Iowa City – Using 13 different players, the Iowa Hawkeyes kicked off their 2017–18 season on a high note with a dominating 95–62 victory over Chicago State on Friday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The Cougars – who are consistently one of the worst teams in college basketball – came into Carver as significant underdogs and failed to put up much of a fight. Of Iowa’s five starters, only two played more than 20 minutes (Tyler Cook and Jordan Bohannon with 21 each). Every single healthy Hawkeye player not being red-shirted saw action in the victory, with all but two scoring at least one point.
Freshmen Luka Garza and Jack Nunge played significant minutes and were both impressive in their debuts. Garza finished 6–6 from the field for 16 points, three shy of the Iowa record for points by a freshman in his debut, while also collecting 5 rebounds and blocking three shots. Nunge played 19 minutes off the bench, scoring ten points, collecting four rebounds and adding four steals.
Tyler Cook extended his streak of consecutive made baskets dating back to last season to 22 with a 4–4 performance from the field as he finished with 12 points. Isaiah Moss and Jordan Bohannon each sunk four three-pointers and finished with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Brady Ellingson led the team with 28 minutes played and was 3–5 on three pointers. Collectively, Iowa shot 59.6% from the field and 54.5% from behind the arc.
Chicago State’s junior point guard Rob Shaw impressed with his flashy passes and cuts to the basket, finishing with ten points and six assists. He lacked a lot of of help around him on the Cougars’ roster, however. Fred Sims, Jr., the leading returning scorer for the Cougars, chipped in with 15 points, but no other Cougar reached double digits. Chicago State shot 37.7% from the floor as a unit.
Iowa is back in action at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Sunday afternoon as they take on Alabama State. Chicago State visits Purdue next.
