it can make things difficult for the Hawkeyes moving forward.

Especially against a fast-paced team like Purdue, which averages 82.8 points per game.

“It's something that hopefully we've addressed, and we'll continue to address it,” McCollum said. “It ebbs and flows throughout the season. It’s just a part of it, and then part of it is the matchup, too.”

The task of competing against the Boilermakers has turned Saturday’s game into a must-see event, but it’s still just part of McCollum and co.’s journey to reinventing Iowa men’s basketball.

“I do think it speaks to people being able to connect with the group that we have, and being able to connect with my staff and on through, that's why you're seeing it snowball,” McCollum said. “But if we have five people, or we have 25,000 people, it's irrelevant. We appreciate the five people.”

The first sellout is one that helps prove to the Hawkeyes that they’re garnering the interest they’ve searched for.

Saturday is how the Hawkeyes make sure those 15,000 fans return to Carver-Hawkeye Arena again.

“I think that we've worked really hard on making sure that we connect with the community and state of Iowa and University of Iowa and Iowa City et cetera,” McCollum said. “I think people are noticing that, regardless of wins or losses or how the season is going, one way or the other. We want to connect, and we want to build this thing.”

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