{"id":1083,"date":"2026-02-04T17:23:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T17:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/?p=1083"},"modified":"2026-02-04T17:23:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T17:23:22","slug":"iowas-stirtz-drops-career-high-32-points-to-take-down-oregon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/?p=1083","title":{"rendered":"Iowa\u2019s Stirtz Drops Career-High 32 Points to Take Down Oregon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Eugene, OR<\/em> \u2014 The <strong>Oregon Ducks<\/strong> squared off against the visiting Iowa Hawkeyes in a Big Ten clash Sunday evening, with the two teams heading in opposite directions in the race for an NCAA Tournament bid. Iowa\u2019s <strong>Bennett Stirtz<\/strong> delivered a dominant performance, scoring a game- and career-high 32 points on an efficient 12-of-15 shooting night to lead the Hawkeyes past the Ducks, 84\u201366, at Matthew Knight Arena in front of 5,807 fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The opening half featured consistent shooting from both sides, as the team\u2019s traded baskets and saw several lead changes. Oregon guard <strong>Takai Simpkins <\/strong>returned to action after missing the previous game with an ankle injury, and the injury appeared to be a non-factor. Simpkins led the Ducks with 10 first-half points and finished with 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting, along with four rebounds and four assists. A Simpkins lay-in gave Oregon a 17\u201315 lead with 12 minutes remaining in the first half \u2014 the Ducks\u2019 final lead of the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Iowa responded with a decisive 13\u20132 run, fueled by interior scoring from 6-foot-10 junior <strong>Alvaro Folgueiras<\/strong>, to build its largest first-half lead at 11 points with just under four minutes remaining. The Hawkeyes dominated the paint early, holding an 18\u20138 advantage in the first half and finishing with a commanding 44\u201326 edge for the game. Folgueiras scored eight points before the break on 4-of-6 shooting and ended the night with 15 points (6-of-9 FG) and eight rebounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Oregon opened the second half with renewed aggression, as <strong>Kwame Evans Jr. <\/strong>attacked the basket for a quick layup and followed it up by drawing a foul on the next possession. The Ducks cut the deficit to five in the opening minutes behind Evans Jr.\u2019s effort. The 6-foot-10 junior, coming off a 24-point performance in his previous outing, posted 18 points (6-of-14 FG), with most coming in the second half. While he struggled from beyond the arc (1-of-7 from three), Evans Jr. added three rebounds and three assists. <strong>Dezdrick Lindsay<\/strong> chipped in 10 points on an efficient 4-of-7 shooting night, but Oregon received limited production elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Stirtz<\/strong> took full control after halftime, orchestrating the offense as Iowa\u2019s primary ball handler and scorer. The 6-foot-4 senior was surgical offensively, finishing with 32 points on just 15 shot attempts. Iowa committed only five turnovers all game, with Stirtz recording seven assists and zero turnovers. Beyond the box score, he consistently made smart backdoor cuts and simplified the game for his teammates, showcasing his high basketball IQ. &nbsp;Stirtz is currently projected as a mid-to-late first-round pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, with the potential to climb into the lottery with a strong finish to the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Iowa also received double-digit scoring from <strong>Cooper Koch<\/strong> and <strong>Brendan Hausen<\/strong>, giving the Hawkeyes four players in double figures. Koch finished with 10 points (4-of-7 FG), three rebounds, two steals, and two assists, while Hausen added 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting. As a team, Iowa shot an impressive 59 percent from the field (33-of-56 FG) and clamped down defensively, holding Oregon to just 20 percent shooting from three-point range (5-of-25). The loss marks Oregon\u2019s eighth straight defeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Oregon<\/strong> (8\u201314, 1\u201310 Big Ten) travels east to face preseason No. 1 <strong>Purdue<\/strong> (18\u20134, 8\u20133) on Saturday, February 7.<strong> Iowa<\/strong> (16\u20135, 6\u20134) continues its road trip against <strong>Washington<\/strong> (12\u201310, 4\u20137) on February 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a><em>This article was written by Chad Mart, a correspondent and scout for <\/em><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.netscoutsbasketball.com\"><em>NetScouts Basketball<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><em> You can follow us on <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/netscoutshoops\/\">Instagram<\/a><em>, or on <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/netscouts\"><em>twitter.<\/em> <\/a><em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>We are looking for those interested in our <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/scouting\/scout-certification-program\/\">basketball scout apprenticeship program<\/a><em>. For information <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/contact\/\"><em>contact us <\/em><\/a><em>and forward your resume.<\/em><em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Eugene, OR \u2014 The Oregon Ducks squared off against the visiting Iowa Hawkeyes in a Big Ten clash&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1084,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[222,147,19,221,73,65],"class_list":["post-1083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-2","tag-bennett-stirtz","tag-big-ten-hoops","tag-college-basketball","tag-iowa-hawkeyes","tag-netscouts-basketball","tag-oregon-ducks"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/DucksIowa.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/DucksIowa.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Carl Berman","author_link":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/?author=1"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}