Bennett Stirtz’s career night puts Iowa men’s basketball past Oregon

When in doubt, Iowa men’s basketball can always rely on guard Bennett Stirtz.

The Hawkeyes’ first of two West Coast road games included a stop at Oregon, facing a Ducks squad with seven consecutive Big Ten losses. Iowa handed Oregon its eighth-straight Sunday night, winning on the road for the second time this season, 84-66.

Stirtz, who scored 11 points in the first half, ended the game with a career-high 32 points — his fourth-consecutive game recording at least 20 points and 11th this season. He also recorded seven of Iowa’s 18 assists.

Although Oregon only led for 98 seconds, the Ducks managed to stay within a few possessions in the first half. Oregon, playing without key players Nate Bittle, Ege Demir and Jackson Shelstad. The Ducks still had three players reach double figures, with Kwame Evans Jr. leading with 18 points.

Iowa’s Alvaro Folgueiras recorded 15 points, including seven rebounds and three assists and Cooper Koch scored 10 and picked up two assists. Brendan Hausen recorded 11 points, his third double-digit performance of the season.

The Hawkeyes were without Tavion Banks for most of the second half, playing just three minutes in the final 20. He ended the game with four points in 11 minutes of game time.

The Ducks made it as close as a six-point game in the early minutes of the first half, but a 7-0 run by Iowa in the final six minutes of the game put the Hawkeyes up by 20 points. That was enough.

Iowa’s won four games since ending its three-game skid, and heads to Seattle for a bout at Washington on Wednesday at 10 p.m. CT.

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