Cinderella wears a 9-seed’s uniform. Specifically, it’s a black jersey trimmed in gold.
Iowa, the slipper is yours. You wear it well.
You say a Big Ten team can’t be Cinderella, I say we might need to broaden our horizons a smidge when Iowa advances into the Elite Eight for the first time in 39 years.
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By beating No. 4 Nebraska, the Hawkeyes became just the ninth 9-seed ever to reach the Elite Eight.
Sweet 16 scores: Live updates, highlights, March Madness predictions
“Cinderella, whatever they want to call us,” Iowa coach Ben McCollum said. “We’re in the Elite Eight — that’s what they need to call us.”
And, so, Iowa becomes the highest seed left standing.
This isn’t akin to Saint Peter’s slaying giants or Kent State to the Elite Eight or George Mason’s Final Four run, but inside this chalky tournament, Iowa swiftly became the tournament’s top underdog tale, thanks to two guys who were tucked away at Division II Northwest Missouri State as of two years ago.
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Luther Vandross will be singing about Bennett Stirtz and McCollum in two weeks.
“That’s my guy,” Stirtz said.
He was talking about McCollum, not Vandross.
Stirtz is McCollum’s guy, too. Stirtz followed his coach from Northwest Missouri State to Drake to Iowa to the Elite Eight.
Stirtz swiftly became Iowa’s guy, its heartbeat, its big-bucket maker, and he went for 20 points and four assists in this 77-71 takedown of Nebraska.
Ben McCollum, Bennett Stirtz are masters of March Madness
Stirtz and McCollum are masters of March. A year ago while both were at Drake, they introduced themselves to the national stage with a first-round upset of Missouri. After Drake exited the tournament, McCollum hit the coaches’ transfer portal, and Stirtz was at his heels — off to Iowa.
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Too bad for Indiana. The blue-blooded Hoosiers needed to snap up McCollum when IU was hiring last year. Instead, Iowa got him. A lifelong Midwesterner born in Iowa City, McCollum perfectly suits the Hawkeyes.
Fran McCaffery, go ahead and enjoy the. Ivy league. McCollum and Stirtz got this covered.
The Hawkeyes never led in this game until Stirtz drilled a 3-pointer with just more two minutes remaining. The next time down the court, teammate Tate Sage drilled a triple.
Nebraska extinguished.
Iowa writes underdog story at Nebraska’s expense
Like the Cinderellas that came before them, the Hawkeyes made their hay from a land where the buckets are worth three points, not two.
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Thirteen 3s, Iowa drilled, against one of the nation’s best defensive teams.
Out in Lincoln, you can bet your cornstalk they had the pyrotechnics ready, too. Earlier in this tournament, Huskers fans blasted fireworks in celebration of a program that hadn’t had much to celebrate in its entire history, before a slick-shooting barrage carried Nebraska into the Sweet 16.
The Huskers got hot against Troy, stayed hot against Vanderbilt, and kept cooking in the first half against Iowa.
And what did Nebraska do when its first five attempts from 3-point range after halftime missed the mark? It fired two more. Pryce Sandfort, then Braden Frager, bang, bang. Huskers back in front, for a spell.
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Nebraska made 36 3-pointers in three tournament games, and Vandross will sing of Sandfort, too, and his “One Shining Moment,” right after he’s through with Stirtz.
Three years ago, Sandfort was Mr. Basketball in Iowa. He previously played for the Hawkeyes. Then, Sandfort transferred and became Mr. Husker. He scored 25 points against Iowa. Sandfort just needed more help from his teammates, just as Stirtz got 38 points from Iowa’s bench.
If you think the Hawkeyes are done here, well, ask Florida for a second opinion. Iowa sent the defending national champions packing just last week, part of an improbable uprising from a Hawkeyes squad that had stalled for a month heading into this tournament. Evidently, McCollum and Stirtz were saving their heroics.
Together, they gave an upset-starved tournament its first hint of a Cinderella story.
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Or, as McCollum put it, maybe the committee “should have seeded us better.”
Oh, my! A cheeky one.
“Nah, I’m just kidding,” McCollum said. “They seeded us right where we should.”
Indeed, the committee did. An underdog’s seed suited Iowa.
Blake Toppmeyer is a columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ben McCollum, Bennett Stirtz make Iowa a March Madness underdog tale
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