“Big Al” helps spark Iowa to 77-58 men’s basketball win over Western Illinois

IOWA CITY — Two minutes into the second half, a game official called a foul on Iowa’s Alvaro Folguerias Friday night that the player thought shouldn’t have been whistled and let the official know it.

Eleven seconds after that, a fired-up Folguerias blocked a Western Illinois shot.

Hawkeyes Coach Ben McCollum has said sometimes “Big Al” gets too emotional on the court, but an emotional Folgueiras may be better than a coolheaded one.

The junior forward from Spain by way of Robert Morris didn’t start for the second-straight game, this one a 77-58 win before a crowd of 10,978. He started the second-half, though, because he played too well in the first half to sit.

The 6-foot-10 Folgueiras stole the ball three times within his first four minutes of play once he entered the game. Iowa’s defense wasn’t particularly great in the first half, but the Spaniard’s defense helped the Hawkeyes to a 14-2 run and on their way to a 41-33 halftime lead.

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Folgueiras finished off his third steal with a dunk on his way to an 11-point half.

“Maybe (it was) coming off the bench, with that intent and with that mentality of trying to get active,” said Folgueiras. “And defense can get me going.”

Iowa’s team defense was much better in the second half, and it won without any nervous energy expended to improve to 2-0.

Were there a three-star system like hockey, the No. 1 star would have been Iowa point guard Bennett Stirtz. He had 24 points and seven assists, and didn’t commit any of his team’s seven turnovers. He played all 40 minutes, not an oddity since Stirtz led the nation in minutes played per game last season for Ben McCollum at Drake.

Does Stirtz get tired? “I don’t know,” McCollum said. “I don’t want to ask him.”

The game’s revelation was Iowa freshman guard Tate Sage. He had eight points in 24 minutes. He was in McCollum’s rotation for the second-straight game. Sage, from Weatherford, Okla., originally was a Drake commitment. He didn’t seem like an immediate candidate for significant playing time this season, and certainly not this early.

Sage played 24 minutes Friday. He has jumped in and played with confidence in his shot and his game. His 6-foot-7, 210-pound build looks more like one of an upperclassman.

“We thought he was pretty good for Drake,” McCollum said. “We didn't realize he was this good. We knew he was good, but we thought it would take him a year.

“He’s got great energy. He’s a good competitor. And I think if we're gonna be at our best, he's going to need to be pretty good.”

The Leathernecks of the Summit League made 52 percent of their first-half shots. They dipped to 27.3 percent in the second half.

Iowa shot 52 percent for the game and had assists on all but five of its 26 baskets.

“We’ve got a really good passing team,” McCollum said. “It was probably more that than me stressing it.

“I think our guys pass it really well and we should have more (assists).”

Iowa’s next game is at home against Xavier, next Friday at 7 p.m.

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