Likes, dislikes from Iowa basketball's big win over Eastern Illinois
· Yahoo Sports
IOWA CITY — Iowa men's basketball blasted Eastern Illinois 91-47 on Nov. 6 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
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Iowa (2-0) swept the opening week of its 2026-27 season with wins over Lipscomb and Eastern Illinois.
Saint Mary’s transfer Drew McKeever was out for the second game in a row. After the season-opening win over Lipscomb, head coach Ben McCollum said that they were being “very cautious” with McKeever’s injury.
Iowa’s schedule is about to heat up. The Hawkeyes are now set to face three power-conference opponents in a row: Virginia Tech, Creighton and Xavier. That stretch begins with Virginia Tech on Nov. 10 in Sioux City.
But first, here are likes and dislikes from Iowa's win over Eastern Illinois.
Likes
3-point shooting: Ben McCollum has gone on record saying that he believes Iowa will have more shooting options than last season. The Hawkeyes didn’t show that in the season opener, making just 6-of-25 (24%) from deep. But they did against Eastern Illinois. Iowa was flaming hot from long range in the win over Eastern Illinois, shooting 14-of-30 (47%). Eight Hawkeyes made at least one 3-pointer. The Hawkeyes also shot an incredibly efficient 63% from the field.
Trevin Jirak: Two games into his sophomore campaign, Jirak has displayed obvious growth from last season. He has been a catalyst for Iowa's offense and active on the defensive end and boards. Jirak flirted with a triple-double against Eastern Illinois, posting eight points, seven rebounds and eight assists.
Balanced scoring: Another game, another balanced offensive attack. That has emerged as a common theme early this season. The Hawkeyes had 12 players get in the scoring column against Eastern Illinois. Iowa had an outrageous 61 bench points. Bennett Stirtz was the obvious lead scorer last season, but so far it has been much more spread out in 2026-27.
Ty’Reek Coleman: The Illinois State transfer has such a smooth game and plays with great pace. It looks like he's effortlessly gliding across the court. Coleman was one of the best players on the court against Eastern Illinois, logging 13 points and six assists. He scored in double figures in both games.
Peyton McCollum: McCollum scored in double figures in just his second career game, logging a team-high 14. Beyond defensive intensity, McCollum also gives Iowa another capable shooter, making 4-of-7 from deep against Eastern Illinois. There wasn’t a lot of buzz surrounding McCollum entering this season, but he looks like he can be a legitimate contributor.
Defense: Iowa’s defense put on a very strong performance again. The Hawkeyes held the Panthers to just 33% from the field and 0% from deep. Iowa recorded 11 steals and four blocks. Isaia Howard had a team-high three steals. Through two games, Iowa is holding its opponents to an average of 50.5 points.
Trey Thompson: The former four-star recruit scored the first points of his Iowa career when he hit a 3-pointer in the second half. He finished the game with 11 points and was 3-of-5 from deep. Thompson hasn’t gotten a ton of playing time early this season, but it was good to see him finally put the ball in the basket after a season in which he didn’t play at all.
Iowa’s big first-half run: The Hawkeyes scored 15 points in a row to extend what had been an eightpoint lead to 23. Iowa ended up going into halftime with a 41-20 advantage. Iowa ran into some trouble in the first half against Lipscomb, giving up a 13-0 to fall down but one, but there was no such hiccup against Eastern Illinois.
Experience for younger players: Because Iowa was up big, it allowed some younger players to get extended playing time, such as Trey Thompson, Peyton McCollum, Jaidyn Coon and Ethan Harris. Like Thompson, Harris also scored the first points of his Iowa career.
Dislikes
Turnovers: Iowa did not do a good job taking care of the ball and was sloppy at times. The Hawkeyes finished with 15 turnovers. Tate Sage, Ty'Reek Coleman and Trevin Jirak each had three. For the moment, you can just chalk that up to early-season rustiness. But ideally, Iowa can get that cleaned up sooner rather than later.
Free throws: Iowa continued to struggle from the free throw line against Eastern Illinois. The Hawkeyes were an abysmal 14-of-28 (50%) from the charity stripe in the season-opener. Iowa followed that up by going 11-of-17 (65%) against Eastern Illinois. That isn’t going to make a massive difference in blowouts like this, but could come back to bite Iowa in closer games.
Fouls: Not only did Iowa shoot poorly from the charity stripe, but Eastern Illinois actually attempted more free throws than the Hawkeyes (20-17). In the second half, Iowa committed 14 fouls to Eastern Illinois' eight. Iowa finished the game committing one more foul than Eastern Illinois. Defending without fouling was a problem at time for Iowa last season. For the Hawkeyes' sake, hopefully it doesn't become a trend again this season.
Defensive rebounding: Iowa allowed 11 offensive rebounds. That's not encouraging, considering Eastern Illinois is a team Iowa should dominate on the boards. But you could chalk it partly up to the fact that Iowa was without Drew McKeever, who would probably make a noticeable difference in that area.
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This article originally appeared on Hawk Central: Likes, dislikes from Iowa basketball's big win over Eastern Illinois