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The Bennett Stirtz All-American campaign continues to grow following a 26-point outing

It was a beautiful, sunny Sunday afternoon across the Midwest, and I decided to take matters into my own hands to visit Cedar Falls, Iowa for the matchup between two in-state rivals and Missouri Valley heavyweights, Drake and Northern Iowa. A win for Northern Iowa on Senior Day would draw the Panthers level with Drake at the top of the conference standings, while a win on the road for Drake would put the Bulldogs a win away from a regular season conference title with two games to go.

It was a wild one in Cedar Falls, as Drake pulled off the road win, but not without lots of drama beforehand. Both Drake and Northern Iowa lean heavily on their top five to six guys, and it was evident on Sunday as just five players from each team scored and eight players logged 34 or more minutes.

Early on, Northern Iowa took the lead, as Drake point guard Bennett Stirtz (19.0 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 6.0 apg, 2.3 spg) forced a handful of early passes and looked a bit uncomfortable to start the game. Following a Trey Campbell three to give Northern Iowa a 9-4 lead, Stirtz came down to connect for his first three points, prompting a timeout from Drake head coach Ben McCollum, sensing his team’s overall struggles through the first five minutes.

Including the three before the timeout, Stirtz would score 13 of Drake’s 15 points during a 15-3 run to put the Bulldogs up 19-12. Northern Iowa forward Tytan Anderson would get the Panthers back into the game on his Senior Day, scoring 11 points in the first half, with nine coming in the closing six minutes. Stirtz had every answer though, silencing the crowd a handful of times, finishing the first half with 17 points, as his two free throws in the closing seconds put Drake up 30-27.

Coming out of the intermission, Northern Iowa center Jacob Hutson found his groove, scoring UNI’s first four points. After the Panthers cut the deficit to one, Drake went on a 7-0 run amassing over four minutes, sparked by Stirtz and Tavion Banks. Drake had control of the game at this point, leading 41-33, with the pace exactly where Ben McCollum wanted it.

An in-state rivalry, and maybe one of the most underrated in the sport, wasn’t going to have an ending as simple as that though.

After two Anderson and-ones, UNI’s Ben Schweiger exploded for a 7-1 solo run, making it a 13-2 run for the home team, and the entire McLeod Center was back into the game. Right on the under-8 media timeout, Banks was whistled for his third foul, and Cam Manyawu’s reaction prompted a technical foul, giving both of Drake’s bigs three fouls with over six minutes still left to play.

Foul trouble for both sides would play a massive role as the game continued on, the physicality and intensity looking much like a typical game in March, rather than February. So much at stake for these two teams in the conference, while adding the aspects of Senior Day and the in-state rivalry, emotions were guaranteed to be at a high. It was a near sellout at the McLeod Center, with an announced attendance of 6,652, less than 400 shy of the 7,018-seat arena.

Fouls and free throws became the theme following the Manyawu technical, as there were just three made field goals in the final seven minutes of regulation. Leading by two, Drake had a chance to put the game away with under 40 seconds to play, but a bang-bang call went against Manyawu as he drove into the line, his fifth foul of the game, as the charge was drawn by UNI’s Anderson, who had four fouls of his own.

On Northern Iowa’s final possession of regulation, Campbell knocked down his first three since the game’s opening five minutes, igniting the home crowd into a frenzy as UNI led 54-53. For the first time all night, Drake was forced to go quickly, and Stirtz could hardly muster up a shot attempt for the Bulldogs. Stirtz had been the leader for Drake all night, but it looked like it would all be for nothing.

Hutson would split a pair of free throws to push UNI up two, but the frantic final seven seconds worked out tremendously for Drake, as Mitch Mascari, the Bulldogs’ top three-point shooter was fouled just before the buzzer from behind the arc. After missing the first free throw, Mascari hit the second and third, sending the game into overtime with both teams feeling as though they should be celebrating a win.

After Anderson gave Northern Iowa the lead a minute into overtime, Stirtz showed he wouldn’t be denied, grabbing his own miss and tying the game back up at 57-57 with 3:31 to go. With plenty of officiating controversy already in the game, which was to be expected in an unbelievably physical affair, the game saw another twist as a double foul was called on UNI’s Anderson and Drake’s Isaia Howard, with both players fighting for positioning. The foul was Anderson’s fifth, and the Panthers star forward would foul out on senior night, finishing with 21 points and six rebounds.

Drake took control from there, with Stirtz running the show at all times. Drake would lead 61-58 and have possession of the ball after another three-pointer from Campbell was off the mark. After a timeout from Coach McCollum, Northern Iowa sent a double-team to Stirtz, forcing the ball out of his hands.

The only problem was that Stirtz got the ball back, and there may not be another guy in the country I trust more in a late-clock scenario than the former Division II point guard. Stirtz fired from three to beat the shot clock, and I may have never seen a shot that killed the home crowd as much as that one. Ice cold from the junior point guard, as Stirtz would officially cap his day with 26 points and ten rebounds in the 64-58 win, putting Drake a win away from its first outright MVC regular season title since 2007-08.

Arch Madness is officially 10 days away, and it’s left to be seen as to whether Drake needs to win it or not for us fans to be treated with Bennett Stirtz & Co. in the Big Dance. Currently projected as an 11 or 12 seed by most bracketologists, I would be heartbroken to see this Drake team follow in 2023-24 Indiana State’s footsteps and be left out of the tournament after a tremendous regular season.

It was my first time making the trip down to Cedar Falls for a Northern Iowa basketball game, but it was more than worth it after a 45-minute spectacle on the court, highlighted by the play of Stirtz, who I think should be in serious contention for a spot on an All-American team with what he’s done in the court in his first year in Division I.

Other Things to Note:

• Zuby Ejiofor leads #10 St. John’s to 89-75 over UConn to complete the season sweep of the Huskies
• Indiana stuns #13 Purdue 73-58 while holding Braden Smith to eight points and five assists
• Dain Dainja’s 22-point double-double lifts #22 Memphis over FAU 84-65
• #15 Michigan visits Nebraska looking to bounce back from Friday’s home loss to Michigan State (8:00 ET, FS1)
• #4 Houston looks for revenge on the road in top ten matchup against #10 Texas Tech (9:00 ET, ESPN)