Iowa basketball quietly among CBS Sports’ biggest winners

After a bit of a skid in Big Ten play, the Iowa Hawkeyes flexed their muscles under head coach Ben McCollum with a blistering performance on the road in a dominant win over the Indiana Hoosiers to bounce back and get back in the win column.

The win moved Iowa to 13-5 overall with a 3-4 mark in Big Ten play, setting the team up with a chance to take advantage of the favorable schedule ahead. The win has put Iowa quietly among CBS Sports’ biggest winners in college basketball.

Winner: Iowa bludgeons Indiana

Entering the day, Iowa was the second-highest rated the team in the NET (22nd) without a Quad 1 victory. That changed when the Hawkeyes crushed Indiana 74-57 on the road behind a combined 53 points from guards Tavion Banks and Bennett Stirtz. Banks scored 17 of his career-high 27 in the second half as the duo combined for 23 of the Hawkeyes’ final 25 points. Their barrage was part of a 25-7 game-ending surge that silenced a crowd of 17,222 inside Assembly Hall.

The win is expected to solidify Iowa as a No. 8 seed in CBS Sports Bracketology. An Indiana victory would likely have elevated the Hoosiers to First Four Out territory in the CBS Sports Bracketology model. But they have now dropped three straight and remain in pursuit of their first Quad 1 win as they hit the road to face No. 4 Michigan on Tuesday. — Cobb

Up next for the Hawkeyes is a home date tonight against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Iowa enters this game as a large favorite and has a great chance to improve its Big Ten record to .500, with a chance to keep the momentum going.

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After Iowa takes on Rutgers this evening on the Big Ten Network, they have a bit of rest time as they are off until January 28, when they host the USC Trojans.

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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa basketball quietly among…

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Publish date : 2026-01-20 14:15:00

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