Connor McCaffery told Sandfort at halftime that he was going to get him the ball, and he did. Guard Connor McCaffery, a starter last season, has moved to the second team and is the vet with Sandfort and sophomores Tony Perkins, Kris Murray and Ahron Ulis, all of whom were lightly used a season ago. “The coaches have preached to me since recruiting, since day one when I got here, that I’ve got the green light wherever I want it,” Sandfort said. The 6-foot-7 forward from Waukee showed zero hesitation as he swished back-to-back 3-pointers. They scored the first 14 points of the half, with freshman Payton Sandfort getting eight straight. McCaffery knew he needed his subs to taste some success leading into the Hawkeyes’ regular-season opener here Tuesday against Longwood. The starters returned and built a 41-18 halftime lead. “They were playing hard,” McCaffery said. Then Fran McCaffery pulled them for a second unit, and Iowa went almost seven minutes without a basket. The senior forward said “nerves got me” coming out of the gate, but he and the other four starters looked relaxed as they stacked a 22-5 lead on the way to a 99-47 cruise.

“It was really cool seeing this many fans for an exhibition game,” said Iowa’s Filip Rebraca, a transfer from North Dakota who said 3,000 was a big gathering there. But it was men’s basketball in Carver-Hawkeye Arena for the first time in 612 days.

IOWA CITY - It wasn’t a big crowd despite what the box score said (10,789? Uh, no, not even close.). This was typical of the distance Keegan Murray scored from Friday in amassing 17 points in Iowa’s 99-47 men’s basketball exhibition win over Slippery Rock at Carver-Hawkeye Arena (Jerod Ringwald/for The Gazette)

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