Instant Takeaways From Iowa Men's Basketball's Win Over Lipscomb

While most Americans stressed out (or celebrated) the results of the midterm elections, Iowa men's basketball fans settled into the tan-cladded seats of Carver-Hawkeye Arena to cheer on their team for the first time in the 2026-27 campaign 

It was a struggle for a little bit, but the Hawkeyes pulled away for a 76-54 win over the visiting Lipscomb Bisons on Tuesday night. 

Here are some instant observations from Iowa's win. 

One of the players that Iowa fans were looking forward to watching the most on this night was Andrew McKeever, and they had a good reason for doing so. The Hawkeyes lacked a paint presence during their Elite Eight run last year, but the highly-prized acquisition of the 7-foot-3 center from Saint Mary's certainly seemed to be a good start to fixing that. 

McKeever recorded 14 minutes in the exhibition game last week, but McCollum said after the game that the center had been sidelined from practice for a few days before the game, and it appears whatever injury was bothering him enough for him to miss Tuesday's season opener. McKeever was going through pregame warmups before being scratched. That probably means Iowa is just taking proper precautions early in the non-conference. 

McCollum was worried about Iowa finding a go-to scorer in the final five minutes of the game, but through one half, it looked like finding the alpha scorer at all is going to take some time for this Hawkeye team. Whether it was trying to feed Trevin Jirak in the paint or a look to the wing, there just wasn't any offensive flow in the first half. Peyton McCollum and Cooper Koch were the only Iowa players to connect from beyond the arc, and Iowa shot just 43% from the floor. 

The Hawkeyes appeared to put game on cruise control midway through the period, but the lack of any offensive rhythm in the half allowed Lipscomb to storm back and take the lead on a 12-2 scoring run, a run that saw Iowa go over three minutes without a bucket. 

The Hawkeyes recovered with a late surge to lead by nine, 38-29, at the break. Things were a little better in the second half, but that was mostly because of Lipscomb struggling to do much of anything from the floor. The Bisons were hovering around 35% from the field for most of this game, while Iowa finished shooting a 47% clip from the field (24% from three). 

Free throws were also a problem as well, as Iowa went just 50% (14/28) from the stripe. 

One of the few bright spots in the first half for Iowa was freshman forward Jaidyn Coon. The Hawkeyes raved about his athleticism all summer and he proved it in this one. The final numbers aren't going to tell the full story, but Coon was making hustle plays all night. It's almost a formality that Coon will wait for an alley-oop jam as soon as he steps on the floor, and that's exactly what happened in this one. The Storm Lake, Iowa native tallied a pair of those in the first half, which led to Ben McCollum inserting him into the starting lineup in the second. 

The hustle plays certainly didn't take a break after that, and it was Coon's presence that helped Iowa pull away midway through the second half. As a matter of fact, Coon was the first Hawkeye to reach double-figures on this night, and he finished with a team-high 12 points, six rebounds, and three assists. 

This is an acute observation, but something that does need to be mentioned. Players from both sides were slipping on the floor, which was newly installed over the summer. It was probably due to sweat, but considering there were some players slipping during Monday's women's basketball game, it could be something to watch moving forward. 

Iowa returns to action on Friday, Nov. 6, for a matchup against Eastern Illinois. The Panthers are 0-1 on the season after getting blasted by Indiana on Monday night. 

Tip off from Carver-Hawkeye Arena is set for 7:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network.