Iowa failed to get a road victory over No. 5 Purdue on Wednesday night, but the head coach of the opposition, Matt Painter, left the game blown away by Hawkeyes senior guard Bennett Stirtz.
“He’s a good player,” Painter said about Stirtz after Purdue’s 79-72 win over Iowa. “He’s real, and that kind of just shows everybody that the rankings and all the different stuff [is overblown]. This guy went to a Division II school out of high school; it’s amazing. He’s going to be a first-round pick in the NBA, but if you’re good, you’re good.
“That’s what I’ve always said from a recruiting standpoint and just an evaluation standpoint.”
Stirtz finished the Wednesday night Big Ten matchup with 19 points, four assists and three rebounds, while shooting 7-for-15 from the field and 2-for-9 from behind the arc. On the season, Stirtz is averaging 17.7 points, five assists and 1.5 steals per game, while shooting 48.1/37.9/81.6.
Stirtz is in his first season at Iowa after spending the 2024-25 season with Drake, with whom he averaged a Missouri Valley Conference-high in points (19.2) and steals (2.1) per game. Prior to his one-year stint at Drake, Stirtz spent two seasons at Division II Northwest Missouri State.
This season, Iowa is 12-5 overall and 2-4 in Big Ten play in what’s its first year under head coach Ben McCollum, who was previously the head coach at Drake for one season, a campaign which saw the Bulldogs reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament; McCollum coached Stirtz last season.
As for Purdue, the Boilermakers are now 16-1 overall and 6-0 in Big Ten play. Their only loss came at home against now-No. 2 Iowa State.
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