Iowa holds off Rutgers behind Bennett Stirtz's 20 points

Bennett Stirtz scored 20 points and dished five assists, allowing Iowa to hold on for a 68-62 win over Rutgers in a Big Ten matchup Tuesday night in Iowa City.

Tate Sage added 17 points on 5-for-7 shooting for Iowa (14-5, 4-4 Big Ten), which won its second game in a row to climb back to .500 in the conference standings. Tavion Banks chipped in 12 points.

Darren Buchanan Jr. scored 17 points on 5-for-8 shooting to lead Rutgers (9-10, 2-6). Tariq Francis scored 15 points, and Emmanuel Ogbole finished with eight points to go along with a game-high 10 rebounds.

Rutgers had 19 turnovers, a deciding factor in a game which included eight ties and 11 lead changes.

Rutgers opened the second half on a 9-0 run to turn a seven-point deficit into a 33-31 lead. Kaden Powers buried a 3-pointer to start the second-half scoring and Buchanan Jr. made four free throws before an Ogbole dunk gave the Scarlet Knights the lead.

From there, the game remained within four points until there was 6:06 left and never got beyond a six-point lead after the first basket of the second half.

Lino Mark drove to the rim for a layup and a free throw to cut the Scarlet Knights' deficit to 59-56 with 3:03 to go.

Iowa responded on the next possession as Banks drove to the rim for a layup to make it 61-56.

Rutgers once again pulled within three points after two free throws by Ogbole cut it to 61-58.

Stirtz flashed his skill in the closing two minutes. He drove to the paint for a layup, drew a foul on Rutgers' Dylan Grant and made the free throw to put Iowa on top 64-58 with 1:42 to play.

The Scarlet Knights scored the next four points to pull within 64-62 with 22 seconds left on a Buchanan jump shot and two Francis free throws.

Iowa closed the game with free throws. Sage made a pair with 18 seconds left, and Isaia Howard made two with five seconds to go.

Iowa led 31-24 at the half.

The Hawkeyes went on a 10-2 run in the first half to turn a 21-all game into a 31-23 advantage. Howard made a layup to start the run, which also included a 3-pointer by Cooper Koch and five straight points from Stirtz on a jump shot and a three-point play.

-Field Level Media