Iowa guard Isaia Howard (23) attempts to dunk the ball in the basketball game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and Eastern Illinois Panthers at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. Photo/Travis Crabb, The Daily Iowan)

Chad Leistikow | Des Moines Register

IOWA CITY — The Iowa basketball team wasn’t going to learn too much against one of the worst opponents on its schedule.

But the job against overmatched Eastern Illinois was to get the shooting percentages up, get a lot of young players some minutes and dominate. And Ben McCollum’s Hawkeyes certainly accomplished all three of those things in a 91-47 win over the visiting Panthers on Nov. 6 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“Young Fun” was the theme of the second half, as McCollum’s young bench players got a mostly listless crowd off its feet with some exciting moments. The coach’s son, Peyton McCollum, ended up leading Iowa in the scoring column with 14 points after burying 4-of-7 3-pointers in the second half.

Ty’Reek Coleman was Iowa’s most impressive player of the night. The Illinois State transfer overmatched Eastern Illinois with his athleticism. Coleman, a sophomore, pumped in 13 points on 5-for-5 shooting with six assists in 22 minutes off the bench.

The crowd really got jazzed when Trey Thompson entered the game with 13:10 remaining. The sophomore was only used in garbage time in Iowa’s season-opening win over Lipscomb, but got extended run in this one and took advantage by canning three 3-pointers, dunking once and finishing with his first 11 points as a Hawkeye.

Sophomore Trevin Jirak had a terrific all-around game, putting up eight points to go with seven rebounds and eight assists off the bench. Jirak’s role was crucial as 7-foot-3 Drew McKeever missed his second straight game with back spasms. Freshman Jaidyn Coon added seven points (all in the second half), including two dunks, for the home team.

Tate Sage was the top scorer among Iowa’s starting five, with all 10 of his points coming in the first half.

For the game, Iowa canned 14 of 30 3-pointers (46.7%), a huge improvement from its 6-for-25 performance in the opener.

The degree of difficulty goes up soon for the Hawkeyes (2-0), who play Virginia Tech on Nov. 10 in Sioux City, Creighton on Nov. 15 in Des Moines, and Xavier on Nov. 20 in Cincinnati.

Two games in, what has Ben McCollum learned about his team?

“I think we can defend better than I expected,” McCollum said. “I was a little concerned with that. I do think we have quality depth. I do think we have quality shooting. The lineups (are) what I’m really learning. … This is going to be really hard for us.”