Kam Woods, USC men edged by Iowa

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Kam Woods put the USC basketball team on his back during a stirring second-half comeback, but it wasn’t quite enough.

Bennett Stirtz scored 20 points, including two free throws with 4.6 seconds remaining, as Iowa survived USC’s comeback bid to win, 73-72, on Wednesday night.

The Hawkeyes (15-5 overall, 5-4 Big Ten) led by as many as 17 points in the second half, but USC rallied and went ahead by one point with eight seconds left. Stirtz was fouled by USC’s Jerry Easter II and made both free throws to put Iowa back ahead.

Woods missed a 3-point attempt as time expired.

Tavion Banks also had 20 points before fouling out with just over three minutes to go.

A 20-4 run early in the second half gave the Hawkeyes a double-digit lead, but Woods single-handedly got the Trojans (15-6, 4-6) back into the game with a solo 12-0 run. Woods scored 19 straight points for USC before Jacob Cofie made the go-ahead layup. Woods finished with 33 points on 12-of-17 shooting after playing all 40 minutes. His previous season high was eight points.

USC led 28-27 at halftime, led by Chad Baker-Mazara who scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half.

Alvaro Folgueiras added 14 points and five rebounds for Iowa, and Kael Combs dished a team-high four assists.

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USC hosts Rutgers on Saturday at 4 p.m.

More to come on this story.