Hawkeyes Cruise to Victory Over Panthers

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Four Hawkeyes scored in double figures en route to a dominant 91-47 Iowa men's basketball win over Eastern Illinois Friday evening on Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The Hawkeyes (2-0) overwhelmed the Panthers from the opening tip, shooting an blistering 63.5 percent from the field and connecting on 14-of-30 attempts from beyond the arc. Iowa's depth was on display tonight as the bench poured in 61 points.

Leading the charge for Iowa was Peyton McCollum, who netted 14 points behind four 3-pointers, while Ty'Reek Coleman added 13 points and six assists. Trey Thompson also provided a spark off the bench with 11 points, while Tate Sage contributed 10 points and five rebounds. The Hawkeyes controlled the paint with 38 points and suffocated the Panthers (0-2) to a 32.7 percent shooting clip, while holding them scoreless from 3-point range (0-for-7).

Iowa built a comfortable 41-20 lead by halftime before running away with the contest in the second half, eventually stretching their advantage to a game-high 44 points in the closing seconds.

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH BEN MCCOLLUM
"It was nice to give everybody a little bit more time tonight. I want to get my starters in the rhythm as well. I thought they did a good job building that lead to where I thought Eastern Illinois broke a little bit, and then things kind of came a little bit easier.

The defense is getting there. The offense started to to go a little bit. That's what we've seen in practice, the ability to shoot. We just hadn't seen it in games quite yet. I'm not sure why. But I thought we got a little bit of rhythm throughout that second half and part of that was they broke a little bit, too, but the other part was that we hit shots."

GAME NOTES

• Iowa led all but nine seconds as it improved to 2-0 with a 91-47 victory over Eastern Illinois on Friday night on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
• The Hawkeyes had four players finish in double figures: Peyton McCollum (14), Ty’Reek Coleman (13), Trey Thompson (11), Tate Sage (10)
• McCollum landed in double figures for the first time in his career, making 5-of-9 field goals, including a team-high four 3-pointers.
• Coleman reached double digits for the second straight game, finishing with 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting to go along with a career-best six assists.
• Second-year Trevin Jirak was on triple-double watch, finishing with eight points and career highs in assists (8) and rebounds (7).
• Iowa shot 63.5 percent from the field, making 33-of-52 field goals.
• The Hawkeyes led by as many as 44 points (91-47). 
• Iowa limited EIU to 20 first-half points and 47 points overall. The 47 points are the third-fewest allowed in McCollum’s Iowa tenure.
• Iowa won the rebounding battle for the second straight game, out-rebounding EIU, 39-24.
• Fourth-year Andrew McKeever missed his second straight game because of injury.