Stirtz weathers cold shooting to score 16 and help Iowa beat Clemson 67-61 in March Madness

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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Bennett Stirtz scored 16 points and No. 9 seed Iowa weathered his erratic shooting to hold off eighth-seeded Clemson 67-61 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night.

The Hawkeyes (22-12), making their March Madness debut under coach Ben McCollum, move on to a second-round South Region meeting against top-seeded and defending national champion Florida, which beat 16th-seeded Prairie View A&M by 59 points.

Stirtz made two free throws with 10.9 seconds remaining help put the game away after Clemson (24-11) rallied within 61-57 in the closing minutes. But Iowa's leading scorer had an off night, going 3 for 10 on 3-point attempts and 1 for 7 inside the arc. Kael Combs kept the Hawkeyes stay afloat with 15 points and Alvaro Foigueiras came off the bench to score 14.

“That's kind of been us all year. We know we're not the most athletic team or talented team out there,” Stirtz said. “But I think we're the most together team, so there's that, and yeah, we love fighting together.”

RJ Godfrey led Clemson with 15 points.

Iowa led 32-25 at halftime despite Stirtz not getting off to a strong start. The 6-foot-4 senior who accompanied McCollum from Drake to Iowa misfired on four of his five 3-point attempts and was 2 for 8 from the field for eight points. The Hawkeyes, however, were able to use the one 3-pointer he made — along with a pair of them from Combs — to build a 12-point lead that Clemson began cutting into before the break.

Stirtz made a long 3 to begin the second half, but Iowa proceeded to go nearly six minutes without scoring while Clemson pulled within 35-33. Stirtz stopped the surge with his third 3, Iowa methodically expanded its lead to 51-37, and Clemson never fully recovered.

The Tigers, who reached the Elite Eight in 2024, lost to McNeese in the first round a year ago.

“You know, I'm anxious to watch the film and just see what happened,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “Certainly some long shots by them, long rebounds. ... I'm sure there's a couple that bounced their way. Those 50-50 balls you need to get to win, we just weren't as hungry as we needed to be.”

While this is Iowa's first March Madness appearance since 2023, Stirtz, Combs, Tavion Banks and Cam Manyawu were all part of the Drake team that McCollum led to an upset of Missouri in the first round last year.

Iowa finished 7 of 25 (28%) from 3-point range. Clemson wasn't much better, making 9 of 26 (35%).

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness