Instant Observations From Iowa Men’s Basketball’s Loss To Creighton

DES MOINES – Iowa men’s basketball came to Iowa’s capital city hoping for a bounce-back after losing to Virginia Tech on Tuesday, but it didn’t get it.

The Hawkeyes rallied from a 12-point halftime deficit, but couldn’t close the job in the final minute and lost a heartbreaker, 70-69, at the Casey’s Center on Sunday afternoon.

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Iowa drops to 2-2 on the young season with the loss.

Here are some instant observations from the Hawkeyes’ defeat:

Offensive looked shaky to start

Iowa’s offense wasn’t the reason it lost to Virginia Tech on Tuesday, but it certainly didn’t help itself out in the early going on Sunday. Creighton was playing tenacious defense, but the Hawkeyes just looked uncertain on the offensive end of the floor to begin this game.

Iowa’s lone bucket in the first four minutes of the contest was a Cooper Koch layup, and it went 3:30 without a point after that, allowing the Bluejays to take a 17-8 lead with at the under-12 timeout. The Hawkeyes shot 3-for-11 in this stretch, only fueling a confident Creighton team and its fans.

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Hometown kid provides the spark

Iowa’s offense didn’t get much contribution from its starting five for much of the first half. but the reason why the Hawkeyes stayed in the game in the first place was because of Trevin Jirak. It wasn’t a surprise to see the 6-foot-11 Jirak playing well because he grew up only minutes away from the Casey’s Center and went to Valley High School.

Jirak chipped in 10 points off the bench in the first (including two triples), and his presence really seemed to spark the dormant Hawkeye offense. Iowa trailed by as many as 11 points in the first, but rallied back with a 7-0 run to get within a bucket, 26-24, at the under-four timeout. Creighton went nearly three minutes without a point at one point, so Jirak sparked Iowa’s defense, too.

And Jirak wasn’t just dominant in the first half, either. Whether it was grabbing boards or facilitating the offense, Jirak was all over this basketball game in the…

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Publish date : 2026-11-15 22:30:00

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