Iowa coach Ben McCollum said “every day’s a new adventure” with his 2026-27 roster.
That was neither a compliment nor a sarcastic dig, necessarily, but a frank assessment of the unpredictable nature of coaching teams with a high number of newcomers.
Iowa will hope to build on its initial defensive performance of the season while improving at the other end when Eastern Illinois visits Iowa City on Friday.
Following Tuesday’s 76-54 season-opening win over Lipscomb, McCollum said he had expected the Hawkeyes (1-0) to struggle defensively, when in fact they held the Bisons to 17-of-47 shooting (36.2%).
“I didn’t think our offense would struggle,” McCollum said. “But I don’t think our offense struggled. I thought our shot-making struggled, which is a big difference. So you’re looking at results versus process. Our process was good on the offensive end.”
Jaidyn Coon led Iowa with 12 points off the bench, though the scoring distribution was evenly spread — nine players had at least six points. But the Hawkeyes know that making just 6 of 25 shots from 3-point distance (24%) and 14 of 28 free-throw attempts (50%) won’t cut it going forward.
“They haven’t understood that those are free. They’re not guarded,” McCollum cracked about the free-throw shooting.
The Hawkeyes were without 7-foot-3 Saint Mary’s transfer Andrew McKeever due to an unspecified injury, but McCollum was hopeful McKeever (8.2 points, 9.2 rebounds per game last season) would make his team debut Friday.
Eastern Illinois (0-1) was flattened 91-57 by another Big Ten Conference opponent, Indiana, in its season opener Monday.
The Panthers made half of their 50 attempts from the field, with Demar Burton’s 10 points leading the way, but Indiana forced EIU into 22 turnovers.
EIU’s schedule will continue with a visit to Notre Dame plus trips to nationally ranked Vanderbilt and Illinois before November is through.
“I think the nonconference really is set up to prepare you for the league,” coach Marty Simmons said at Ohio Valley Conference media day. “We try to get as much balance in the schedule as we possibly can, but the opportunity to play these big schools on their courts, we try to use that as a recruiting tool. … So our ability to go compete and go toe-to-toe and learn — and when adversity hits, learn how to deal with that.”
