With the "Big Noon Kickoff" crew in the building, Iowa Men's Basketball took care of a pesky Western Illinois squad at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
This game had everything from high-flying dunks to a made half-court shot at halftime, to Iowa fans booing former Ohio State football Head Coach Urban Meyer.
While it was nice to see Hawkeye fans remember the beatdown Iowa gave Ohio State in 2017 at Kinnick Stadium, it was even nicer to see the Hawkeyes get their second win of the season on their home floor.
Iowa came out slowly on both ends of the court, giving away far too many baskets at the rim to a physical Western Illinois team, but Ben McCollum and the Iowa coaching staff got the squad back on track at halftime.
Game recap
Iowa started the game slowly as Western Illinois gained a quick 7-3 lead, but the Hawkeyes made a couple of quick three to respond.
The Leathernecks tried to bully the Hawkeyes in the paint, and it was fairly successful in the first half.
Iowa utilized its defensive pressure to force Western Illinois into multiple turnovers in the first half and capitalized on some easy transition buckets.
McCollum must have laid into the team at halftime as the Hawkeyes came out firing on both ends in the second half.
Iowa used an 8-2 run to put some distance between them and Western Illinois, and never looked back.
Bennett Stirtz was cooking all night and led all scorers in the game with 24 points. He also added seven assists and two steals.
Alavaro Folgueiras started the first half on the bench, but was inserted into the starting lineup in the second half. He finished the game with 13 points, five rebounds, five assists, and added three steals.
As a team, the Hawkeyes tallied eight steals, two blocks, and held the Leathernecks to 40 percent shooting.
What Iowa lacks in size, they make up for in hustle
Iowa's only glaring weakness through the first two games of the season is their lack of size in the paint.
Forward Cam Manyawu is Iowa's tallest player at six-foot-nine, and while he is solid on the defensive end, he is not much of a shot blocker.
Folgueiras is a similar player, and he is more adept at using his length to tip passes and get steals on the perimeter.
The Hawkeyes compensate for their lack of size with pressure at the point of attack, including a lot of ball pressure and aggressive hedging on screens, but it remains to be seen how effective they will be in Big Ten Conference play.
The Big Ten has multiple dominating post players, and if the Hawkeyes rely to heavily on always being able to pressure the ball, it opens them up to backdoor cuts and plays at the rim.
Iowa will need to keep up the defensive pressure as the season goes on to compensate for their lack of size in the frontcourt.
Next game: versus Xavier - Friday, November 14, at 7:00 p.m. Central Time (Iowa City, IA)