US EditionAnalysis From Xavier Musketeers' Road Loss to Iowa Hawkeyes
Iowa dominated the game at home with key performances from Bennett Stirtz and Tavion Banks, securing a decisive early-season victory over Xavier.
- On Nov. 14, 2025, the Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team defeated the Xavier Musketeers men's basketball team 81-62 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, outscoring them 50-26 inside and winning the rebound battle 41-24.
- Playing a smaller lineup led to 13 first-half fouls and 27 free throws, as Pitino said, `We made this decision to give this different lineup a look.`
- Iowa guard Bennett Stirtz led all scorers with 21 points while Tavion Banks added 13, and Xavier forward Jovan Milicevic scored 15 before fouling out; Xavier shot 39.7% overall and 8-of-32 from 3.
- The Hawkeyes closed the game with a 23-7 run over the final 7:48, including a deciding 12-2 spurt, as Iowa players and coach Ben McCollum celebrated with high-fives.
- Xavier returns home Nov. 18 to host Old Dominion and then travels Nov. 21 for the Charleston Classic against Georgia, with Pitino saying, `We just have to continue to work on the fundamentals of it.
11 Articles
11 Articles
Iowa men's basketball's Kael Combs shines as reserve point guard
Senior point guard Bennett Stirtz has played 116 of Iowa men’s basketball’s 120 minutes through three games this season. At first glance, such a massive amount of playing time would appear inopportune for the backups at Stirtz’s position. But for third-year Kael Combs, Friday night’s victory over Xavier offered him not only a chance to share the floor with Stirtz, but receive 31 minutes of action, the highest for Combs since January. Combs, who…
Bennett Stirtz puts up 21 as Iowa takes down Xavier
Bennett Stirtz scored a game-high 21 points to go with eight rebounds and Tavion Banks chipped in 13 points to help Iowa post an 81-62 victory against Xavier on Friday in Iowa City.Kael Combs added 11 points for the Hawkeyes (3-0).Jovan Milicevic paced the Musketeers with 15 points. Filip Borovicanin and Tre Carroll scored 12 points apiece, but Xavier (2-2) was unable to overcome struggles with shooting and interior defense as well as early issu…
Analysis from Xavier Musketeers' road loss to Iowa Hawkeyes
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 45% of the sources lean Left, 44% of the sources are Center
Factuality
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