Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - ECSTASY: Iowa Hawkeyes Elite Eight Bound — Bennett Stirtz, Tate Sage DELIVER Epic Elite Eight Comeback

Episode Date: March 27, 2026

Iowa Hawkeyes break a decades-long drought to punch their ticket to the Elite Eight, setting up a high-stakes showdown with rival Illinois. Can Bennett Stirtz and Tate Sage sustain their momentum and lift Iowa to the Final Four for the first time since 1980? Trent Condon recaps Iowa’s thrilling 77-71 victory over Nebraska, spotlighting clutch performances from Alvaro Folgueiras and Sage, as well as Coach Ben McCollum’s strategic adjustments. The deep dive covers defensive improvements, key box score insights, and the emotional weight of overcoming historical obstacles. Listeners also get a preview of the much-anticipated regional championship game against Illinois, as well as nostalgia-filled reflections on classic Hawkeye moments and rivals like Fred Hoiberg. Hawkeye fans, are you ready for history to repeat itself? Follow Trent Condon on X: https://twitter.com/trentcondon LISTEN TO THE PODCAST: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-hawkeyes-daily-podcast-on-iowa-hawkeyes-football/id1441592240 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/0GTyz5ygevcGXdTF6QSoEo YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnHawkeyes Everydayer Club If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! 5-Hour ENERGY Have your cake & drink it too. Birthday cake-flavor is back, no fork needed. Vanilla-y cakey flavor, caffeinated kick, and no sugar. It's party time. Order Now at https://5-hourENERGY.com or Amazon. Mazda Like our players, we’re driven by the details. Highlights make the reel. But the work behind them makes it count.
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The Iowa Hawkeyes are going to the Elite 8. That's right. The Iowa Hawkeyes are going to the Elite 8. Let's break it down. You are Locked on Hawkeyes. Your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. I'm Trent Condon, and this is the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast.

Today's episode is brought to you by Mazda. Like our players, we're driven by the details. Highlights make the real, but the work behind them makes it count. Stay tuned for this week's moving the game forward. The all-new Mazda CX-5, more to move every side of you. Well, we know the matchup in the elite eight. Yes, I'm not drunk. I am just incredibly excited. The Iowa Hawkeyes are in the elite eight. Here we are. Once again, as Iowa will face off against old rival Illinois to go to the final four. An elite eight matchup for the first time since 1987. I've talked about

that game plenty if you've been following us and our everydayers here or if you listen to me on the radio for the past almost 25 years now it's a story that I really love a ton it is one of my earliest memories of basketball and just a full game experience I was six my son is six and we've been having fun with that throughout the course of this one um 1980 the last final four I was just about born. Yeah, I was still inside my mom. Weird to say. I almost feel like I should restart things, but we're not because we're ecstatic, we're elated. I just absolutely can't believe this. And the worst thing about this medium is you can't be at a loss for words, but there are so many parts of this that I'm at a loss for words. And this is emotional. And there's parts

of this industry, there's parts of this business. There are parts of this business. There are of what I do on a daily basis that you do become a little bit calloused. You do hear the things that probably annoy most people out there when you hear sports talkers, people in the radio industry, people that do podcasts, and you just, you lose your fandom. And I never want to have that happen to me. And for people that know me know how important Iowa basketball is and how it is my first love, it's what made me the sport fan that I am.

basketball fan that I am. It is because of the Iowa basketball team. And it's the three guys behind me, if you're watching on YouTube that you see seemingly every program with BJ Armstrong and Roy Marble and Ed Horton, that group. That was the group that made me an Iowa basketball fan. It made me love Iowa basketball. And now as a guy in his mid-40s and still a guy that freaks out and

paces around and my kids laugh at me and my wife rolls her eyes. But that's what Iowa basketball does. And as we talked about yesterday, the 27-year drought between sweet 16s and all the lows that came along with it, there were some highs, definitely some positives. But for a program and what it was and its importance, and I know the older listeners out there, you definitely know about that importance. And for young people, I don't think you can really grasp what Iowa Hawkeye basketball meant in the state of Iowa. and its importance during the great run going back to Ralph Miller and into the 70s with Lute Olson what he did and the creation of the Hawkeye Network

and the television games that were broadcast. Every game across the state syndicated. It didn't matter if your kid like me in Osage or if you're in Sioux City or you were in Bettendorf. All corners in between, you were going to be able to watch Iowa basketball. And this is before we all had cable. Satellite dishes, those were for rich people. It was a different era, but you knew you had Hawkeye hoops.

And that's what it was. And here we are now today talking about a team back in the Elite 8, 1987, the last time that we saw to happen. So how it unfolded. And boy, you talk about a group of guys that is all coming together, all clicking at the right moment, and something, some of the things that we've been begging for at different points throughout the course of this season. the hope that Alvaro Fulgaris was going to put it all together because he could see the skill set. Now Iowa 15 and won this season when he scores in double figures.

Tate Sage, and we all saw those glimpses at different times this year. I remember the first time, well, going back to the summertime and we had an open practice and hearing about that Tate Sage, I think he's going to play. Really? This kid from Oklahoma was not highly regarded coming out, went to Drake. A lot of people even questioned. is in Missouri Valley too much for him. Absolutely not.

The Big Ten's not too much for him. And this stage is not too big for him. Bennett starts coming up with the big moments and finally getting Iowa over the hump. As they finally take the lead in a game where they only leave for two minutes and 10 seconds. Good news is, though, it was the most important time to be leading as Iowa gets the victory, 77, 71. A ton to break down today. We are going to get into all of it. Set the scene for what we're going to see on Saturday.

that will be a 5 p.m. tip off will 509 to be specific. 509 tip off on TBS for Iowa, Illinois. That will be the matchup is that one just went final a couple of moments ago, wanted to wait and watch that whole game, wrap it up. Had another TV and rewatch the Iowa game as that was happening as well. Just couldn't turn away. And it also helped that the Arkansas, Arizona game got away a little bit. So we're able to flip over the other TV to get to that one.

But that aside, this is more than just. the basketball part that we'll get into. But there's so much more. And seeing the Hawkeye faces in the crowd from Cooper to Jean, Jordan Bowhannon, seeing Greg Bruner there, and just seeing the sheer volume of Hawkeye fans in attendance, former players, and just people that you see, people that you see a carver when you make your way out there

and the faces and the smiles and to do it against Nebraska. This, regardless of what happened tonight, would have been an incredible season. To finally get the bugaboo, get past 1999, get that monkey off your back, that would have been enough. But to take this next step, to get to an elite aid,

to do it against your conference rival that overall in sports, I think matters more than any. As I mentioned a lot, it depends. I know where you grow up, family connections, those kind of things. Because we have so many border states here in Iowa, that's important.

And for our people over in the Quad Cities, I know this one in the lead eight against Illinois is going to be even bigger. But for the western flank, we get it plenty in Central Iowa as well. It's Nebraska. And as this rivalry has built after they joined the Big Ten, then you throw in the fact, he got Price Sanford, a guy that was a Hawkeye, an older brother that was a guy that laid it all on the line for the program.

Price departed. Had a great season this year. Had a great game tonight. but it does feel a little bit sweeter to do it against a guy that Bevan Cullum wanted and he chose to go somewhere else. That feels good. It feels good to do it against Fred Hoyberg.

He's a cyclone. He grew up in Ames. That feels good too. Just so many great things. And we'll talk about the game. In fact, let's do that right now. Let's start to dive into what turned out to be a brutal start for Iowa basketball trailing 12-2, then 14-4, then 16-6.

And finally, Iowa was able to chip away. way we'll get into the whole game. Some of the big moments that happened there and dive into the box scores will go inside the numbers here on Lockdown Hawkeyes. We are reliving an incredible 77-71 win over Nebraska as Iowa moves on for the Sweet 16 and down to the elite eight. Ben McCollum in year number one has already won three games in the NCAA tournament. Absolutely incredible. What a job. He lost a marker in the process. We'll talk about. about that as we continue. Stay right there. This is Lockdown Hawkeyes. This is moving the game forward by Mazda. For those who know, the score never tells the whole story. Tonight, it was all

about the freshman Tate Sage. What a performance out of Sage as he goes off, including a huge three pointer at the end of the half, absolutely monstrous to cut the deficit down to three in the locker room. Tate Sage goes off. Six to ten from the floor, four three pointers in the game. finishes on top of that. How about his 19 points and eight rebounds in the game? He drew three fouls. He only turned it over once, had three assists. You talk about a big time guy in a big time moment. That was Tate Sage, certainly tonight at our Mazda moving the game forward, player of the game. There's more of these players than the highlights. The early mornings, late night runs, constantly showing up for the squad on and off the court. The all-new Mazda

CX-5 moves the same way with more space to connect, a bold new design, and more intuitive technology, you can stay connected to the road. At every position you play, the all-new Mazda CX-5, more to move every side of you. Today's episode is also brought to you by Fanduals Sportsbook. Well, the tournament continues, it is one of the best times of the year. Brackets, buzzer-beaters, upsets, non-stop action from Tip to Final Cutdown. Right now, Fandual is giving new customers a way to stay in the action all tournament long. You get up to $300 back in bonus bet every day for 10 days.

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Fandual. Visit Fandual.com to sign up today. That's Fandual.com to get in on the action. Trent, kind of back with you once again here on Lockheyes, your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast. Glad to have you aboard with us here today as we recap Iowa 71 win over Nebraska. So diving into this one, and we mentioned the slow. start. Ben McCollum loses a marker. He's freaking out. Bennett Sturts related that he told him that they were soft and they sucked and only the way that Ben McCollum can. He also said later on, and there was

a smirk on his face as he was saying it, I'm sure there was even more choice words that were used. And up on the podium definitely sounded that way because Coach McCollum handled the question that came down. But, you know, he's tough. But these guys absolutely. absolutely love him. And there's an old school edge. You definitely get that from Ben McCollum. There also is a method to his madness. And in a game where you look up at different times during that first half, and they're up eight to ten points, a couple of different times. And you're just wondering yourself, how's this thing not 15? A McCullum mentioned after the game, felt like they were down 50 in the first half, and it was that. Nebraska came out red hot.

They were absolutely on fire. Iowa was trying to do too much at times defensively over switching. He said something about them anticipating things that were happening before they actually happened on the defensive end of the floor. And many of the same concerns that we saw defensively from this Iowa team were showing up. Yet they never backed out. They never got out of it. And, you know, one of the guys I thought had a huge one.

It was another time that I think Nebraska had pulled it back to eight. I think it was 2517 at the time if memory serves. Offensive rebound gets kicked back out. And Isaiah Howard just hoisted three from the top of the key and splashes it in. And those are the moments. You know, Isaiah Howard is not going to be a guy that's talked about a ton. They brought him in a couple of different times trying to give different looks to Price Sanford, who was just outstanding in this game and doing some different things defensively against him.

We know Howard is a very good defender. They tried him a couple of different times. But just a shot like that, that at the time kind of felt ho-hum. All right, back to five. Here we go. But the final minute stretch, another huge one. Iowa gets a bucket. Elverro Fool Garris gets a score late in the first half,

cuts it down after, again, Nebraska extended it back, after Iowa battled all the way back. It's back up to eight. It's 4638. Here we go again. He gets that bucket. They get a stop on the other end of the floor. Really good defensive sequence.

They get the shot clock violation. And then from the left wing on again, a bounce pass. I love the bounce pass. And certainly an homage to Dr. Tom. Bennett Sturtz finds Tate Sage on the wing. He knocks in the three-pointer, and it's 46-43. I'm feeling at that time that this Iowa team played not even fair. This Nebraska team played about as well as they could,

certainly offensively in the first half of the game, yet Iowa goes into the locker room only down by three. I mean, you had to be thanking your lucky stars. And when you go through and you look at that first half box score, Now, Iowa shot it really well. I mean, that definitely helped big time in the first half as Iowa goes 7-11 from three in the first half of the game. A big part of that was the three-pointers that Tate Sage was knocking in as he had three of his four in the game during the first half of that one. Got one from Cooper Koch, one from Sturts.

Fulgaris also had a three-pointer in the first half. Iowa shoot 60% from the floor, but just how good and how much Nebraska was clicking, you had to feel like Iowa was in really good shape. And that kind of set the scene for the rest of the game, right? And what we saw during the second half, and you always had that feeling. If Iowa just gets over the hump, they're going to take this thing. If they can just get that extra bucket,

and they were getting so many stops defensively. Before we get into the second half, one who I'll let you know as well going on right now, you can get your first month free of our everyday air club. This is for you out there, everyday listeners. You want to hear the program, but get it ad free. A great opportunity for you as well.

You can also join our private listener group chat. I'm hanging out there daily. If you got any questions, any thoughts, you can pass those along to me. Our Everydayer Club free with the code March, go to Lockdownhawkeyes. Dot supercast.com. Sign up for it.

Get that first month free. It's going to be ending here pretty soon. So jump aboard right now. The promo code is March with the Everydayer Club at Lockdon Hawkyes. com. as we get back into the second half and different times where, again, Nebraska would stretch it out a little bit, but just the confidence that I felt throughout the second half about this Iowa team.

They're hanging around, hanging around, and can they get over the hump? I think it was three, maybe even four straight possessions, where Iowa got the ball and had an opportunity to take the lead. And they didn't. Yet they didn't quit. And they kept getting those stops on the defensive end, and that defense looked so much different. And speaking to that defensively in the second half, after that Red Heart start to the game for the Huskers, they go 9 of 32 in the second half from the floor, 28 percent, including 6 of 24 from behind the ark. I mean, think of that.

They're three of eight from inside the three-point line. And I would just kept pushing them out, pushing them out, making it difficult. And outside of Price, Samford, just nobody else really that could do it. You know, I didn't mention Braden Frager. And as we previewed the game, that was a guy that I talked about a lot, didn't have. have a great game both times against Iowa earlier this season, knew though he was a guy that was playing well, played well both in the game against Vanderbilt and the game against Troy,

a really talented guy, 6-7 kid, local kid from right there in Lincoln, Nebraska, and he could fill it up big time. And he got cooking in the first half. And Lawrence hit a three-pointer in the first half early on to give him a 3-0 lead. But still in the end, Iowa clamped down there. Another key number that jumped out is Iowa's points off of turnovers. Now they gave up seven on their end on only five turnovers. How about this?

I will only turn it over one time in the second half of the game. I believe they're just that wild pass from Combs. I think that was the only one. He had two in the game and I'm trying to remember which was which. But for whatever reason, just one though in the second half. Talk about incredible. Being buttoned up and when you're just clawing your way back every single time, that's playing clean basketball.

That's just playing smart basketball with one turnover. Five in the game and Iowa outscores Nebraska 20 to 7. in points off of turnovers. When Sturts hits that three-pointer, they come to the other end now with their first lead of the game, and then right after that, they get another stop,

they get it back, and then Tate Sage, knocks down another triple, his only of the second half, his fourth of the game, to give them that six-point lead. Then you come to the other end, of course, who else?

Price Hampert hits another three-pointers. He finishes with 25 points in the game, including six to ten from behind the arc. And as that's happening, it's a three-point game, timeouts called. It's still not over. We're just inside of a minute left. And then one of the most befuddling things you're going to see on a basketball floor.

And listening to Fred Hoyberg after the game, you could definitely see it was baffling to him. Now, he took the blame. And that's what a good man and a good coach does. And that's what Fred Hoyberg is. Even if he's a rival, even if he's a cyclone, now he's a husker. Still, that's a good dude. and we had a little bit of fun after the game in Iowa City and the pacemaker and he thinks that everybody's a heart surgeon over here at least thinks that they are.

Again, we had a good time with that, but we know Fred Hoyberg, I feel is a pretty good dude, a competitive dude, no doubt, a good guy. Regardless. Back to the fact that he had, he took blame. But in this era, where you have, it's not the old days where he got an assistant coach or three assistant coaches, take a look behind the benches in college basketball and the assonide number of staffers that they have. And to think that you can come out of a timeout and not have five players on the floor, that's unthinkable.

It's absolutely baffling. What are you doing with your 30 staffers? You don't got one guy? What guy's not going to count? I'm going to guess this. It is going to change for Nebraska going forward. you never see that. But it happens there.

Al gets the runout. Not only that gets clobbered from behind, finishes, gets the lane as it rolls in, gets the three-point play just like that. It's back to six. You get another stop. And Big Al afterwards, too. How about that rebound he got after that?

Talk about a man just absolutely possessed. What a game from Alvaro Fulgaris. Absolutely amazing. And taking that positive momentum from the big shot, against Florida, taking it into this game and just continuing. He's plus 12 in the plus minus. He finishes with 16 points. 6 to 7 from the floor, two, three-pointers in the game,

two or three at the free throw line, including some clutch ones down at the stretch. He was absolutely outstanding in this one. They needed his defense inside. He did a good job because early on, Rick Mass was having his way. You saw a bunker chill. He was battling inside and he was pushing people around for a while.

They needed Al to come in there and be good Al. And they got that once again. Congratulations to a guy that we were waiting for. It clicked. And it definitely clicked in this one. Tate Sage, we've said it a ton already. 19 points, eight rebounds. Absolutely amazing.

And Bennett Sturts. The Hawkeye All-American, the guy for so many times throughout the course of this season, had to put this team on his back. Well, now we're getting more contributors. And a game where, after going 0 for 9 against Florida, he goes 3 and 9 from behind the stripe, but a 3-pointer to finally give him the lead, finishes with 20 points, got into the lane a lot more, and I love that out of him. Keep doing that.

Keep getting into the paint. He's so good, so crafty, around the rim, and he doesn't give many calls, which is frustrating in its own right. But that aside, Bennett Sturts in the biggest moment coming up with his biggest shot, 20 points, four assists, no turnover. in the game. Now, my buddy, Stephen M. Sippel over in Lincoln, doesn't think that he is a great college basketball player. He's in the elite eight with this group. He is a great college basketball player. Sorry, Sip, you're wrong. Just like you were wrong about Nebraska's offense line going

to be better than I was this year. Iowa went on to win the Joe Moore Award, and Nebraska, once again, was it also ran. Oh, speaking of football. Did you notice when they cut to Matt Rule in the stands? Iowa outscores Nebraska 15 to 6 once they cut to that bearded weirdo that doesn't know who Jay Higgins is. Boy, was that good. Oh, that was so good.

I mean, just to end that fashion. And that's what makes this rivalry great is you continue to get these kind of moments. I was on to the elite eight. Cooper Koch played all 20 minutes in the second half, played 37 minutes in the game, timely three-pointers out of him. I thought he only had five rebounds, but boy, he was working his butt off. And if Cooper Koch can add another 15 pounds to that frame, 20 pounds to that frame,

get stronger, you just think of the upside that is there. Just a tremendous shooter. We definitely know that he battled so hard in there, loved what we saw out of him. Really, really good effort overall. You know, a game where we thought maybe Tavian Banks was going to have to go off like he did against Florida. Not the case, just two points, but another guy inside. He was doing some good things.

Kail Combs, a couple of buckets in there. He finishes with six points and five assists against only two turnovers. Cam Banyow, we know his defensive presence is definitely need in there, even if he's not doing a whole lot for you on the offense event. It's a team effort. And it was Bennett Sturts for so long, and now everybody else is stepping up and knowing their role and coming up in the big moments in Iowa, it's in the elite eight, a game away from the final four in Indianapolis,

the place that it was the last time the Hawkeyes made the final four in 1980. The only team now in front of them, yes, is another conference rival. We go from one border to the other. We go from west to east. Now it will be Illinois. Talk about the matchup against the Illini when we come back as Iowa plays in the lead eight. Incredible, we continue with more here in a moment. This episode is sponsored by Supply House.

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see a registered futures commission merchant and swap firm. Trent kind of back with you one final time on a sweet 16 victory version of Locked on Hawkeyes, your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast. As we get back into it, a couple of things. It's Illinois. They had a, what, 17-0-0-0-0 run to open up an 18-point lead as they hold off Houston. Had a little bit of a rally, got it back to single digits. But, I mean, to go in there and just pulverize Houston, certainly an eye opener.

We know this Illinois team is good. We saw him earlier this season back in the beginning of January when they came into Carver jumped out to a huge lead early on. And I were really never threatened in this one, never had the lead in the game, cut it back to single digits a couple of different times. In fact, had a big run during the second half. And that was when Bennett Sturtz, one of the few times he was out. As I remember, that was the game that he was saddled with foul trouble.

It was really the guys off the bench that were really good in that one. Tate Sage had a good performance. He had 13, 16. Tavion came off the bench in that one and was 8 of 13 from the floor. Isaiah Howard also had seven points in the game, so it was the bench more than anything that got them going. But it's a matchup that is going to be difficult. It's a good team.

They are really skilled offensively on the defensive end. Kyle and Boswell's are tremendous on-ball defender. But that's it. I mean, that would be the only guy that you would say is a great defender out of this group. Now they got size. They got some guys, obviously, they can block shots with that size. And that's going to be a problem against this Iowa team with the Evisich is inside and what they can do. And Miravik also another big body that they have out there. So they got some big guys. But again, this is not a tremendous defensive team, but they are so, so skilled offensively. And they

can beat you so many ways. Boswell's normally not a guy that does that. And he was able to get into the pain and really made it difficult for Iowa. You know about Wogler and what he's been able to this season. Stoyakovich after being out on the West Coast for a while, he's had a couple of really good seasons out there and continuing on. Just a lot of weapons offensively that are going to be able to beat you. But I sit here and say, bring it on. Final boss, Illinois, okay. And how crazy is it that after the game is over, there's Bruce Pearl.

And for us old timers, what a big deal it was with Dion Thomas and the Chevy Blazer. and I'm sure that's going to build back into a national story. For you youngsters out there that don't know the story, this was huge. And there was a reason that Bruce Pearl had to go in basketball purgatory, a guy that had to go to the Division 2 level and go to Southern Indiana, who was a D2 program at the time, and take them to a national championship game and do the things that he did before finally getting an opportunity at UW Milwaukee

and moving up, and obviously we saw the tremendous success. it was another question. It was him against Jimmy Collins. And who was cheating? Bruce Pearl taped a conversation with Dion Thomas, but a lot of layers to that story. Go on research it yourself. In fact, I want to touch up a little bit on that

as we'll get ready for that game. But Illinois's good. I was a 7-point underdog currently at Fandulul. Bring it on. Bring it on. You beat the number one seed. Iowa has not had an upset. still happen in front of them.

How many times have we talked about that as we're waiting for Iowa to break through? Can't there just be an upset that happens before so Iowa can get there? Well, this will be the first one with the three-seed Illinois beating the two-seat Houston. This was the first time. Now it happens. But it's still a tremendous Illinois team. They beat number eight. They beat number one.

They beat number four. That has not been an easy path. In fact, it's the most difficult path you can take to get to an elite eight from the spot that the Hawkeyes are, and yet here they are. Illinois, Iowa, a trip to the final four, back in Indianapolis. Oh, man, sounds so, so good. Can't wait for it. We will be back with you. We'll have another episode coming up here before this one tips off. We'll start to preview, dive a little bit deeper into the matchup against the Aligni and get some perspectives on that team that's playing great basketball. And what they did to Houston, certainly an eye-opener.

In fact, when you go through and you look at recently, this is a team. Their last five losses of the season, four of them went to overtime. That says to me, let's get it close. Iowa keep it close. Get into the final minutes of the game with a shot. I feel good about the Hawkeyes. We'll talk about it more tomorrow. Thanks for joining us as always.

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Thanks for being with us today. It is great to be a hawk-eye as the Hawkeyes move on to the Elite 8. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Until then, go Hawks.