Iowa will have gone one week between games once tipoff arrives Friday against Xavier in Iowa City.
One can only imagine the angst roiling inside Hawkeyes point guard Bennett Stirtz.
Stirtz is averaging 38 minutes during Iowa’s 2-0 start after leading the nation with 39.4 minutes as a junior at Drake last season. He’s also excelling, leading the Hawkeyes with averages of 21.5 points and 6.5 assists and matching second-leading scorer Alvaro Folgueiras with a team-best 3.0 steals.
“When you’re a college athlete,” Stirtz said, “you might as well be in shape. I didn’t like to come out, but my coach took me out.”
First-year Hawkeyes coach Ben McCollum, who previously guided Stirtz at Drake, admits he doesn’t ask the preseason All-American if he gets fatigued.
“He’s used to it. He’s done it for three years now,” McCollum said. “What is he, 22 years old? I’m 40-something and I probably couldn’t do that. But when you’re 22 why can’t you? You only get so many games in your college career.”
Xavier (2-1) also is playing under a new head coach with a revamped roster, and thus far has encountered more adversity.
The Musketeers are coming off Monday’s 87-68 loss to visiting Santa Clara, the first defeat under coach Richard Pitino, who joined Xavier from New Mexico during the offseason.
After edging Marist and Le Moyne during the first week of the season, the Musketeers are working on getting more comfortable as a unit.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” said Tre Carroll, who scored 21 points against Santa Clara. “We got punked on our home court and lost by double digits.”
Roddie Anderson III contributed a career-high 29 points, shooting 7-for-16.
“I’m just not gonna give up,” he said. “I’m gonna play as hard as I can, no matter what.”
Pitino hopes to instill that work ethic in his team against the Hawkeyes and moving forward. The Musketeers have committed at least 11 turnovers in each game and shot 33.9% against Santa Clara.
“Disappointed in myself that we’re putting that on the floor,” Pitino said. “Our fans certainly deserve better. I gotta look myself in the mirror and realize we got a long way to go.”
