IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa connected on 27 of 32 free throws on its way to an 87-60 win over SIUE men's basketball in nonconference action Friday at Carver Hawkeye Arena.
Iowa, which won its season opener for the ninth consecutive year, also improved to 16-0 all-time against current members of the Ohio Valley Conference. SIUE slipped to 1-1 on the season.
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The Hawkeyes were 12-14 from the free throw line in the first half and 15-18 in the second half, while SIUE was just 4 for 4 the entire game.
"In reality, they were battling down low, our guys were battling down low and we fouled too much," SIUE Head Coach Brian Barone said. "That's two games in a row that we fouled too much."
The Cougars kept stride with Iowa over most of the game's first half, never trailing by double digits until a C.J. Frederick jumper with 2:08 left in the half gave Iowa a 33-22 advantage. The Hawkeyes had a 38-26 lead at the half.
"We competed which is going to be a given for this program," Barone said. "Competing is going to be a given, but we can't keep hanging on our hat on just being a team that is competing. I want to compete but win at the same time."
Iowa's 6-11 center Luka Garza used his size advantage to collect a double-double. He scored a game-high 20 points while grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds. He was 6 for 10 at the free throw line.
"We didn't have much room for error tonight and we broke too often," Barone added.
Iowa's Joe Wisecamp was 5 for 10 from the field and 3 for 7 from three-point range for 16 points.
Cam Williams and Kenyon Duling each scored 10 points to pace the Cougars, who shot 41.9 percent (26-62) from the field overall.
Iowa outrebounded SIUE 38-31 and scored 36 points in the paint and 13 second-chance points.
The Cougars force 12 Iowa turnovers and turned them into 15 points.
"I am still proud of this team," Barone said. "I am not less proud of the team because we lost tonight, but there were some things that weren't acceptable if we were doing it in practice yesterday. We have to do what we do every day the right way."
SIUE returns home to face Valparaiso Tuesday at First Community Arena.
"We had a competitive game with them last year and I am sure they will remember that," Barone said.