Five players scored in double figures as Iowa bounced back from a tough loss at No. 4 Iowa State with a 91-51 rout of Western Michigan on Sunday in Iowa City.
Bennett Stirtz and reserves Alvaro Folgueiras and Brendan Hausen each provided 13 points for the Hawkeyes (9-2), while Cam Manyawu and another reserve, Tate Sage, each added 11. Stirtz doled out six assists for Iowa, which converted a season-high 14 3-pointers in 31 attempts.
Carson Vis and Jalen Griffth each scored 11 points for the Broncos (5-6), while Jayden Brewer added 10. Coming off an 83-point effort in a Dec. 6 win at SIU Edwardsville, Western Michigan simply couldn’t make shots in this one. It finished the day at 17 of 57 from the field, including a dismal 6 of 24 from 3-point range.
Meanwhile, the Hawkeyes canned 33 of 59 attempts from the field and drew 24 assists while committing only six turnovers. They also earned a 49-24 advantage in bench scoring.
Iowa led for all but 27 seconds, opening up its first double-figure advantage at the 13:30 mark when Stirtz fed Sage for a dunk. The Hawkeyes possessed a double-digit cushion for the final 31:51 of the game.
Folgueiras made two free throws with 8:21 left in the half, capping a 15-0 run that gave the Hawkeyes a 34-10 lead. They held Western Michigan scoreless for 4:23, then didn’t allow a point for the final 3:36 of the half.
The half ended in fitting fashion when Manyawu scored a layup off a Kael Combs feed with 1:09 remaining, making it 52-16. Iowa made 21 of 32 attempts from the field, while the Broncos converted just 6 of 29.
The first 11-plus minutes of the second half were more of the same as the Hawkeyes expanded their margin to 79-29 on Cooper Koch’s 3-pointer with 8:39 remaining.
