Iowa men's basketball rolls in season opener, tops Bethune-Cookman 89-58

IOWA CITY − Iowa men's basketball coach Fran McCaffery hoped to see a more engaged defensive effort in his team's season opener against Bethune-Cookman on Monday night. The Hawkeyes dominated their exhibition game on Oct. 31, winning by a 46-point margin, but a lack of consistency didn't meet the team standard.

The Hawkeyes buckled down on the defensive end in Monday's convincing 89-58 win. Iowa held Bethune-Cookman to 35% shooting from the field, forced 16 turnovers (leading to 23 Hawkeye points) and won the rebounding battle by a 44-33 margin.

Two stretches in particular stood out, one in the first half and one in the second half.

With 13:27 remaining in the first half, a Bethune-Cookman three-pointer cut its deficit to 22-15. Iowa responded with an 11-0 run spanning five minutes while forcing five turnovers. The lead swelled to 18 points and Bethune-Cookman never got within single digits for the remainder of the half.

The Hawkeyes came out with even more intensity in the second half, allowing just five points in the first nine minutes. Bethune-Cookman shot just 27% from the field in the second half, a big drop from the 44.8% in the first half.

Offensively, every Iowa starter scored in double figures, led by Tony Perkins' 16 points. Kris Murray followed with 14, Payton Sandfort had 13, Patrick McCaffery scored 12, and Filip Rebraca added 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The starting five posted a +31 plus/minus ranking when on the court together. Perkins, who also had five assists, looked comfortable in the starting point guard role (he also looked good there in the exhibition). The junior's impact was particularly felt on defense, as Bethune-Cookman's backcourt was held in check for the majority of the night. Fran McCaffery should be pleased with the defense's effort throughout; many of Bethune-Cookman's points came on tough shot conversions.

One of the bigger question marks entering Monday's game was where McCaffery would go with his bench rotations. It wasn't a great night offensively for the second unit (23 points) but there were some flashes in true freshman Dasonte Bowen, who had six points and four assists, and Connor McCaffery who made both of his three-point shots. Perhaps the most encouraging sign was backup center Josh Ogundele, who played for 11 minutes after playing 12 minutes in the exhibition; it appears he's the top option for playing time behind Rebraca.

While Keegan Murray was the clear-cut No. 1 scoring option last season, the Hawkeyes showed a balanced attack on Monday night. Sandfort was the spark early on, scoring the team's first eight points of the night, but there were two other runs by Perkins (7-0) and Murray (7-0) in the first half that showed multiple starters can get hot. And the team shared the ball at an impressive rate, racking up 25 assists (compared to Bethune-Cookman's 10).

The Hawkeyes will have a few days before their next game, another home contest against North Carolina A&T on Friday. Monday's result gave fans a glimpse of what the identity of the 2022-23 team could be: a high-scoring balanced attack with an ability to defend at a higher level with a long, athletic starting unit.