Iowa basketball takeaways from dominant win vs. Bucknell

Saturday was an important day for Iowa basketball head coach Ben McCollum.

He returned to Des Moines, Iowa, where just nine months prior, he had led the Drake Bulldogs to the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament. This time around, he swapped the blue tie for a Hawkeye gold one and led his 9-2 Hawkeyes onto the court at the Casey’s Center for a non-conference matchup with the Bucknell Bisons.

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Playing in front of many fans who don’t get to see Iowa play very often, McCollum’s team put on a show. The Hawkeyes were completely dominant on both ends of the court, routing the Bison 94-39 to advance to 10-2 on the season. Despite the quality of Bucknell, there was still a lot to like and a lot to learn from this game for the Hawkeyes. Here are the three biggest takeaways from a neutral court stomping of Bucknell.

Alvaro Folgueiras arrives

Iowa fans have been waiting for the 2024-25 Horizon League Player of the Year to officially break out, and Saturday’s game might have been that performance. Folgueiras finished the night with a team-high 17 points, three rebounds, two assists, and two steals in just 20 minutes. Those 17 points are also a season-high for the Robert Morris transfer, eclipsing his 16 points against Southeast Missouri State in November.

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On the season, the junior forward is now averaging 9.1 points and four rebounds a game. He’s come off the bench in all 12 games this year, after many fans expected him to start when he arrived in Iowa City. In the win over Bucknell, Folgueiras showed why so many people were high on his potential coming into the program. Hopefully, he can build off of this performance as the Hawkeyes enter Big Ten play next month.

Defense rules the day

That was about as dominant a defensive outing as a team can have. While the caliber of competition is important to consider, don’t dismiss just how good the Hawkeyes were defensively on Saturday. They only allowed 39 points, held Bucknell to 37% shooting from the field, won the rebounding…

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Publish date : 2025-12-22 10:45:00

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