IOWA 95, UMKC 75: ...AND SOMETIMES THE BAER EATS ROO

In what's definitely the most important sporting event today, Iowa cruised to a 95-75 victory over visiting Missouri-Kansas City. Dom Uhl and Nicholas Baer led the way with 14 points, both off the bench; Uhl also contributed a career-high 10 rebounds.

It was another reserve-heavy early-season performance for the Hawkeyes, who gave roughly half their minutes and shot attemts to the bench mob. We even got a healthy helpin' of garbage time at the end, featuring one of the Soukup twins (officially Michael, but who can ever know for sure?) banging home a three-ball to finish Iowa's scoring on the day. With the next game against Western Illinois just two days away, getting the bench involved was crucial, and Fran McCaffery did so in spades. Even without Sixth Man of the Year Gabriel Olaseni, the Iowa bench is significantly deeper and stronger than last season, and it'll help the Hawkeyes in the Big Ten race.

UMKC runs a zone defense, which Iowa's sure to see again at points this season, so it was great to see the team so comfortable with moving the ball across the court, working some high-low action and the big men finding the open teammate from the top of the key. And then, obviously, burying the open jumpers when you've got them; Iowa finished a robust 12-25 from behind the arc.

Really not much to complain about on this one. The Mike Gesell & Anthony Clemmons backcourt continues to do work, with both guys contributing six assists, and Clemmons added an effortlessly efficient 13 points on top of it. You'd like to see the Hawkeyes control the defensive glass a little better, and you'd like to see Woodbury finish more reliably at the basket—he had some opportunities—but this win was good and fine.