Leistikow's thoughts off Iowa basketball's win vs. Bethune-Cookman: Tony Perkins is the real deal

IOWA CITY − There was little question that the Iowa men’s basketball team would win its regular-season opener Monday night against Bethune-Cookman. But there was curiosity of how the heavily favored Hawkeyes would look and what this team’s identity might become.

After an 89-58 win against the Reggie Theus-coached visitors of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, three things stood out: team balance (all five starters scored in double figures), a roster of versatility and a defensive intensity not always seen in past Hawkeye teams.

Let’s spin through some of the top emerging story lines as Iowa opened 1-0 under head coach Fran McCaffery for the 12th straight year.

Tony Perkins was the game’s best player.

For the first time since the 2015-16 season – when Mike Gesell, Jarrod Uthoff and the Adam Woodbury were leading the Hawkeyes – Iowa played a regular-season game without Jordan Bohannon on the roster. Bohannon played an NCAA-record 179 games over six seasons and ranks No. 3 in Iowa history with 2,033 points and No. 4 in NCAA history with 455 3-pointers. When he began his college career, Barack Obama was still U.S. president.

A new era began Monday at the point for McCaffery, and Tony Perkins got the first nod. The junior did not disappoint.

Perkins displayed a full array of his talents while racking up 13 first-half points in 13 minutes. He stole the ball from a Bethune-Cookman guard for an early dunk; he drove to the hoop on a dazzling stop-and-go move for two; he boxed out for a tip-in put-back; and he canned a left-corner 3. Maybe most impressive, Perkins brings renowned energy on the defensive end of the floor. Perkins’ first career stat line as a starting point guard: 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting, five assists and one turnover in 20 minutes.

“That's kind of what he does. He impacts the game with his effort, with his aggressiveness, with his skills,” McCaffery said.

The preseason point-guard battle was expected to be between junior Ahron Ulis and freshman Dasonte Bowen. Ulis got McCaffery’s first nod off the bench at the 14:07 mark of the first half; Bowen entered at 11:21. They mostly played together, and they each showed flashes of what they can do. Ulis (four points, four rebounds and three assists) provided a veteran presence; Bowen (six points, four assists) showed smooth skill and good court awareness. They’ll both be needed as prominent bench players this season if Perkins continues to lock down the No. 1 role.

“My shoulder’s back feeling good, feeling great,” Perkins said, referring to a high school injury that lingered throughout his freshman and sophomore seasons. “My confidence from last year has boosted me up a lot. I’m just going to feed off that for now."

Double-double for Filip Rebraca.

It wasn’t huge news when Filip Rebraca opted to return for a fifth year of college, capitalizing on the extra eligibility offered by the COVID-19 pandemic season of 2020-21. But the North Dakota transfer’s return is a huge deal for this Hawkeye team, and that showed up in the season debut.

Rebraca was a demon on the glass and finished with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds as the Hawkeyes won the battle of the boards, 44-33. McCaffery has said defensive rebounding would be a key to this being a better defensive team, and Iowa collected 77% of potential defensive rebounds. Rebraca had nine of them in 21½ minutes.

“In the second half, they were doubling me,” Rebraca said. “I’m like, ‘Guys, I have 11 (points).’ I don’t know why (they’re) doing it, but I think it’s because I’m being aggressive. They know they have to help the guy guarding me.”

Rebraca started all 36 games for Iowa last year at the “5” spot while first-round NBA Draft pick Keegan Murray manned the “4”. Murray became a first-team all-American while Rebraca did more grunt work and averaged 5.8 points and 5.6 rebounds. On Monday, he essentially doubled those numbers. He looks like he's playing with more confidence and more purpose.

“His role was different with Keegan here. But now he’s taking charge, and that’s what I want him to do,” McCaffery said. “It was always in there, but now you’re seeing it.”

A solid but quiet start for Kris Murray.

With his twin brother now starting for the Sacramento Kings, Kris Murray is now a Hawkeye starter and expected to be the Hawkeyes’ star player. He looked to be letting the game come to him Monday and wasn’t interested in forcing the issue. He finished with 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting with six rebounds and four of Iowa’s 11 turnovers.

Murray was just 1-for-4 from 3-point range; he should be around 40% or better for the season.

“He had a couple uncharacteristic turnovers for him,” McCaffery said. “But the key for him is in the past, he would have let that linger. And he just played right through it. That’s a big step for him.”

The defense already looks way better this year.

Before Monday’s onslaught of season openers nationally, Iowa’s KenPom.com adjusted offensive efficiency rating was No. 5, and it was No. 76 on defense. A year ago, when the Hawkeyes went 26-10, they finished No. 4 on offense and No. 80 on defense – very similar numbers. There’s an internal belief this could be a much better defensive team.

That showed up during an extended first-half stretch in which Iowa got nine consecutive stops. After getting within 22-15, Bethune-Cookman didn’t score for that span of 5:38.

The Wildcats actually made a lot of tough shots in the first half, including a 30-footer at the buzzer. That’s the only reason the score was within reason at halftime (54-35). But the Hawkeyes turned up the defensive heat to start the second half as Bethune-Cookman was constantly forced into difficult shots by a team-side effort. It was notable that Iowa’s lengthy starting five capably switched in man-to-man defense; Murray, Rebraca and Patrick McCaffery (12 points, six rebounds) were picking up ball-handling guards and keeping up just fine. Iowa challenged Bethune-Cookman into 11 straight missed shots to open the second half while building a 65-35 lead. The Wildcats shot just 27% in the second half.

The two main players Iowa circled on the scouting report (guards Joe French and Kevin Davis) shot a combined 2-for-14 and scored six points.

“We've really been talking about that defensive identity that we have,” said sophomore wing Payton Sandfort, who had 13 points, four rebounds and four assists but was most happy about his defense in his first career start. “Obviously, it's kind of looked down upon by a lot of people around the country. So, we're trying to change that narrative, and I think tonight was a really good start. That's been our main focus since we got back in June.”

Josh Ogundele with an encouraging performance.

The biggest roars from the crowd came during a second-half stretch in which 6-10 reserve center Josh Ogundele stole the show. After Ogundele defended the lane like a concrete wall as Bethune-Cookman 7-footer Elija Hulsewe backed into the post area, Connor McCaffery picked off a bad pass. Ogundele ran the floor and made a pretty reverse lay-in on the other end to get the crowd revved up. Then after picking up his third steal of the game on the ensuing possession, Ogundele got the ball at the other end and made a tremendous pass to Josh Dix, who scored off the glass for his first career bucket and a 78-43 lead. The crowd went wild as Ogundele celebrated his first career assist. (Amazingly, he had zero last season in 19 games.)

Conditioning will continue to be an issue for Ogundele, who got winded quickly each time he was inserted. But in spurts he could be a stopgap, energizing option in the post.

“He gave us 11 really good minutes. I think he’s capable of 15, 16. Maybe six or seven minutes a half, that type of thing,” McCaffery said. “He does tire, but as he’s tiring he runs and he posts and he comes up on ball screens. His activity level is the reason he’s tired. I’m OK with that.”

Hawkeyes columnist Chad Leistikow has covered sports for 28 years with The Des Moines Register, USA TODAY and Iowa City Press-Citizen. Follow @ChadLeistikow on Twitter.