IOWA CITY – The Iowa Hawkeyes men’s basketball team opened their season Tuesday night in Iowa City at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and introduced the Ben McCollum era with a 101-69 victory over Robert Morris.
McCollum has now won 10 straight season openers (8 at Northwest Missouri State, 1 at Drake, 1 at Iowa).
Iowa has won its last 14 regular season openers.
McCollum is the third Hawkeye head coach to register 100+ points in their debut (Ralph Miller, 1965 & Lute Olson, 1975).
Iowa had six players finish in double figures – Bennett Stirtz (19), Tavion Banks (17), Alvaro Folgueiras (11), Isaia Howard (10), Cam Manyawu (10) and Brendan Hausen (10).
Stirtz scored a game-high 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting. He was 2-for-5 from 3-point range and 5-of-6 from the free throw line.
He also had a team-high six assists and four steals.
It was his 29th career game with 3+ steals.
He has been in double digits in 10 straight games dating back to last season.
His 19 points tied Aaron White for the most by a Hawkeye in their team debut in the last 30 seasons.
All 11 Hawkeyes that played scored in the game as Iowa shot 61.7 percent from the floor and 46.7 percent from 3-point range.
Iowa shot 64.0 percent in the first half (16-of-25) and limited the Colonials to 37.9 percent shooting (9.1 from 3-point range).
Iowa went 36-of-44 from the free throw line with 5 players making at least five free throws.
The Hawkeyes had 21 assists on their 29 field goals.
Iowa opened the game on a 17-2 run over the first 5+ minutes, limiting RMU to 1-of-5 shooting and forcing four turnovers.
The Hawkeyes made 8-of-11 field goals, including three of their first four 3-pointers, to start the game.
UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes return to action Friday, hosting Western Illinois at 6 p.m. (CT) in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Tickets are available at the Iowa Athletics Ticket Office.
