Iowa basketball star details fiery, emotional speech that sparked Sweet 16 comeback

Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Ben McCollum played bad cop during his team’s Sweet 16 game. That’s according to Hawkeyes star Bennett Stirtz. He detailed McCollum’s fiery speech that came as the Hawkeyes trailed the Big Ten rival Nebraska Cornhuskers 16-6 early in the contest.

Ninth-seeded Iowa rallied for a 77-71 victory in the South Region to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1987. MORE: Texas basketball star Jordan Pope gives shocking injury news after Sweet 16 exit “He slammed his white board and broke his marker on the floor,” Stirtz said, per 247Sports reporter Eliot Clough . “Ink everywhere.

… He was just telling us we sucked, and we were soft. ” Evidently, the Hawkeyes are used to McCollum’s tirades. Stirtz said the Iowa assistant coaches played good cops to McCollum’s bad cop.

“It was very intense,” Stirtz said. “And then our assistant coaches are really positive. … That’s what he [McCollum] likes to do.