Takeaways as Iowa basketball roars past Indiana

In the midst of a three-game losing streak, No. 23 Iowa basketball (13-5, 3-4 Big Ten) was in dire need of a response.

The Hawkeyes got that in emphatic fashion, rolling past Indiana (12-6, 3-4 Big Ten), 74-57, in a game that Iowa never trailed in. In the process, Iowa won its sixth game over the Hoosiers in the two teams’ past seven meetings.

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As the Hawkeyes grab win No. 13 and snap their three-game skid, let’s dive into postgame takeaways from the big win:

Iowa basketball led wire-to-wire, had the game’s pivotal run

Iowa basketball set the tone, jumping out to a 10-2 lead in the game’s first seven minutes. The Hawkeyes would widen their first-half margin to as many as 11 points on a pair of occasions and carried a 10-point lead into halftime.

Then, when Indiana trimmed its deficit to just four points as the game approached the halfway point of the second half, Iowa authored a 17-3 scoring spurt to morph that four-point lead into an 18-point lead with just 5:39 to play.

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The Hawkeyes would go on to lead by as many as 22 in the game’s final two minutes.

Bennett Stirtz was instrumental in Iowa’s quick start

Iowa senior guard Bennett Stirtz was fantastic on Saturday. Stirtz dropped a game-high 27 points and had some big buckets in the second half to recreate separation when the Hoosiers had drawn close.

But, with Iowa entering on a losing streak, it needed its biggest star to deliver and make an early impression on how Saturday would unfold. Stirtz did just that.

The 6-foot-4 guard scored 14 first-half points and also assisted four times to help Iowa build its double-digit halftime lead.

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Tavion Banks’ emergence continues

Tavion Banks’ terrific play continued in Assembly Hall. After scoring a game-high 16 points against Illinois last week while dealing with a sickness, Banks was awesome again on Saturday.

Banks scored 26 points on 8-of-12 shooting with eight boards and a pair of assists. It was a Division I career-high for Banks. Banks and Stirtz’s…

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Publish date : 2026-01-18 10:45:00

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