IOWA CITY — Bennett Stirtz scored a career-high 36 points and Iowa upped its winning streak to six games by handing Northwestern a seventh straight loss with a 76-70 victory over the Wildcats on Sunday.

Stirtz made made 12 of 20 shots and all eight of his free throws for the Hawkeyes (18-5, 8-4 Big Ten Conference). The senior guard hit 4 of 6 from 3-point range. Tavion Banks added 13 points and seven rebounds.

Nick Martinelli scored 21 on 6-for-19 shooting for the Wildcats (10-14, 2-11). Jake West scored 18 points, and Tre Singleton had 10 points before fouling out.

West buried a 3-pointer to give Northwestern an 18-13 lead with 8:31 remaining in the first half. The Wildcats played with the lead until a three-point play by Stirtz tied it 30-all with 2:13 left. Stirtz added two free throw, Kael Combs hit a jumper and Banks scored the final five points in a 12-5 run to give Iowa a 39-35 advantage at halftime.

Combs had the first basket of the second half and Stirtz followed with a 3-pointer to push the lead to nine. Stirtz added another 3-pointer and the Hawkeyes took their first double-digit lead at 54-40 with 13 minutes left.

West answered with a 3-pointer to spark a 13-2 run and Northwestern pulled within 56-53 four minutes later. Stirtz hit a 3-pointer to keep Iowa in front and the Hawkeyes maintained a two-possession lead until West hit another 3 to cut it to 70-67 with two minutes left. Stirtz drove for a layup and Banks added two free throws to wrap it up.

Up next

Iowa: At Maryland on Wednesday.

Northwestern: Hosts No. 2 Michigan on Wednesday.

Iowa 76, Northwestern 70

NORTHWESTERN (10-14) — Kropp 1-1 4-4 6, Martinelli 6-19 6-7 21, Singleton 3-5 4-5 10, Reid 2-9 2-2 7, West 7-8 0-0 18, Ciaravino 1-2 4-4 6, Clayton 0-0 0-0 0, Page 1-1 0-0 2, Gill 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 21-45 20-22 70.

IOWA (18-5) — C.Koch 2-6 2-2 7, Manyawu 2-4 0-2 4, Combs 3-3 0-0 6, Stirtz 12-20 8-8 36, Banks 3-9 7-7 13, Folgueiras 1-5 4-8 6, Howard 0-3 0-0 0, Sage 1-3 2-2 4. TOTALS 24-53 23-29 76.

Halftime–Iowa 39-35. 3-Point Goals–Northwestern 8-14 (West 4-5, Martinelli 3-5, Reid 1-3, Singleton 0-1), Iowa 5-16 (Stirtz 4-6, C.Koch 1-4, Howard 0-1, Banks 0-2, Folgueiras 0-3). Fouled Out–Singleton, Howard. Rebounds–Northwestern 19 (Ciaravino 5), Iowa 29 (Banks 7). Assists–Northwestern 10 (West 4), Iowa 12 (Folgueiras 3). Total Fouls–Northwestern 25, Iowa 16. A–11,474 (15,500).