Welcome back! The holiday break is over and it’s time for men’s hoops to return to action. The Iowa Men’s Basketball team will wrap up their non-conference portion of the schedule this afternoon facing off against the visiting UMass Lowell River Hawks out of the America East Conference.

The Hawkeyes enter this matchup ranked 25th in the latest AP poll with a 10-2 record, including wins over Xavier, Ole Miss and Maryland. Last time out, on December 20th, Iowa defeated Bucknell 94-39 at the Casey’s Center in Des Moines. Head coach Ben McCollum is in his first season at the helm after guiding Drake to a 31-4 record last season. As for the River Hawks, they come into this contest with a 5-9 record, but three of those wins are against non-D1 opponents. Last time out, on December 21st, UMass Lowell fell to Boston University 88-76. They are led by 13th-year head coach Pat Duquette, who has a 180-197 record in his time at the helm, including a pair of 20+ win seasons. Last season, the River Hawks finished with a 17-15 overall record and a 6-10 mark in America East play.

LINK: Iowa Men’s Basketball Tip Time Preview: UMass Lowell River Hawks

HawkeyeReport, due to beat reporter Kyle Huesmann’s Twitter being locked, has set up a live blog for fans to follow the action in real time…

By:Kyle HuesmannBennett Stirtz up to 20 points for the game12/29/2025 05:34:15 PM

Basket, plus the foul. He’s 6-of-11 from the floor and 7-of-7 at the free throw line. Also has seven assists.

Iowa leads 71-43 with 8:51 to play.

By:Kyle Huesmann11:28 2H – Iowa 62 UMass Lowell 4112/29/2025 05:24:27 PM

A 15-3 run got it to a 25-point lead a moment ago. Hawkeyes have three in double figures, led by Bennett Stirtz with 15 points and six assists.

By:Kyle Huesmann15:40 2H – Iowa 55 UMass Lowell 3612/29/2025 05:14:20 PM

The Hawkeyes are in command of this one, but probably would like a good 10-0 run to really put it away. The River Hawks were within 47-34 out the gates of the second half.

Cam Manyawu is up to 14 points and eight rebounds. Bennett Stirtz has 13 points and six assists.

By:Kyle HuesmannBack for the second half…12/29/2025 04:51:40 PM

Hawkeyes leading UMass Lowell 47-30. Tavion Banks back in the lineup after getting whistled for three first half fouls.

By:Kyle HuesmannHALFTIME – Iowa 47 UMass Lowell 3012/29/2025 04:49:00 PM

IOWA

Bennett Stirtz – 11 pts, 5 ast

Cam Manyawu – 10 pts, 7 reb, 2 ast

Hawkeyes were 18-of-27 from the floor in the first half and scored 32 points in the paint.

UMASS LOWELL

Darrel Yepdo – 8 pts, 2 ast

Angel Montas Jr – 8 pts, 2 reb, 3 ast

By:Kyle Huesmann2:26 1H – Iowa 42 UMass Lowell 2312/29/2025 04:41:09 PM

Bennett Stirtz knocks down the Hawkeyes first three of the game and then back-to-back possessions with dunks by Alvaro Folguerias and Cam Manyawu.

Manyawu is in double-double territory with ten points and six boards.

By:Kyle Huesmann5:48 1H – Iowa 34 UMass Lowell 1712/29/2025 04:32:53 PM

Hawkeyes are 14-of-20 from the floor and have 28 points in the paint. Just two three-pointers attempted. Bennett Stirtz and Kael Combs have combined for seven assists.

By:Kyle HuesmannHawkeyes getting whatever they want in the paint12/29/2025 04:21:36 PM

Iowa is rolling in this one. They already lead 23-8 with 11:45 to play in the first half. Isaia Howard steal and dunk is followed by an Alvaro Folgueiras basket, plus the foul in transition.

Hawkeyes are 10-of-13 from the floor and have 20 points in the paint.

By:Kyle HuesmannCam Manyawu off to a great start…12/29/2025 04:12:04 PM

He’s already got eight points and three rebounds. Getting some easy looks in the paint and has made all four shots he has taken. Iowa leads 12-4 with15:23 to play in the first half.

By:Kyle HuesmannWe are underway from Carver-Hawkeye Arena…12/29/2025 03:52:43 PM

Iowa controls the opening tip. Cam Manyawu basket in the paint gets the scoring going.

By:Kyle HuesmannStarting lineups are here…12/29/2025 03:41:45 PM

IOWA: G Bennett Stirtz, G Kael Combs, G Tavion Banks, F Cooper Koch, F Cam Manyawu

UMASS LOWELL: G Darrel Yepdo, G Xavier Spencer, G JJ Massaquoi, F Angel Montas, F Austin Green

By:Kyle HuesmannIowa MBB is ranked for the first time since 2022…12/29/2025 11:00:53 AM

Back in 2022, the Hawkeyes were ranked 25th for a single week during the non-conference portion of the year. That week, they defeated Omaha (100-64) and followed it up with a win over Clemson (74-71) at the Emerald Coast Classic. The week ended with a loss to TCU (79-66) in the Emerald Coast Classic Championship Game and they fell out of the AP Top 25 for the remainder of the year.

By:Kyle HuesmannHow to Watch, Listen12/29/2025 10:54:38 AM

This one will follow the currently in-progress matchup between Southern and #20 Illinois on the Big Ten Network. The Hawkeyes are a 34.5-point favorite (per BetMGM).

TIPOFF: 4:00pm CT

TV: Big Ten Network (Kevin Kugler and Jess Settles)

RADIO: Hawkeye Radio Network (Also on the UI Athletics YouTube)

By:Kyle HuesmannHawkeyeReport is LIVE for #25 Iowa MBB vs UMass Lowell12/29/2025 10:51:52 AM

We are just under two hours from tipoff between the Hawkeyes and River Hawks at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

The injury report for the Hawkeyes is clear. True freshman Trey Thompson is available for the second consecutive game after being listed as out for four straight games.