Ole Miss suffered its first loss of the season on Tuesday, falling to Iowa 74-69 in a hard-fought battle in the Acrisure Classic on the West Coast.
Preseason All-Big Ten guard Bennett Stirtz scored 29 points for the Hawkeyes (6-0) and hit 6 of 8 shots from behind the arc, giving the Rebels fits in all 40 minutes of the game. Meanwhile, AJ Storr was the go-to guy for the Rebels (5-1), putting 22 points on the board in the rock fight between two well-coached squads.
Both teams got off to slow offensive starts, scoring a combined 20 points in the first 10 minutes of action. A 7-point swing by Stirtz put Iowa up 14-8 with 9:30 remaining in the opening frame. Ole Miss, struggling to hit field goals, found its way to the charity stripe and used free shots to catalyze a 14-4 run to take a 4-point lead at the 5-minute mark.
Iowa rebutted, scoring 11 of the next 15 points over a 4-minute span to hold a 31-26 advantage with 1 minute left until the intermission. Rebel guard Kezza Giffa closed out the half by connecting on a pair of free throws and hitting a last-second 3-pointer to knot things up 31-31 at the buzzer.
A deep shot by Stirtz helped Iowa build a 41-35 buffer with 13:45 on the second half clock. A pair of 3-pointers by Ole Miss evened out the scoreboard at the 12:32 mark. Then both groups began to trade triples, with Stirtz’ hot hand giving Iowa a leg up over its SEC foe.
The Hawkeyes led a 10-4 run to build a 6-point buffer with just under 9 minutes left in regulation. Ole Miss rallied as Storr scored 5 unanswered points in a 30-second window to help reclaim the lead for the red and blue — one that lasted a grand total of 14 seconds.
Both Stirtz and teammate Alvaro Folgueiras connected on a shot from behind the arc, rebuilding the Iowa lead in a critical moment of the contest. Ole Miss, trailing by 8 with 1 minute until the final buzzer, was given a puncher’s chance to come back when Patton Pinkins connected on a 3 to cut the deficit to 68-63.
The freshman’s big shot was negated by a careless error by teammate Ilias Kamardine, who was whistled for a loose-ball foul after Hawkeye forward Isaia Howard missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 51 seconds left in the game. A rebound by the Rebels would have potentially given Ole Miss two more offensive possessions and a chance to either win or send the game to overtime.
Instead, the foul put Iowa in the double-bonus, and Cooper Koch at the charity stripe, where he sank both shots. Further efforts by Ole Miss to pull off a miracle were ultimately fruitless, with the Hawkeyes earning a nice résumé boost early in the 2025-26 season.
Second-chance points and turnovers played to Iowa’s favor on Tuesday night. The Hawkeyes, led by decorated first-year head coach Ben McCollum, had 11 offensive rebounds, which were turned into 18 points. Iowa coughed up the ball six fewer times than Ole Miss, and only turned it over once in the entire second half.
The Rebels had a commanding presence in the paint defensively with 7 blocks. Big men Malik Dia and James Scott, along with Kamardine, who boasts a lengthy wingspan, had 2 swats apiece.
Iowa had one double-digit scorer not named Stirtz. Koch recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds to complement his 14 points. Giffa, with 13 points, and Kamardine, with 12 points, joined Storr in amassing double figures on the scoreboard for Ole Miss.
Aside from the 2 blocks, Dia had a rough outing for the Rebels, scoring just 2 points and hitting just 1 of 6 shots. Moving forward, Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard will look to Dia, the lone returning starter from last year’s roster, to be more impactful on the statsheet.
The Rebels will return to the hardwood on Wednesday at 11 p.m. CT, continuing their stint in the Acrisure Classic in Palm Springs, Calif.
