MBB Notes: Eastern Illinois (Nov. 6)

ON THE AIR
TV: Friday’s game will be televised on BTN with Zach Mackey (play-by-play) and Shon Morris (color) on the call.
Radio: Games are broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network with Jon Swisher (play-by-play) and Bobby Hansen (color) on the call.  The network includes more than 40 stations that blanket the state of Iowa and includes portions of Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin.  The Hawkeye Radio Network includes a 60-minute pregame show.
KRUI Student Radio: Ben Wiederholt, Aiden Schoeff

OPENING TIP
• Iowa won its 15th straight season opener, downing Lipscomb, 76-54, on Tuesday night in Carver.  
• First-year Jaidyn Coon paced Iowa with 12 points (with three dunks) and had six rebounds in the victory.  The Hawkeye reserves scored 42 points in the win.
• Iowa forced 17 turnovers against the Bisons and had a 33-5 advantage in points off turnovers.
• Iowa’s defense held Lipscomb to 54 points, a .362 field goal percentage and a .167 mark from 3-point range.  The 54 points are the fewest Iowa has allowed in an opener since 2013-14.
• The Hawkeyes out-rebounded Lipscomb, 41-33.  The 41 rebounds are tied for the most in a game under Ben McCollum during his Iowa tenure.
• McCollum was inducted into the Northwest Missouri State Athletics Hall of Fame on Oct. 30 in Maryville, Missouri.
• Fourth-year center Andrew McKeever was out in the season opener because of injury.
• Iowa returns three starters and eight letterwinners from a team that went 24-13 and advanced to the Elite Eight in 2025-26.  The Hawkeyes must replace their top three scorers.
• McKeever, the tallest player in Iowa men’s basketball history and the first 7-footer coached by McCollum, is on the Kareem Abdul Jabbar Center of the Year Top 20 Preseason Watch List. 
• Third-year Cooper Koch is the team’s top returning scorer after averaging 7.8 points and 3.1 rebounds in 2025-26.  The forward made 66 3-point field goals -- second-most on the team.
• Iowa is one of 20 schools nationally (three in the Big Ten) to retain its entire coaching staff and support staff from the 2025-26 season.
• The Hawkeyes will play 15 of their first 17 games inside the Iowa state border.  Iowa will play three neutral site contests -- one in Sioux City and two in Des Moines.  The team’s only two road trips before mid-January are trips to Xavier and Purdue.

LAST GAME: IOWA 76, LIPSCOMB 54
Ten different Hawkeyes scored, leading Iowa to a 76-54 victory over Lipscomb on Tuesday in Iowa City.  It was the Hawkeyes’ 15th straight season-opening victory.  Two reserves -- first-year Jaidyn Coon (12 points) and second-year Ty’Reek Coleman (10 points) -- paced the team in scoring.  Coleman finished with 10 points, six rebounds and four assists.
• Iowa scored 33 points off 17 Lipscomb turnovers, had a 17-6 advantage in second-chance points and the reserves netted 42 points.

SCOUTING EASTERN ILLINOIS
• The Panthers opened the season with a 91-57 road loss at Indiana.  EIU committed 22 turnovers and went 3-of-14 from 3-point range in the 34-point defeat.
• Eastern Illinois was picked to finish eighth in the Ohio Valley Conference.  
• Markus Blackwell and Jaden Miller were named preseason players to watch in the OVC.  Miller was a first-team all-great American Conference selection a season ago at East Central, where he averaged 10.7 points and 8.3 assists.  He led NCAA Division II in assists and had eight double-doubles.
• Senior forward Andrew Austin is from Rock Rapids, Iowa.  He prepped at Central Lyon High School and played at Des Moines Area CC.  Austin was a high school teammate of Iowa football players Zach Lutmer and Reece Vander Zee, helping the Lions to their first ever state title.

SERIES HISTORY
• Friday’s game is the seventh meeting in the all-time series against Eastern Illinois with Iowa leading, 5-1.
• The Panthers won the most recent meeting, claiming a 92-83 victory on Dec. 21, 2022, in Iowa City.  
• Iowa is 31-1 all-time against current members of the Ohio Valley Conference.

ELITE HAWKEYES
Iowa is coming off a season where it advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1987 and for the fifth time in program history.  The Hawkeyes’ Sweet 16 berth was the first since 1999 and the ninth all-time.
• Iowa finished the 2025-26 season with a 24-13 overall record and a No. 15 ranking in the final Associated Press and No. 19 ranking in the Coaches’ poll.

NOTABLES
• Tuesday’s win over Lipscomb was the 1,800th victory in program history.
• The Hawkeyes are receiving votes in the Associated Press preseason rankings, coming in at No. 34 with 12 points. 
• Iowa is picked to finish 10th in the Big Ten in the preseason media poll.
• The Hawkeyes showcased its depth in the season opener with 10 different players scoring in the 22-point win over Lipscomb.  No player attempted more than nine field goals in the game and seven players netted at least seven points.
• Iowa played two closed scrimmages at Texas Tech and hosted Saint Louis before downing Illinois Springfield, 88-64, in an exhibition on Oct. 27.
• Following the departure of its top three scorers, Iowa returns 45.4 percent of its scoring, 61.5 percent of its rebounding and 46.7 percent of its assists in 2026-27.
• Head coach Ben McCollum has led his teams to 15 straight 20-win seasons.
• Assistant coach Luke Barnwell was named to the 2026 Silver Waves Media 100 Most Impactful/Influential High Major Assistant Coaches List and the 2026 Roots 66 List ahead of the 2026-27 season.
• The Hawkeyes finished 14-3 inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena this season -- the most home victories since the 2022-23 campaign.