IOWA CITY (AP) — Brady Ellingson scored 21 of his career-high 23 points in the first half, Cordell Pemsl added 18 points and nine rebounds and Iowa breezed to a 116-84 win over Savannah State on Sunday.
The Hawkeyes (2-0) made a school-record 18 3-pointers and led by at least 20 points the entire second half. Iowa’s 116 points are the most in Fran McCaffery’s six seasons as coach and tied for the seventh most in program history.
Troyce Manassa had 14 points and 11 rebounds for Savannah State (0-2), which committed 20 turnovers.
Tyler Cook scored 14 points and Peter Jok had 13 for the Hawkeyes.
Iowa’s bench scored 76 points — led by Ellingson, who was used sparingly last season. Ellingson hit 7-of-9 shots, including 4-of-6 3-pointers.
Iowa’s 43 3-point attempts also were a school record.
The Hawkeyes have won 39 of their last 40 non-conference home games.
They opened the season at home with a 91-74 win over Kennesaw State Friday led by Jok’s 27 points. He was 11-of-19 shooting in 26 minutes of play.
Ahmad Wagner had 12 points and four blocks for the Hawkeyes, who are looking to reach the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight season under Fran McCaffery.
Iowa built a 43-25 halftime lead and appeared to be on its way to a blowout win before Kennesaw State opened the second half on a 16-6 run that cut the lead to 49-41.
Nick Masterson scored a career-high 29 points on 7 of 10 3-point shots for Kennesaw State. Ray Kendrick added 12 points.
Pemsl and Nicholas Baer each scored 10 points for Iowa.
Iowa faces its first real challenge of the season Thursday against Seton Hall (2-0) as part of the Big Ten-Big East series.