Ben McCollum building a winning culture in Iowa City

IOWA CITY, Ia. (KQTV) -- The Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team is headed to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999 under first year head coach Ben McCollum after upsetting the defending national champion Florida Gators, 73-72.

McCollum is very accustomed to winning. He won four NCAA Division II national championships with Northwest Missouri State University, guided Drake University to a 31-4 season and a NCAA Tournament win and now has led Iowa to two wins in the tournament.

"Did I think we were going to win like this? I didn't think we were going to lose," said McCollum. "You shouldn't go into a season and expect to lose a game."

McCollum isn't the only one on the team with ties to Northwest and the northwest Missouri area. Assistant coaches Bryston Williams and Xavier Kurth are former Bearcats and Lafayette standouts. Some familiar players on the team are Peyton McCollum, who is the son of Ben McCollum and played high school basketball in Maryville, Isaia Howard is a former Plattsburg multi-sport athlete and Bennett Stirtz is a former standout player at Northwest.

Iowa will now face Big 10 rival Nebraska on Thursday in Houston, Texas with tip-off set for 6:30 p.m.