It’s been 10 days since No. 9 Nebraska men’s basketball (22-3, 11-3) hit the road for an away game.
After splitting a two-game home stint last week, with a loss to No. 13 Purdue and a win over Northwestern, the Huskers will travel to Iowa City to take on Iowa on Tuesday. The game is sold out, as fans will be participating in a blackout theme.
The Hawkeyes lead the all-time series against the Huskers, 27-15, dating back to 1907. Iowa has won the previous three matchups by an average margin of 14-plus points.
Tuesday night’s matchup will be the first of two contests between these two teams this season, with the next one being in Lincoln on March 8.
Here’s what to keep an eye on:
A Glance at Iowa
Iowa (18-7, 8-6) enters Tuesday’s game fresh off a 78-57 home loss to Purdue. The Hawkeyes went down by double-digits within the first 10 minutes and never recovered in the losing effort.
Senior guard Bennett Stirtz posted 19 points in the loss. Stirtz has been phenomenal for the Hawkeyes this season, averaging 20.4 points per game, with a 51.6 field goal percentage.
Stirtz started his career at the Division II level playing for Northwest Missouri State under coach Ben McCollum. When McCollum left to coach Drake, Stirtz followed. He did the same when McCollum left for Iowa.
“(McCollum’s) got one of the top point guards (Stirtz) running the show for him and he knows Ben’s system extremely well,” Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said Monday. “Being with him for multiple years, at different levels.”
The Hawkeyes rely on Stirtz for everything on the court, as he leads the Big Ten Conference with 36.6 minutes per game. He has the ability to score from inside the paint and pull it from deep, using his step-back jumpshot.
Iowa has played in eight games this season against top 25 opponents, with three of them in the Top 10. The Hawkeyes haven’t won any of them.
A big difference in this contest may come down to success at the 3-point line. Iowa averages 7.6 made 3-pointers per game and allows 6.4 to its opponents. Nebraska averages 10-plus per game.
“The discipline that these guys play with is unbelievably impressive,” Hoiberg said. “On both ends of the floor, they are really efficient.”
Homecoming for Sandfort
Junior forward Pryce Sandfort has a chance to mark his name in history in the state where his story began.
Although Sandfort’s collegiate career started in Iowa City, his home state, he has now made his name well-known in Lincoln and around the country. He has been having a season, consistently recording remarkable stat lines, while shooting with an unbelievable amount of confidence.
“I give the credit to my teammates and our game plan,” Sandfort said postgame after the win over Northwestern. “We always scout and find what skip shots are going to be open.”
While wearing the gold and black last season, Sandfort notched 8.8 points per game and shot just under 40% from the 3-point line. In Iowa’s contest at Nebraska last season on March 7, 2025, Sandfort recorded a double-double, with 16 points and a team-high 11 boards.
In Nebraska’s win over Northwestern last Saturday on Valentine’s Day, Sandfort knocked down six 3-pointers, moving his total to 88 on the season.
He is one away from tying the program single-season record with Cary Cochran, who racked up 89 3-pointers in Nebraska’s 2001-02 season.
“It’s really special, a school that I grew up idolizing…it’s really special,” Sandfort said. “It’s not what I’m focused on, just take one game at a time, win the game and results will follow. It’s just another road game, got to be locked in.”
Nebraska will tip off against Iowa inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City on Tuesday, Feb. 17, at 8:00 p.m. CST. The contest will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.
Eli Rodriguez is a men’s basketball beat reporter at The Daily Nebraskan. Follow him on X at @efrodriguez23.
